Five Design Concepts from the Columbus Parade of Homes

This year's parade of homes is once again in Dublin at the far north west side of Columbus. Central Ohio builders feature 11 custom designed, luxury homes. I really enjoy walking through these beautifully staged residences. Not only do you see the latest home technology, but you also get new ideas for how to improve your own home.

The Columbus Parade of Homes is open till July 22, 2009 from 12 pm to 9 pm every day except on Sunday (close at 6 pm). The Parade website is: http://www.biaparade.com

So, let me tell you the 5 design features I noticed at most of these homes.

1. Great Rooms Connected to the Kitchen, instead of formal living rooms near the entrance to the home. I noticed that most homes came with exquisite basements including wine cellars, bars and home theaters to entertain. Great rooms come with a fire place, are sometimes subdivided into sitting areas and and have easy access to the patio.

2. Large Open Kitchens with Industrial Strength Appliances. Stainless steel is not good enough anymore, everything has to be huge, including the gas stove and the double door refrigerator. Countertops and sinks use materials typically found in chemistry labs and industrial places.

3. Everyone Gets their Own Full Bathroom. In a 2009 the rooms of your home resemble a hotel suite with separate bathrooms for each of the bedrooms and large walk in closets. Additional full bathrooms can be found in the basement (workout room).

4. Utility Rooms for Housekeeping. You won't find a tiny mud-room when you enter the home from the garage. Instead, builders designed serious housekeeping rooms that come with lots of closet space, a work desk for your computer, a built in washer-dryer combination, as well as a sink.

5. Backyard Extravaganza. The patio with a fire ring has been replaced by various structures, such as swimming pools, tavern-like backyard bars with built in barbeque grills and chimneys with built in fireplaces more than 10 ft high.

At the Columbus Parade of Homes you will find houses priced between $599,000 to $949,000. This is clearly quite expensive for Columbus OH. These luxury homes offer between 3,516 sqft and 5,700 sqft of living space. In average these homes are priced around $170 per sqft.

If that's out of your price range, we have some alternatives for you, just minutes away from the Columbus Parade of Homes.

First, we have a home on 14620 Smart Cole Rd just 5 minutes from the Parade. It sits on a 1.5 acre lot (much larger than most lots of parade homes), and it is custom built with more than 2,200 sqft living space. It's priced at $245,000 which is a great value for this wonderful residence.

The other home is at Bethel Road/Riverside Drive area. It's a California Ranch at 5400 Harvest St , has been completely remodeled and comes with a 1/2 acre lot. It is listed for only $180,000. What a value for that price.