Contractors

How Home Builders in MN use Parade of Homes to Get More Ideal Customers

Home builders in Minnesota are having a good couple years – and you can feel the sense of relief this last weekend at their BATC (Builders Association of the Twin Cities) “Parade of…

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Basement Kitchen -

Home builders in Minnesota are having a good couple years – and you can feel the sense of relief this last weekend at their BATC (Builders Association of the Twin Cities) “Parade of Homes,” as well as when we attended an award show for builders and remodelers recently. At this point – it seems, many of the them are booked up for the foreseeable future, so many of them are working on creating more capacity.

We got out and took a look at some of the gorgeous homes on display for Parade of Homes this past weekend – and we thought we’d share some of the gorgeous craftsmanship, a some excerpts from interviews we had with the builders themselves.

Along the way – we also asked about what makes the Parade of Homes so great for connecting with ideal customers – and builders and designers talked about everything from the low-pressure environment that allows people to get in and interact directly with their work, to being a part of BATC because of their work lobbying on behalf of construction and remodeling companies who otherwise might be too small to get the ear of government.

Trestle Home’s Accessible Modern Urban Farmhouse

I briefly chatted with Peter Crain from Trestle Homes – and he was super excited to do a home in Linden Hills. “We had some ideas we wanted to push out there as far as construction is concerned, and layout and design. One of the things was bringing the light in – lots of windows. We wanted to address that modern farmhouse style – sleek, less cluttered. I think we accomplished that in here!”

And they did – if you haven’t yet get out and check out the gorgeous open aesthetic they achieved this weekend if you get a chance.

Modern Urban Farmhouse Minneapolis

Modern Urban Farmhouse Kitchen

There were also a lot of accessibility features. “We call it lifestyle living – so no matter what kind of lifestyle you have, you can live in this home. So if you have an offspring with a disability, or you have a disability yourself, or if you’re planning on aging here – in place, and didn’t want to move after the kids moved out. Even if you have a parent or a grandparent that needs to move in. We designed it with 36 inch doors everywhere, a roll-in curtain-less shower, an elevator, access to the lower level garage – barrier free. All of that, was part of this philosophy – anyone could live here and be successful and have fun and enjoy it without having to move!”

Accessibility - Features -

Pop of color in a staging home - Parade of Homes Minnesota, Trestle Homes

As the mini-interview goes on, middle aged couple asked about the floor plan – seemingly impressed and wanting to take a little architectural inspiration.

I turned to Jessica Bliven – part of the interior design team at InUnison Design, and asked how you design a home with no particular subject matter (no specific client) in mind, how do bring some character into a home for showing – being that the home is still on the market.

“Keeping it neutral, keeping it fresh. We know a lot of people are attracted to the farm house feel, but we wanted to give it a modern feel, so it’s not out-dated. Like we’re already starting to see that the sliding barn doors that were popular two years ago is already starting to decrease. So we wanted this to be more ‘classic’ and timeless – 10 years ago this would’ve been amazing, and 10 years from now it will still be amazing.”

Highmark Builders Modern Lodge on the Lake

Brick backdrop

Stone and wood flooring

Kristen Schammel of Highmark homes had this to say about their recent modern/rustic new home build along prior lake – “The architecture of the home fits both of the personalities of the home owners – I think it gives a little bit of modern touches with the lodge, rustic feel. Carrying pieces of the outside in – natural materials. The overall selections just worked with the architecture. The brick on the floor, and the brick on the backsplash – this house has alot of texture. I love the stone with the wood tones – there’s a lot of wood tones in here, but they all just worked together.”

Why do you guys love the parade of homes? 

“Obviously to show our work. But for meeting people and talking to people about how we could potentially help them and their families on new homes or projects just in general – because we do new homes and remodels. Just design ideas – and to see what else is out there, different personalities and how that reflects on their home.”

Moosehead and stone - Parade of Homes Highmark Homes

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Sustainable 9’s Modern + Eco-friendly approach

Sustainable 9 loves modern design + eco-friendly features on the homes they build. The sleek details of their Prior Lake Parade of Homes feature were refreshing and impressive.

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Entryway Inspiration - Parade of Homes

Whether in the architecture, construction or in the interior decoration – the details mean so much! Whether it be the flow of this gorgeous laundry room that allows quick access to both bedrooms or the adorability of the wallpaper and accents.

Laundry Room - Sustainable9

Vince Birdsley with Sustainable9 showed us one of his favorite parts of the house – the 3 seasons porch. “There are lots of things that make it special – first and foremost, the view. We have this gorgeous view of Prior Lake – the star of the show… We’ve got all kinds of nooks and crannies – with special features you’ve probably never seen before. We’ve got this amazing outdoor space here – the screen porch. Great view of the lake, lots of cool little features in here. We’ve got the porch swing, a great space to hang out, you could really get 3 and a half seasons out of this room with the outdoor gas fireplace. A really comfortable space – screened in so you don’t have to worry about the bugs. You’ve also go access to get down to your backyard and your landscape.”

 

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TeePee for Kids - Room Sustainable

 

Gorgeous Views Parade of Homes

 

 

Partly – we wanted to check out some of these homes because we just recently re-did Sustainable9’s website – here’s the before and after!

 

Before and After - Sustainable9

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