Supplemental Guarantor Information Supplemental Guarantor Information - Income Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Revenue	$ 234,841	$ 190,727
Land and housing	183,964	151,513
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	0	900
General and administrative	18,315	15,979
Selling	15,969	13,109
Interest	4,170	4,340
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	(62)	0
Total costs and expenses	222,356	185,841
Income before income taxes	12,485	4,886
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	(147)	299
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0
Net income (loss)	12,632	4,587
Preferred Dividends	1,219	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed	0	2,190
Net income to common shareholders	11,413	2,397
Parent [Member]
Revenue	0	0
Land and housing	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures		0
General and administrative	0	0
Selling	0	0
Interest	0	0
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0
Income before income taxes	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	12,632	4,587
Net income (loss)	12,632	4,587
Preferred Dividends	1,219
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		2,190
Net income to common shareholders	11,413	2,397
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	226,976	182,317
Land and housing	183,964	151,513
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures		900
General and administrative	15,291	12,842
Selling	15,969	13,092
Interest	3,854	4,022
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	0
Total costs and expenses	219,078	182,369
Income before income taxes	7,898	(52)
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	(1,781)	(1,415)
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0
Net income (loss)	9,679	1,363
Preferred Dividends	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		0
Net income to common shareholders	9,679	1,363
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	7,865	8,410
Land and housing	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures		0
General and administrative	3,024	3,137
Selling	0	17
Interest	316	318
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	(62)
Total costs and expenses	3,278	3,472
Income before income taxes	4,587	4,938
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	1,634	1,714
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0
Net income (loss)	2,953	3,224
Preferred Dividends	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		0
Net income to common shareholders	2,953	3,224
Corporate Elimination [Member]
Revenue	0	0
Land and housing	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures		0
General and administrative	0	0
Selling	0	0
Interest	0	0
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0
Income before income taxes	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	(12,632)	(4,587)
Net income (loss)	(12,632)	(4,587)
Preferred Dividends	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		0
Net income to common shareholders	$ (12,632)	$ (4,587)