Joe Swiderski was semi-retired from home building, but found he missed it so much he decided to get back into the game.
“I enjoy doing it. … It is a challenge. To do something different in each home is interesting,” he said, guiding a visitor through the Joseph Developers Inc. entry in the 2006 Cavalcade of Homes opening Saturday at Springbank in Plainfield.
The “something different” in this house meant eliminating a “sunroom that didn’t seem necessary” to Swiderski.
Instead, the builder used the space marked sunroom on the blueprint to construct a 12-foot-wide stairway from the first-floor family room to the basement below.
“It makes the lower level part of the house” giving a more open feeling to the 3,450-square-foot home, said Swiderski, of Morris.
The stairway also provides easy access to one of the most eye-catching displays of showmanship in this year’s Cavalcade–a room with a custom bar that recreates a 1920s-style Chicago bar with a brick street scene outside the door.
Swiderski is one of 11 builders participating in this year’s edition of the Cavalcade, which runs through Aug. 13. Sponsored by the Northern Illinois Home Builders Association, the show is being billed as “Illinois’ most elaborate custom-home tour.”
Sponsors of two other metro-area home shows will differ with that claim, but there is little doubt that Cavalcade participants are packing in as much detail as they can–while trying to keep an eye on the bottom line.
The fast-growing southwest suburbs are arguably the most competitive corner of the metro area.
The Springbank development where the show is located is planned for more than 1,000 homes and has 50-odd builders.
“The amount of competition is phenomenal,” said Gary Schmidt, president of Naperville-based Ivy Homes, a participant in the last three shows.
Like the others in the show, Schmidt hopes to sell his entry to one of the 30,000 to 36,000 people expected to tour the homes.
Perhaps mindful that Springbank, with a 9-acre aquatic center and 24-hour fitness center, is likely to attract young families, the look of the Cavalcade homes is closer to upper middle management than robber baron. Prices range from $500,000 to $950,000.
Most are two-story residences, and several have main-floor master-bedroom suites. Minooka-based S&S Custom Homes is showing the only ranch-style house and dresses it up with a modestly scaled turret on one corner.
Avian Homes of Plainfield offers perhaps the most unusual architectural entry–a residence with bungalow-style influences and chunky stone pillars on the front.
But if the builders have been cautious in stepping too far from rooflines and front facades familiar to upscale suburban buyers, they have shown less reticence in making those exteriors more elaborate.
Most are using a minimum of three materials–brick, stone and siding. Several homes are combining as many as five materials when counting stucco and copper trim. The results are decided mixed. Sometimes the combination serves more as distraction than visual enhancement.
Inside the houses there are miles of molding and wood trim, plenty of niches and columns and two-story spaces for drama. Swiderski’s home, for example, has a balcony around the upper half of the two-story family room.
“People are wanting to put more into the inside of the home,” said Schmidt, of Ivy Homes. “They like to see a lot of trim and a lot of moldings. That and kitchens.
“They want the kitchen of tomorrow whether they cook or not. They want the kitchen to be the focus of the house.”
That assessment was shared by other Cavalcade participants.
There is emphasis on well-appointed and downright lavish kitchens with large islands and the latest appliances.
The Ivy Homes model literally puts the kitchen in the center of the house. A cathedral ceiling with skylights adds to the “wow” factor in the kitchen by James Scott Custom Builders.
But the builders did not rely solely on beautiful kitchens, which now are a standard in home shows.
Several turned to new materials or a subtle twist of a familiar feature to stand apart.
A two-story custom wood fireplace mantel in the family room of the Ivy Homes house will likely compete with the kitchen for showgoers’ attention, as will touches such as decorative glass doors to the study and the master bathroom.
Scott Eckstein, president of Naperville-based James Scott, opted for quartz countertops in the kitchen, master bath and laundry, “because it’s got some benefits over granite,” he said.
Eckstein also covered much of the first floor with oversize ceramic tile, not wood. As interesting, if more subtle, is the knotty pine built-in bookshelf with baseboard and chair rail and a heart pine floor in the den.
“We wanted to show it doesn’t have to be an expensive material to make it look rich,” Eckstein said.
A four-bedroom house, the James Scott home is one of several with a first-floor master suite. The arrangement provides some of the convenience of a ranch-style home with a bit more economy, Eckstein said.
The Real Properties home also offers a main-floor sleeping option. But in this nifty arrangement, the fifth bedroom is tucked away and has a shower room which opens to the powder room for a complete bath, should it be needed.
The Oak Brook company is among those using varying ceiling heights and treatments as a key part of the design. The home has a full basement with 9 1/2-foot ceiling and first-floor ceilings ranging from 9 to 12 feet. A rounded barrel ceiling is in the master bath.
Three-bay garages have become the norm. Swiderski of Joseph Developers adds a fourth–for car, boat or storage–by adding a bay at the front of the garage in a tandem arrangement.
“Everybody needs more room,” he said, adding that sales are made when the husband likes the basement and garage and the wife likes the kitchen, bath and walk-in pantry.
Though not every builder finished the basement, Noble Hill Custom Homes, Shorewood, was among those integrating the lower level into living space. The southwest suburban builder has a home theater in the 1,100-square-foot downstairs.
Noble Hill owner Russell Head opted for Brazilian chestnut wood on the first floor of the 3,250-square foot, four-bedroom house.
It is the only home with a front porch and 20-foot trees in the back yard.
“We thought it would make an impression, said Head of the trees. “One of the downsides in a new subdivision is that for a number of years you are dealing with immature landscaping.”
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2006 Cavalcade of Homes
– Sponsored by: Northern Illinois Home Builders Association
– What: Eleven custom houses priced at $500,000 to $950,000.
– Where: Springbank development, Plainfield
– Hours: Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily until Aug. 13. Ticket booth closes at 8 p.m.
– Price: Adults, $12; 62 and over, $10; kids under 12 free. Coupons for $2 off entrance price available on builder Web site. See below.
– Getting there: From Interstate Highway 55, exit at Illinois Highway 126 and go west past downtown Plainfield (about 3 miles) to Drauden Road. The Cavalcade is south of Renwick Road and north of Caton Farm Road.
– For further information: See www.nihba. com or call 630-978-9000.
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sstangenes@tribune.com
