Supplemental Guarantor Information Supplemental Guarantor Information - Income Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Revenue	$ 330,767	$ 275,195	$ 847,216	$ 700,475
Land and housing	261,636	218,150	666,817	556,799
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	622	2,136	1,426	4,237
General and administrative	21,724	18,261	61,320	52,389
Selling	21,955	17,999	58,175	47,383
Interest	2,649	3,449	9,549	12,186
Equity in loss (income) of unconsolidated joint ventures	(22)	(278)	(62)	(278)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0	1,726	0	1,726
Total costs and expenses	308,564	261,443	797,225	674,442
Income before income taxes	22,203	13,752	49,991	26,033
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	8,586	(111,559)	10,188	(111,129)
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss)	13,617	125,311	39,803	137,162
Preferred Dividends	1,218	1,219	3,656	2,438
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed	0	0	0	2,190
Net income to common shareholders	12,399	124,092	36,147	132,534
Parent [Member]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Selling	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Equity in loss (income) of unconsolidated joint ventures	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Total costs and expenses	0	0	0	0
Income before income taxes	0	0	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	13,617	125,311	39,803	137,162
Net income (loss)	13,617	125,311	39,803	137,162
Preferred Dividends	1,218	1,219	3,656	2,438
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed				2,190
Net income to common shareholders	12,399	124,092	36,147	132,534
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	323,187	268,514	825,301	678,132
Land and housing	261,636	218,150	666,817	556,799
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	622	2,136	1,426	4,237
General and administrative	17,811	15,309	51,159	43,104
Selling	21,955	17,979	58,175	47,317
Interest	2,248	3,087	8,530	11,171
Equity in loss (income) of unconsolidated joint ventures	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		1,726		1,726
Total costs and expenses	304,272	258,387	786,107	664,354
Income before income taxes	18,915	10,127	39,194	13,778
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	7,428	(112,694)	5,991	(115,308)
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss)	11,487	122,821	33,203	129,086
Preferred Dividends	0	0	0	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed				0
Net income to common shareholders	11,487	122,821	33,203	129,086
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	7,580	6,681	21,915	22,343
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	3,913	2,952	10,161	9,285
Selling	0	20	0	66
Interest	401	362	1,019	1,015
Equity in loss (income) of unconsolidated joint ventures	(22)	(278)	(62)	(278)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Total costs and expenses	4,292	3,056	11,118	10,088
Income before income taxes	3,288	3,625	10,797	12,255
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	1,158	1,135	4,197	4,179
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss)	2,130	2,490	6,600	8,076
Preferred Dividends	0	0	0	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed				0
Net income to common shareholders	2,130	2,490	6,600	8,076
Corporate Elimination [Member]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Selling	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Equity in loss (income) of unconsolidated joint ventures	0	0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt		0		0
Total costs and expenses	0	0	0	0
Income before income taxes	0	0	0	0
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	(13,617)	(125,311)	(39,803)	(137,162)
Net income (loss)	(13,617)	(125,311)	(39,803)	(137,162)
Preferred Dividends	0	0	0	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed				0
Net income to common shareholders	$ (13,617)	$ (125,311)	$ (39,803)	$ (137,162)