Went to the Parade of Homes again this year.

11 years ago

Even though our home is completed, we still enjoy touring the beautiful homes local builders open up to the public.

This year the homes were modest, ranging in price from $250,000 to $1.3 mil. Most remarkable thing we saw was an indoor 1/2 court basketball court. Full 2 stories high, on a level below the basement. Wow!

In general the homes were so similar to each other. Only a couple higher end ones stood out. All were lovely despite being the same.

Things I noticed:

- Smaller kitchens, more mid range appliances, a few with lovely formica counters. Still alot of granite. Layouts on a couple were just not thought out well. But maybe I'm biased having read these forums.

- About half had geothermal.

- Colors were mostly warm neutrals, with some beautiful blues in certain rooms. Only one red room that I remember.

- All but one had vinyl or fiberglass windows. The lowest priced one had the wood windows.

- Fabulous landscaping. I thought perhaps some of the $$ should have been spent on the interiors.

- More carpet than I expected. Lots of hand scraped wood floors. No exotic woods, saw mostly walnut, hickory and oak. Not much tile.

- Lots of stained/stamped concrete inside and out. Most had beautiful upgraded garage doors.

- LP Smartside was the choice on most homes. With accents in stone and cedar look siding.

Here are a couple pics I took. Sorry for the bad quality, it was hard to get good shots with the people walking around.

This was a lovely kitchen, one of the best I thought except for the backsplash. It was too busy for the granite, and almost made you dizzy.

Another attractive kitchen, but short on cabinets with extremely narrow walkways. The walkway in front of the sink was a major thoroughfare. Not good!

At first glance, this kitchen seems gorgeous. But a closer look revealed many missing major elements, and poor craftsmanship. Very dark, too. Needed a bigger window.

This was my favorite. Well thought out, gorgeous colors and elements. Whole house was wonderful.

The granite on the island is gorgeous. Wonder what it is.

One house that was quite different was this farmhouse. Plain on the outside, but such wonderful choices on the inside. They carried the farmhouse theme throughout. Even board and batten walls. The floors looked like they were 100 years old. Very very nice!

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Comments (18)

joyce_6333
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh, just to clarify, these home prices do not include lot, surveys, perk tests, driveways,or anything associated with bringing utilities to the site, etc. This is the house cost only. Everything else would all be additional costs. Most of these homes are in rural or semi-rural locations. Beautiful properties.
User
11 years ago
Thanks for sharing photos. Fun to see. What state or region of the country are these homes in?
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lol, I did the same thing the day of the trade. Went to Growers Outlet and they had so many great deals I was snapping up any cheap perennials I didn't already have. Wound up with about 5 different Salvias, of which I only managed to remember 2 of the names since none of them had take-home labels. But won't even know which two those are until they bloom. Like you, I always think I'll remember everything later and then rarely do. I had labels, markers & a notepad in the truck but did I think to write anything down?? Of course not lol! Squirrellypete
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I visited a few Parade Homes here in FL. I saw a few with a modern feel - melamine cabinets in dark colors, 24x12 plank looking tile, light colored stacked stone fireplaces and accent walls. I didn't see any granite except in the custom homes. Most of the ones we visited were from the production builders so they use a "Design Center" for clients to pick out their floors, tile etc...So, there was alot of the same engineered flooring in the homes. Mostly dark wood, hand-scraped. If I played with the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers, they were not soft close...that would be an "upgrade." There were mostly raised panel hollow doors. Alot of carpet (saves $$) and the trend was longer strand carpet in dark colors or patterned carpets with a few colors. Master bathrooms were large with larger all-glass walk-in showers. Tubs were very, very tiny as mentioned above. Some had those "all in one" built in tub/shower units...very low cost and it shows! Most homes play tricks and remove the doors to closets and bathrooms to make those rooms bigger. If you actually looked and thought about it, it would be very difficult to get into some of the smaller bathrooms and close the door without hitting yourself! Very few had walk-in closets. I still saw jack n jill bathrooms....I felt like that trend is old, but I think it works if you have same sex children. Pavers were everywhere! One house had them in the garage too! It made me wonder if they had a big foundation crack they had to hide! Overall, the custom homes were by far the most creative and you could see the quality was head and shoulders above the production built homes. One had a starting price of $450,000, but with all the upgrades on a small lakefront lot, it was $1M! Very surprising when the upgrades are things that should come with each and every home! I have always loved the parade and will probably continue to go for the fun of looking at houses. It never tires me to look at houses!! It helps with ideas etc... Pam
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Thanks for all the well wishes :) That was a nasty fall and every square inch of my 50 yr old body is feelin' it :o But, I'm much better today. Poor DH is blaming himself for my fall :( I have MS and ever since the last attack in 02 that affected my walking/balance he's constantly saying "watch your step" or "be careful". This ONE time he didn't and SPLAT...I didn't see the single step on the sidewalk. Bless his heart :( lindybarts, that was DH's favorite too and the one he was most excited for me to see. gldfan, the plaster and glazed walls (and ceilings) was toooo much for me too. When I first walked in the house and saw it in the commons area, I liked it. But, it was EVERYwhere and got old really fast. caroleoh, I didn't get to view as many of the homes as I wanted to but agree about some of them being over the top. But at the same time, it's fun (to me) to see these crazy over the top homes. Then there's the really stupid mistakes...like the house that had about a 27" tall tub surrounds (and no steps) :o I thought maybe it's just me since I'm only 5' tall, but everyone was commenting about how impractical and dangerous it seemed. Add to the fact that it was enclosed, making it even harder to get in and out of. Not sure if the full tile was 20 or 24". The whole tub affair was not user friendly! patricia43, thank you for your concern but I don't run to the ER every time I'm "not ok". My knees, elbows, ankles, hands, shoulders and back are feeling better with rest, antibiotic cream, Ibuprofen and muscle relaxers. Will see my chiropractor tomorrow. If I don't break a bone, get knocked unconscious or gush blood, I think I can skip the ER (and the $6000 bill!) ;) holleygarden, DH is an independent flooring contractor. Mostly he does work for Builder's Design Center (across the loop from Johnny Carino's) but also installs for builders that don't go thru Builder's Design Center. Do you live in Tyler or the surrounding area? We're in Grand Saline, 45 miles NW of Tyler. http://www.pbase.com/monicakm/image/113534004
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My mom and I used to tour the one in Spokane, but it went from all the houses in one area...to driving around different parts of town, to see homes in several locations. The homes were not that impressive, so we quit going. There was one home that was really nice, in Spokane Valley. It didn't sell, due to the recession hitting that year...but it had some great details. It would have been even better with a few tweaks, but it was one of the only houses that didn't have the cookie cutter look. These were expensive homes, but they all seemed to follow the same 'game plan'. It was nice to see built in window seats, a nice entrance and a really well though out pantry area, in the home we liked. Also had a great fireplace and good dining room location. The only negative was a very small lot.
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joyce_6333
Original Author
11 years ago
Wisconsin....
auroraborelis
11 years ago
I love that so many had geothermal - I wish there were more contractors in my area offering it...
Laberglund
11 years ago
Joyce,
I've visited all of these homes this week! We must be neighbors!
Can I ask who built your house? Our builder actually built that first kitchen that you posted (the one with the busy backsplash!)
kelhuck
11 years ago
Thanks for sharing! I loved seeing the new "old" farmhouse! Just made me feel so nostalgic. That kind of house was our original desire, but I've changed my mind so many times now, I don't know what we're doing. If you have any other pictures of it, can you post them? I'd love to see what the inside looks like. Might have to rethink the old white farmhouse look.......
joyce_6333
Original Author
11 years ago
Hey Laberglund, or should I say "neighbor"! Nice to meet ya! There are a few other forum members from our area. At last year's Remodel Showcase, I saw MCMesprit's kitchen. When we walked into the kitchen, I said "I know this kitchen!" What a coincidence.

