Supplemental Guarantor Information Supplemental Guarantor Information - Income Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Revenue	$ 208,875	$ 141,624	$ 510,994	$ 389,638
Land and housing	164,452	116,269	408,893	322,886
Impairment of inventory and investment in Unconsolidated LLCs	1,309	1,697	1,876	18,013
General and administrative	16,016	13,896	42,299	38,064
Selling	14,647	11,213	38,483	30,621
Interest	3,999	3,384	12,066	10,884
Total costs and expenses	200,423	146,459	503,617	420,468
(Loss) income before income taxes	8,452	(4,835)	7,377	(30,830)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	138	(117)	(955)	71
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net (loss) income	8,314	(4,718)	8,332	(30,901)
Parent [Member]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in Unconsolidated LLCs	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Selling	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0	0	0
(Loss) income before income taxes	0	0	0	0
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	8,314	(4,718)	8,332	(30,901)
Net (loss) income	8,314	(4,718)	8,332	(30,901)
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	202,492	138,752	495,371	380,271
Land and housing	164,452	116,269	408,893	322,886
Impairment of inventory and investment in Unconsolidated LLCs	1,309	1,697	1,876	18,013
General and administrative	13,425	11,914	34,938	32,606
Selling	14,647	11,213	38,482	30,621
Interest	3,584	3,181	10,972	10,240
Total costs and expenses	197,417	144,274	495,161	414,366
(Loss) income before income taxes	5,075	(5,522)	210	(34,095)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	(1,003)	(366)	(3,403)	(1,003)
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net (loss) income	6,078	(5,156)	3,613	(33,092)
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	6,383	2,872	15,623	9,367
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in Unconsolidated LLCs	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	2,591	1,982	7,361	5,458
Selling	0	0	1	0
Interest	415	203	1,094	644
Total costs and expenses	3,006	2,185	8,456	6,102
(Loss) income before income taxes	3,377	687	7,167	3,265
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	1,141	249	2,448	1,074
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net (loss) income	2,236	438	4,719	2,191
Corporate Elimination [Member]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in Unconsolidated LLCs	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Selling	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0	0	0
(Loss) income before income taxes	0	0	0	0
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	(8,314)	4,718	(8,332)	30,901
Net (loss) income	$ (8,314)	$ 4,718	$ (8,332)	$ 30,901