Ryland Group Inc. on Tuesday announced the acquisition of the assets of Cornell Homes, a homebuilder in Philadelphia.

Ryland will retain all of Cornell’s employees and Cornell’s President, Greg Lingo, will join the Westlake Village company as president of its Philadelphia division.

The acquisition gives Ryland control of Cornell’s 12 active communities, in addition to an ongoing project in the northeast. That project includes 97 homes ready for delivery, eight decorated models and 1,716 additional lots for future sales.

The purchase is Ryland’s fourth in the last year. It acquired Texas developer LionsGate Homes in May, Trend Homes in Phoenix in December and Timberstone Homes’ operations in Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C. last July.

Ryland is one of the country’s largest homebuilders, with operations in 14 states. The company has been doing well recently as the housing market recovers.

New orders in the first quarter increased 54 percent to 2,051 units, compared to 1,328 units for the first quarter of 2012, with most orders coming from the southeast.

Also on Tuesday, Ryland announced the opening of its Edgebrook at James Creek community in Cumming, Ga. It’s a private, wooded development of 150 single-family homes, which start in the low $300,000’s. The community features seven home designs that range from 2,675 to 3,590 square feet.

Shares of Ryland closed up 45 cents, or 1 percent, to $41.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.