Segment Information, Nature of Operations, and Certain Concentrations (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Assets:
Consolidated Assets	$ 1,779,485	$ 2,260,061	$ 2,395,770
Consolidated variable interest entity	20,182	22,371	70,430
Cash and cash equivalents	475,566	1,190,731	1,248,689
Marketable securities	0	0	219,535
Deferred taxes	155,881	184,930	200,340
Intangible assets	48,927	48,927	48,927
Contract land deposit reserve	(70,333)	(73,517)	(94,940)
Consolidation adjustments and other	38,481	40,916	16,054
Reconciling items sub-total	668,704	1,414,358	1,709,035
Interest Income:
Other unallocated interest income	3,202	5,301	5,407
Consolidated Interest Income	8,904	10,712	8,386
Interest Expense:
Total interest expense	1,892	6,029	11,380
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	6,672	7,263	9,713
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	11,444	6,943	3,044
Corporate capital allocation charge
Corporate Capital Allocation	71,226	65,971	61,753
Homebuilding Mid Atlantic [Member]
Assets:
Consolidated Assets	626,157	492,148	448,019
Interest Expense:
Total interest expense	48,971	45,082	41,130
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	3,353	3,369	4,351
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	3,784	2,165	1,511
Corporate capital allocation charge
Corporate Capital Allocation	48,697	44,758	40,765
Homebuilding North East [Member]
Assets:
Consolidated Assets	55,948	35,827	54,132
Interest Expense:
Total interest expense	5,776	5,936	6,475
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	409	515	612
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	424	440	414
Corporate capital allocation charge
Corporate Capital Allocation	5,763	5,926	6,473
Homebuilding Mid East [Member]
Assets:
Consolidated Assets	94,593	78,246	94,225
Interest Expense:
Total interest expense	11,080	9,669	8,873
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	1,398	1,224	1,233
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	5,611	2,247	741
Corporate capital allocation charge
Corporate Capital Allocation	11,074	9,657	8,863
Homebuilding South East [Member]
Assets:
Consolidated Assets	63,263	43,041	37,663
Interest Expense:
Total interest expense	5,701	5,641	5,661
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	729	758	1,163
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	369	583	269
Corporate capital allocation charge
Corporate Capital Allocation	5,692	5,630	5,652
Mortgage Banking [Member]
Assets:
Mortgage Banking	270,820	196,441	52,696
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	295	362	357
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	1,049	883	87
Reportable Segment [Member]
Assets:
Consolidated Assets	1,110,781	845,703	686,735
Interest Income:
Interest income	5,702	5,411	2,979
Interest Expense:
Total interest expense	72,403	67,454	63,323
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	6,184	6,228	7,716
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	11,237	6,318	3,022
Corporate Capital Allocation [Member]
Interest Expense:
Senior note and other interest expense	(71,226)	(65,971)	(61,753)
Senior Note And Other Interest [Member]
Interest Expense:
Senior note and other interest expense	715	4,546	9,810
Unallocated corporate [Member]
Depreciation and Amortization:
Total depreciation and amortization expense	488	1,035	1,997
Expenditures for Property and Equipment:
Total expenditures for property and equipment	$ 207	$ 625	$ 22