When you're building your first home, you all of a sudden have silly things like the Parade of Homes on your radar. Our builder has been talking about it for weeks, probably because Toll Brothers entered two homes this year. Two other builders also entered their homes in Hasentree, bringing the Hasentree parade home total to four. Although the vast majority of lots in Hasentree are owned by our builder, there are still a few builders who own and build on a small percentage of the lots. Since we couldn't resist checking out our future neighbor's houses and homes by other builders in Hasentree, these pictures chronicle our first time on the Parade route.
Step one: check on our own house, of course. Although it's not entered in the Parade of Homes (obviously), it's number one in our hearts and only a few steps off the Parade route, so we popped in. There was a little bit of standing water, but otherwise everything looked good! The Barbie Dream House is chugging right along!
Step two: check out the Stansbury by Toll Brothers that's near our house. We had seen it before, but it really came a long way in the past few weeks (probably in a rush to prepare it for the Parade), so it was cool to see all of the final touches. I think it's a really attractive home from the outside. The inside was beautiful as well. The hardwood floors were some of the prettiest I'd ever seen (I'm kicking myself now for not taking a picture). The floorplan was pretty cool too - the dining room and one of the bedrooms have circular walls. It's pretty awesome. One final note on this house, I think it would be great for a big family. It has a ton of bedrooms and a big playroom.
Overall Parade Grade: A
Of note, it won the award for best staircase. Here's the puffy blue ribbon to prove it.
I took a picture of these countertops because they're very similar to ours. Our granite either is this or is a not so distant cousin to this. We also chose the waterfall edge profile for our island, just like this island has, and the half bullnose edge profile for our perimeter countertops. Twinsies!
Here is the prize winning staircase
Step three: venture over to a Hasentree home not by Toll Brothers, but instead by Raleigh Custom Homes. We watched it as it (very quickly) came up over the past few months, so we were eager to see the finished product. Although we would probably give the floorplan about a C-, the interior finishes were really nice - probably an A or A-. The granite in the kitchen was white with glittery gray chunks inside - something I'd never seen before but was really beautiful. The house had tons of built-in bookshelves, unusually high bathroom counters (which were nice) and a nice custom master closet. For about 1500 square feet smaller than our house yet about the same price as our house, I think we'll stick with ours. Most importantly, the floorplan just sucked for our needs.
Overall Parade Grade: B
I do love this window though!
Step three: head to the back of Hasentree to check out this masterpiece by Bost Custom Homes. The curb appeal really wasn't there for me, although Ross loved it from the front, but it blew both of us away from the inside. This thing was as custom and tricked out as you could ever imagine on the inside. Unlike many Parade homes, its currently occupied and was custom built and designed with a particular family in mind.
Overall Parade Grade: A
How did this island not win an award? Yes, that table looking piece at the end is part of the island. So creative. So cool. Also, not pictured here (kicking myself again), the house had a skullery behind the kitchen with a second refrigerator!
The center column that the staircases revolve around. The staircase from basement to first floor and the staircase from the first floor to the second floor all revolve around it. It's so hard to explain, but it was so cool. Love the faux paint too!
TV in the master bath - something I've been talking about for years. Great minds think alike!
The super-custom mantle. I think it was sandstone! It looks like it won an award as well.
Only on the Parade...
Step four: head to the golf villa that Toll Brothers entered into the Parade. The floorplan on this house is so open that it feels incredibly spacious inside. The interior trimmings were pretty nice, but not out of this world.
Overall Parade Grade: B
This island won first place, so it was worth a picture. Also, the shape and size of it is a lot like ours, so we like it of course. Ours won't have this cool vegetable sink though.
Overall, despite the rain, we had a great time at our first Parade of Homes. We got a little bit of inspiration and got to explore a few houses in our neighborhood. Next weekend we're going to try to see a few outside of Hasentree. I really want to see the 2.5 million dollar custom home on Possum Track. If we go, I'll try to blog about it.
DISCLAIMER: "Parade Grades" are something I just made up, are completely subjective and have absolutely NOTHING to do with the HBA's real rankings of the homes. They represent the views of this barbie only. <3
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