2004 Parade of Homes showcases builders' work

by Michele Skalicky

SBJ Contributing Writer

sbj@sbj.net

This year's Greater Springfield Home Builders Association Parade of Homes will offer a wide variety of unique features in the 13 houses that are part of the annual event, including log siding, a large sauna and a clay-tile roof.

The public can visit the Parade of Homes free of charge from 1-6 p.m. on June 4-6 and June 11-13. The houses are all completed and some are furnished. Some have already been sold and others are still awaiting buyers.

Houses in the Parade of Homes include both custom and speculation and range in price from $154,900 to more than $600,000.

"We really enjoy having homes in a lot of different price ranges," said Charlyce Ruth, the HBA's office manager. "Obviously, a $600,000 home is going to have different features than a $154,000 home. But for $154,900, you can get a lot of home with some really neat things."

While the HBA would always like to have more homes in the parade, Ruth said, they have a variety of homes. "No two are alike," she said. "You can see a lot of variety."

Several of the homes have basements, both finished and unfinished, which Ruth said is popular. And the parade features both one- and two-story homes.

Houses that will be featured are on the outskirts of Springfield as well as in Willard, Rogersville and Ozark.

Besides giving the public the chance to view a variety of building styles and get ideas for homes they might want to build, the Parade of Homes helps the builders who participate.

"The parade is an opportunity for some of the premiere builders in Springfield to show off what they can do," said Ruth.

Builders pay three-quarters of a percent of the sales price of the homes they enter into the parade with a cap of $2,000. The pay-off is in either the actual selling of the home that's in the parade or in making contacts for future work.

"Builders can talk to the public. They can show them different features of the home," said Ruth. "It's just really hands-on. People can really see what a builder is capable of doing."

Kim Haase, with Haase Building & Development, has had a home in HBA Parade of Homes for at least 10 years. This year, his featured home is in Fox Creek subdivision just east of Willard. The $189,000, two-story home features four bedrooms, three baths, a brick, stone and vinyl exterior, a triple-car garage, a patio and deck, hardwood and tile floors, and a whirlpool in the master bath. Fox Creek, which has 132 homes, is sold out, but Haase hopes people who tour the home in Fox Creek will check out a new subdivision he started a short distance from there.

"(The house) gets a lot of traffic, and people may think weeks or months down the road, I was out there, I liked the area, and now we're ready for a house' or they'll tell a friend or relative, and I think it helps in that regard," Haase said.

Linus Campbell, with Campbell Homes, also is a longtime HBA Parade of Homes participant. This year he is showing off a home in the San Poppi addition of Millwood, which is in the $600,000 price range.

The home, at 3902 E. Knollwood, has a 4,000-square-foot main floor and has 800 square feet upstairs. The house has an oversized four-car garage, a clay tile roof, a large built-in sauna upstairs, granite countertops, 3,000 square feet of wood floors, a master closet with a 14-foot-high ceiling and a rolling library ladder.

Campbell is pleased with results he's gotten from past parades. Last year, his home sold in the first two hours, and Campbell said three or four other people would have bought it that day if it hadn't already found a buyer. But most of the homes he has in the parade are already sold before the event begins. Campbell participates because of the exposure it gives him.

"You get a lot of people in your homes," he said. "True, a lot of them aren't ever going to buy one of these houses that I've built, but they go around talking all over town and spreading the word of what they see."

The home in San Poppi will be furnished by Linda Shaeffer of Habersham Interiors. "Having it furnished helps a lot," Campbell said. "It makes the house feel like a home, and Linda does a great job."

The parade helps interior designers as well, he said. "They get a lot of work off the exposure."

Campbell, who is chairman of the HBA parade committee, said they'd love to have more houses in the parade, but he said it's hard for builders to get them done in time for the event.

Those who participate as builders in the parade must be members of the Greater Springfield HBA and must have their homes finished by the time the parade begins.

The parade is in its 50th year. It began the year the Greater Springfield HBA was formed, and has been held every year since, said Ruth. The event has come a long way since its inception. The first year only one home, built by a group of builders, was featured, she said.

The largest home in this year's parade, one built by Sam Watts of Homes by Sam Watts, Inc., is 5,000 square feet with three bedrooms, two baths and an unfinished basement.

"The parade highlights some of the premiere communities in the greater Springfield area," said Ruth. "It's one of our favorite events."