Jason Steen built our house. He is also our neighbor, friend, and we bought our lot from him. He was 2011 Wisconsin Builder of the Year. Who was your builder? I can't remember what the builders were of each house. There are so many really great builders in our area. That kitchen with the "busy" backsplash was definitely the favorite kitchen of most of the visitors. It was my 2nd favorite. Lots of pictures being taken of that one, and a few people were actually taking measurements. I remember one couple talking with the builder as we were leaving. They loved it!

We didn't see all the homes. Didn't travel too far out of the metro area.
Xclusive
11 years ago
Thank you very much for sharing. I have always wondered what the Parade of Homes looks like in other cities. Don't know about other but I love them and go every year we have one(Tennessee). We hadn't had any for about 4 or 5yrs til last year and we are scheduled to have one in the Fall.
I can't wait!

Now I think about it I could post all of my pics from last year just in case anyone else was interested as well.

Thanks,

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog
PRO
Window Accents by Vanessa Downs
11 years ago
Joyce - I think I used the same subway tile in my kitchen that was used in the last kitchen photo you posted and my granite is very similar to that granite. Mine is called Golden Dunes, but I've seen it called Yellow River too. My cabinets are a bit darker in color but it was nice to see a kitchen similar to mine! And even the back of the sofa almost looks identical to the fabric on my sofa! LOL

Thanks for posting the photos - I love to look at houses!
Laberglund
11 years ago
Joyce, we are using C & E Wurzer (not to be confused with Wurzer Builders). We are in the framing process right now.
Some friends of ours bought a Steen house and are very happy with it.
Glad to "meet" you!
joyce_6333
Original Author
11 years ago
Kelhuck: Sorry but I didn't take any other inside pictures. I checked on the builder's webpage, and he doesn't have any either. Maybe he's waiting until the parade is over. I can tell you that it was very white. White walls, white trim, lots of white furniture. Very beautiful. The front doesn't show many windows, but there were tons of uncovered windows on the back. Such pretty vistas, too.
Laberglund
11 years ago
I have a few more houses to see this weekend, including the farmhouse. I can try to take some pictures for you!
lavender_lass
11 years ago
I'd like to see the farmhouse pictures, too! :)
auroraborelis
11 years ago
I wish they had something like this in my area, instead I just have to go ot open houses ;)
kirkhall
11 years ago
Laura12--you and I both! I've started getting to know some of the realtors in my area. :/

I'm curious about the scant use of tile. Are they still using it in bathrooms on the floors and just not in kitchens, or are they going away from tile on the bathroom floors too?
auroraborelis
11 years ago
Moving away from tile in the bathrooms? Hmm... What else would you use? :)

My own kitchen has hardwood, and I'll repeat it in the new house. I love the seamless transition from entry to living space to kitchen with all one floor type! However the bathrooms (and mudroom) are an exception - I can't imagine anything other than tile.

Though, I do love the wood look tile ;)
joyce_6333
Original Author
11 years ago
Kirkhall: Yes, there were areas of tile in bathrooms, near back entries, but nothing like I've seen in the past where it ran through the kitchen. I did see a couple that had vinyl tile (I think that's what it was). Lots of dark tile.

I didn't go to all the homes, because some were just too far to drive. Laberglund, I will be anxious to hear about the houses you see.
Laberglund
11 years ago
A few farmhouse pics, as promised. Unfortunately, I only had a crappy cell phone to take them with, so they are what they are.

Went to the Parade of Homes again this year.

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Went to the Parade of Homes again this year.

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