WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES.
Just a year ago, Chicago-area buyers could look forward to gawking through a full lineup of new home shows. Three home builder organizations had planned showcases of model houses for the summer and fall.
Serious show-goers bought comfortable walking shoes and marked calendars for the Gallery of Homes in July, Cavalcade of Homes in August and the Parade of Homes in October.
Buyers with the time and interest could fill the time between those events with a number of smaller shows sponsored by developers or tours at scattered sites, such as one devoted to luxury homes.
Even the city of Chicago got into the act and hosted its first Cavalcade of Homes, spotlighting new urban developments with affordable housing.
But the explosion of showcases occurred as new-home sales were stumbling. And as sales slacken this year, the number of major home events for 2007 has dwindled to one big single-site show — the Gallery of Homes, which opens Saturday and runs through July 15 at the Highland Woods development in northwest suburban Elgin.
Nine custom builders are participating in this year’s event, sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Greater Fox Valley, Crown Community Development, DuPont Tyvek and DuPont Corian.
Ranging from 3,660 to 4,476 square feet and priced from $630,000 to $995,000, the 2007 entries are slightly smaller and more affordable than the “million-dollar babies” which kicked off the home-show season one year ago. But Sara Erickson, assistant executive vice president for the Fox Valley builders’ group, expects this show will draw 20,000 people, twice the number who attended last year.
Last year’s homes were planned and constructed to ride the tidal wave of sales for large, status-conscious houses, a trend which, unfortunately, already had begun to ebb. Participants in the 2007 showcase say this year’s homes are geared a bit more toward young couples with children.
“We think this development will be family-oriented,” said Jason Brooks of DeMarco Custom Homes of South Elgin, a first-time participant.
Let’s be clear though, these will be affluent young families if they opt to buy the models or pay to duplicate the many displayed upgrades in a home of their own. In fact, several of the builders said they expect these houses to be used not only as models but sales offices for the next couple of years as they build homes elsewhere in the development.
The residences are among the first of more than 1,000 homes planned for Highland Woods, which is on 488 acres three miles west of Randall Road.
To appeal to that family demographic, DeMarco is showing houses distinguished by such features as a wraparound front porch and a knotty-pine paneled library or study. The many windows at the back of the home from the main floor children’s playroom, family room and a room off the kitchen overlook a pond and a sprawling red elementary school that is under construction.
DeMarco’s is but one of the homes with eye-catching bedrooms that will delight children and their parents, whether they are looking for a new home or simply decorating ideas.
In one second-floor bedroom, a propeller juts out where the front of a single-engine plane has been painted on the wall.
Even more elaborate is the African scene painted on one wall of the bedroom in the home by Clearwater Custom Homes. A toy train which runs on a shelf around the perimeter of a room is featured in the Stade Homes by Jelinek model.
I don’t know what it says about young families or society at large that public conversation rooms such as living rooms are smaller than ever-larger master bathrooms. In this show, many of the private baths rival the size of master bedrooms.
Elgin-based Abigail Homes shows a master bath that is 14 by 16 feet, adjacent to the 17-by-16-foot bedroom which opens to a 12-by-12-foot private sitting room. A television behind a mirror in the master bath can keep Mom and Dad up to date on the morning news while getting ready for work.
Stade Home by Jelinek, based in Bartlett, shows a spa master bath with a two-sided fireplace between the master bedroom and master bath, which is done in soothing tones of gray stone and river rocks. The large shower includes overhead rain tiles and body sprays.
The master bath shown by Reese Custom Residences of Batavia has a vaulted ceiling, a doorless walk-in shower and a morning coffee bar to get the residents going.
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Outside the houses, the decline of decks is evident, in favor of elaborate outdoor patios. Builder Frank Fulco Jr., president of Clearwater Custom Homes, Elgin, explained it succinctly:
No-maintenance decking such as Trex, which most buyers demand, is “so expensive that you go with the pavers,” he said.
One exception was the Stade Home, which shows a very large deck, including a covered room-like outdoor space with a gas grill installed in the brick and stone of the fireplace.
The floor plans for the homes are familiar, but they include some real attention to detail and pleasant refinements.
The large hidden pantry behind a door that looks like part of the kitchen cabinetry in the Stade is a pleasant surprise.
The window seat or deep, deep sill in the living room at the John Hall Homes model serves as a cozy accent.
Acorn Properties, Geneva, is showing one of the smaller and most affordable homes with a memorable sliding-glass door to the outside on a landing on the stairs between the main floor and the basement. The entry is sensible and provides a flood of natural light both to the main floor and lower level.
Whether due to the current sales climate or the preferences of the buyers, there is little new in exterior design, though some of the homes are more pleasing than others.
Overstreet Builders of Bolingbrook shows a front facade with a strong turret, an element mostly hinted at by others. Most of the builders opt for a vaguely European, traditional look with great use of brick and stone.
One exception is the large New England cottage-style house by John Hall Homes of St. Charles.
The 4,000-square-foot English manor house shown by Timbermill Properties of South Elgin serves as one of the more striking entries, by partners Roger Greenhagel and Rodney Miller. Constructed with a front face of reclaimed Chicago brick and stone, the same materials are repeated in a wide masonry arch between the breakfast room and the family room inside.
“It’s different,” said Greenhagel of the $840,000 house. “Anything you see from us is out of the ordinary. We shy away from looking like the other homes.”
It is a strategy which worked for the builder last year when it participated for the first time in the 2006 Gallery of Homes.
Timbermill’s eye-catching large red brick plantation-style house sold for $1.5 million during the show and “we sold three houses from it,” said Greenhagel. “Last year’s Gallery put us on the map.”
2007 Gallery of Homes
– SPONSORED BY: Home Builders Association of Greater Fox Valley, Crown Community Development, DuPont Tyvek and DuPont Corian.
– WHAT: Nine custom homes from $630,000 to $995,000.
– WHERE: Highland Woods, Elgin
– HOURS: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Runs from Saturday through July 15.
– PRICE: $12 at the gate. All children under 12 years free. Coupon for $2 off in local paper or at www.buildfoxvalley.com or www.crowncommunities.com.
– GETTING THERE: Take Interstate Highway 90 west to Randall Road, exit south, continue to U.S. Highway 20/Lake Street. Go west past Coombs Road to Highland Woods entrance.
– FOR INFORMATION: www.buildfoxvalley.com or 630-566-2575.
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