Small Town Parade of Homes

Posted by Kristin Abraham Oct 18, 2006

Always interested in a Parade of Homes, I went to my hometown's showing last weekend and was pretty disappointed. We got a bit of a late start, and because it was a small town and one that my mom and I grew up in, we were stalled quite a bit chatting with the realtors and other gawkers. So we only viewed a few homes but after a while we realized that maybe seeing a few of them was basically the same as seeing all of them

Some of the homes were already lived in and some were brand new. The brand new ones were almost identical. The layouts were unique but nothing really outstanding. Not for the prices they were asking anyway. Every one had hardwood floors. And most of them had the same shag carpet in places, an off white base color with flecks of different browns. They were all painted a very neutral buff color. The more appealing ones had taken that buff a bit darker and had a nice warm tan color. Several, if not all, had some tile flooring in either the bathroom(s) or the kitchen. Granite counters graced every kitchen and most of the bathrooms too. Basically, the same thing over and over. I appreciate the quality that goes into homes now. I'm a fan of the hardwood flooring, the granite countertops, the tiled floors but it does get very, very boring. I would love to see a builder take some initiative and put some personality into a home. Sure you may not appeal to everyone looking to buy, but you really only need to appeal to one person, right? I think it would be so great to tour homes with a point of view, an artistic and architectural vision.

The tour did have some older homes that I enjoyed touring, most of them anyway. Obviously, I prefer the personality that someone brings to their living space. These homes were a bit dated, well one was actually quite dated as it was 90 years old and the owners had worked hard to keep that sentiment throughout the home.

My parent's neighbor's home was on the tour and it was interesting to see how they had taken advantage of an almost identical location. Their backyard was cleared of woods and an amazing view of the creek below was the focal point of over half of the rooms in the house. From their entrance was a huge solarium that lit up the entire house. It was stunning.

These "used" homes offered so much more value for the money in my opinion. They had nicer views with adult trees and landscaping. The updates had all been made with some additional touches such as hot tubs and a private workroom retreat.

The newer homes were al the same. Every floor plan was the same as the one before or a slight variation. The homes generally had good views of the town below but the views were either spoiled by other homes in the subdivision or the future threat of new homes. And there were no tall shade trees.

Personally, I much prefer the bigger city Parade of Homes. In my hometown there are some very expensive pieces of property with beautiful homes on them but everything seems generic. Whereas in the larger towns some builders do go out on a limb (granted a very safe one) and add a little flair to their buildings.