Househunters, start your engines.
Next week marks the beginning of the home-parade season, a rite of summer for those who are dreaming of building or those who suffer from decorative curiosity.
An enormous range of housing is represented here, from first-time-buyer townhouses to million-dollar manses.
Home parades are known by various names, but their premise is this: Construct a group of homes by an assortment of independent builders in order to showcase their talents and diverse styles. Generally, the homes are furnished to the hilt and open to view. Afterward, most of them will go on the market.
The parades come in two flavors, single-site and scattered-site. The former usually are composed of a dozen or fewer residences on the same block. Attendees purchase tickets that grant them the right to browse door-to-door. Some of the single-site parades also sell food and provide non-housey entertainment.
Scattered-site shows are put together by groups of builders whose homes may be miles apart from one another, united for the event by shared advertising, promotional material and comprehensive maps. These parades are likely to feature model homes that would be open to the public anyway, but organizers say that scattered-site shows offer some advantages to both builder and buyer.
First, some of the builders in scattered site shows otherwise couldn’t afford to advertise, and thus might escape the notice of would-be buyers. Second, the expanded parade hours make the houses accessible to more visitors. Third, the homes’ inclusion in the parade literature provides buyers with a bigger, more unified view of just who is building what in a given region.
While some scattered-site parade homes are unfurnished, be advised that most show homes are fully decorated. Some of the most widely regarded interior designers in the area pull out all the stops for parade homes. Who knows, attendees might finally glean the answer to that age-old question: How do they manage to string all that fabric in so many directions and layers on those drapery poles, anyway?
Here is a tentative lineup of the season:
– June 8 through 16: The Seventh Annual Lake County (Ill.) Tour of Homes will feature 45 model homes in 20 communities. The townhouses and single-family homes, all of them furnished and decorated, are priced from $119,000 to $1.1 million.
Advertising to be published June 7 in The Tribune will feature details on the houses and communities; subsequent advertisements will appear in other newspapers, the organizers say.
Hours are noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For information, call 847-816-4663.
– June 15 through July 7: The Northern Illinois Home Builders Association’s annual Cavalcade of Homes will hold forth at the Eagle Brook Country Club in Geneva.
This is the most widely known of Chicago-area parades, and the most well-attended: Last year, upwards of 40,000 visitors walked through the fully decorated homes on display. This year’s affair will feature the works of 10 builders. The one- and two-story homes are priced from about $369,000 to more than $500,000.
A detailed look at each of the houses will be published in the June 8 issue of the Home Guide.
Tickets cost $6; $5 for senior citizens; children 12 and under free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, except July 7, when the show will close at 5 p.m. The last tickets are sold one hour before closing each day.
Eagle Brook Country Club is at Randall and Fabyan Roads. For information, call 708-393-4490.
– June 15 through 23: The Building Industries Association of Northwest Indiana will present its annual Parade of Homes at the Edgewood subdivision in St. John, Ind.
This year’s parade features six homes by six builders. The homes are priced from $188,000 to $230,000 and are furnished and decorated.
The event also will include a Home Improvement Tent that will feature 42 exhibits promoting products and services of remodeling companies and other members of the builders’ group.
Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for children ages 3 through 12. Edgewood is on 93rd Avenue, two miles west of Highway 41 in St. John. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. each day. For information, call 219-736-1575.
– June 29 through July 21: This is the first of two parades sponsored this year by the Home Builders Association of the Greater Fox Valley. The first Gallery of Homes will be held at the Black Walnut Trails subdivision in Sugar Grove. Eleven builders are constructing 13 homes priced from $325,000 to $425,000.
Black Walnut Trails is near Illinois Highway 47 and Bliss Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $3 for children 5 through 12 years old. For information, call the builders’ association, 708-879-8003.
– July 13 through 21: The Home Builders Associaton of Rockford will have 59 homes on view at its 1996 Parade of Homes. The homes, both furnished and unfurnished, are scattered throughout Ogle, Boone and Winnebago Counties.
For information, call 815-962-1148. In addition, plan books with details on all participants will be available at each of the houses in the parade.
Hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
– July 20 through Aug. 4: The Southwest Suburban Home Builders Association is hosting a Preview of Homes at the Broken Arrow subdivision in Lockport, featuring 11 homes.
The homes will range from townhouses and coach homes to high-end custom homes located in five neighborhoods within the Broken Arrow development. Shuttle buses will be available to take visitors to the various neighborhoods. Prices for the homes will range from $100,000 to more than $500,000, organizers say.
Admission is $6; senior citizens 62 and over, $5; children 12 and under free. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Broken Arrow is at 167th Street and Farrell Road in Lockport. For information, call 708-349-4242.
– July 27 through Aug. 4: Ten homes in 10 developments will be open during the La Porte (Ind.) Home Builders Associaton. Single-family houses and townhouses will be featured, priced from about $80,000 to $150,000, organizers say.
One of the homes will be raffled during the parade, with a local charity benefiting.
Local newspapers will have advertisements detailing locations, hours etc., during the course of the parade. Additional information is available from the home builders, 219-362-1678.
– Aug. 31 through Sept. 15: The Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago is finalizing plans for its annual City Parade of Homes, to be held this year on South Ellis Avenue in the North Kenwood/Oakland area. The same neighborhood hosted the parade two years ago.
This year 14 homes will be featured, built in a courtyard arangement facing one another. Ten completed and furnished single-family and two-unit homes will be in the front of the developed area; four completed “shells” available for purchase and customizing will be at the rear of the site.
The participants are still determining sales prices, but a builders’ group spokesman said that the homes will be priced up to $200,000.
For details, call the home builders at 708-627-7575.
– Aug. 31 through Sept. 22: The second installment of the two-parade summer planned by the Home Builders Association of the Greater Fox Valley will be at Crane Road Estates in St. Charles.
The six homes here will be priced from $850,000 to $1.2 million.
The development is on Crane Road at Illinois Highway 31. Hours and ticket prices will be the same as those for the group’s June 29-July 21 show. For information, call 708-879-8003.
– Oct. 5 through 14: The scattered-site Treasure Hunt of Homes is sponsored by several builders’ groups throughout the Chicago metropolitan area and will include housing ranging from townhouses to high-end custom homes.
Advertising inserts will appear in major newspapers during the run of the show. For information, call the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago, 708-627-7575.
