A Charlotte custom builder is betting on luxury attached homes — just don’t call them duplexes

Grandfather Homes is now marketing “duets” — or two attached homes with a shared wall — in three different neighborhoods.

The term “duet” is slowly growing more popular in builder circles as a more luxurious-sounding word than “duplex.” But the term also is used to distinguish the ownership structure. The two homes are sold separately, rather than have the entire building owned by one person who typically rents them out.

So far, the naming experiment has been successful. These homes are commanding prices that put them near the top of the market for new townhomes or condos.

In Charlotte, these homes are a wrinkle in the types of infill development becoming more prevalent in Charlotte as buyers put a premium on neighborhoods close to the center city.

Townhomes are booming. Will duets be next?

Grandfather Homes pioneered the concept locally in the Dilworth neighborhood

The company built their first paired homes at 725 Ideal Way, each at about 2,500 square feet. One sold in early 2016 for about $675,000, the other for $720,000.

Soon after, Grandfather Homes broke ground on three more duets — six more homes — just down the street on Ideal Way. Called “The Fountains at Mattie Rose,” these homes rise three stories.

There’s one still to be sold, listed at $805,000 at 2,800 square feet.

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The company now has two more developments underway in Charlotte that prominently feature duets.

And they show that Grandfather Homes is betting even bigger on the duet concept.

One new community, called “The Towers at Mattie Rose,” is between the Elizabeth and Midtown neighborhoods and takes the concept significantly further. At 18 units, it’s significantly larger.

At 18 units, it’s much larger. There are classic duets, winged duets, nested duets and a few triets (yes, that means three attached homes). They range in price from $730,000 to nearly $800,000.

The other is a smaller infill development just north of Park Road Shopping Center. Construction has yet to begin, but the Townes at Mattie Rose will be the most expensive yet — beginning at $900,000.