Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Homebuilding:
Home sale revenues	$ 882,094	$ 908,562	$ 1,060,502
Land sale revenues	899	3,856	105,895
Total revenues	882,993	912,418	1,166,397
Cost of home sales	(719,893)	(707,006)	(907,058)
Cost of land sales	(903)	(3,568)	(117,517)
Total cost of sales	(720,796)	(710,574)	(1,024,575)
Gross margin	162,197	201,844	141,822
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(154,375)	(150,542)	(191,488)
Income (loss) from unconsolidated joint ventures	207	1,166	(4,717)
Interest expense	(25,168)	(40,174)	(47,458)
Gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt		(30,028)	(6,931)
Other income (expense)	(1,017)	3,733	(2,296)
Homebuilding pretax loss	(18,156)	(14,001)	(111,068)
Financial Services:
Revenues	10,907	12,456	13,145
Expenses	(9,401)	(10,878)	(11,817)
Income from unconsolidated joint ventures			119
Other income	177	142	139
Financial services pretax income	1,683	1,720	1,586
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes	(16,473)	(12,281)	(109,482)
Benefit for income taxes	56	557	96,265
Loss from continuing operations	(16,417)	(11,724)	(13,217)
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes			(569)
Net loss	(16,417)	(11,724)	(13,786)
Less: Net loss allocated to preferred shareholder	7,101	6,849	8,371
Net loss available to common stockholders	$ (9,316)	$ (4,875)	$ (5,415)
Basic loss per common share:
Continuing operations (in Dollars per share)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.06)
Discontinued operations (in Dollars per share)
Basic loss per common share (in Dollars per share)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.06)
Diluted loss per common share:
Continuing operations (in Dollars per share)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.06)
Discontinued operations (in Dollars per share)
Diluted loss per common share (in Dollars per share)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.06)
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic (in Shares)	193,909,714	105,202,857	95,623,851
Diluted (in Shares)	193,909,714	105,202,857	95,623,851
Weighted average additional common shares outstanding if preferred shares converted to common shares (in Shares)	147,812,786	147,812,786	147,812,786