Home shopping by television takes on a whole new meaning when you`re actually shopping for a home.
The Naperville home at 516 Prairie Knoll had an open house Sunday just hours after it was featured on ”The Home Show,” a half-hour weekly program of advertising videos for Baird & Warner listings throughout the Chicago area on WLS-Ch. 7.
The listing agent, Nance Manderson of Baird & Warner`s Naperville office, will pay out of future commissions to have her client`s home star on TV for about 30 seconds. There`s no additional charge to the client.
”Part of the reason we decided to go with Nance was for the exposure of being able to be on the show,” said homeowner Lynne Hans of the broadcast that showed off her home`s interior.
Hans` husband, Fred, is the owner of Hans Development Co. and built the $259,500, 4-year-old contemporary home himself. The results are high-quality construction and a modern design that`s unique among the 600-plus homes in Winding Creek subdivision.
In the front of the house, a stairway separates a 15-by-12-foot formal dining room from the 14-by-12 sunken living room, which has lighted, recessed nooks on both sides of the picture window.
”We practically live in the back of the house,” Mrs. Hans said. There, the 20-by-15 family room, the large, open kitchen and the 17-by-12 den look out over a nicely landscaped back yard and deck.
Family room hangout
The family room has a stone fireplace flanked by thin mirrors that reach to the vaulted ceiling, where accent lights emphasize the height. A 13-by-12 loft with a wooden railing overhangs part of the room. ”The guys can play pool up there and the women sit down here and talk, but we can still see each other,” Mrs. Hans said.
The kitchen has two pantries, a roll-top desk, a built-in microwave shelf, and a Jenn-Aire cooktop with grill. Special features include designer ceramic tile, knickknack shelves built in on two sides of the cabinets and a wide, oak-trimmed, almond-toned countertop.
Glassed doors lead into the 17-by-12 den or office, which has crown molding and oak wainscotting.
The main-level bath has a platform for the restored antique, claw-footed tub with brass fixtures that match those on the pedestal sink.
Upstairs, the hallway gives an eye-level view of a wooden plant ledge above the front door. Stair-step windows-three of increasing height-admit sunlight for the greenery. These windows are balanced on the home`s exterior by matching stair-step windows in the 15-by-12 bedroom.
The 18-by-14 master bath has two mirrored-door double closets. The master bath, done in lilac-toned wallpaper that reaches up to a cathedral ceiling, has a double whirlpool, shower and French doors into the bedroom.
The second story also has a bathroom off the hallway and a second, 13-by- 12 bedroom.
The quality of workmanship a builder puts into his own home is a plus in this home, but Mrs. Hans believes it goes unnoticed. ”One thing we`ve been real surprised at,” she said, ”is that John Doe doesn`t realize what walls are made of, or that cabinets are upgraded, or that the furnace is 99 percent energy efficient. People are interested in decorating rather than in the guts of the house.”
But the TV exposure was beginning to pay off Sunday. After seeing the broadcast, Don and Bride Burke came from Woodridge to see the house in person. ”It`s a good idea,” Don Burke said. ”It makes looking for a house easier.”
