Annual Parade of Homes Tour, Part 1

Last weekend I attended the annual Builder's Association of Northeast Indiana Parade of Homes tour. What fun! There were eight homes and one business that were recently constructed or remodeled. I have been attending this event for probably close to 15 years and have missed only a very few years. I blogged about this last year here, here and here. I also posted about the charming town where the tours originate, Angola, Indiana.

You can click on any picture to enlarge and see the details.

The first home I toured was the Pearl Bay Bed and Breakfast on Coldwater Lake in Michigan. This is the first year that the Builder's Association allowed remodels in the tour, and I am so glad I did or otherwise I would not have been touring this exceptional home. This home was built in 1929, and the remodel and add-on reflect the original features of the home. The builder Musson Builders saved bricks and wood from the walls that were torn down in order to construct the new added part of the home. Isn't the picket fence adorable?


The led us directly into the new part of the home and the new master bedroom suite. This picture does not do it justice as the room had an incredibly light, airy feeling. The floors are a dark hardwood, and decoration was minmal creating a beachy feel. With the double doors opened, I truly felt as if the master bedroom was part of the outside, and part of it actually was, as you will see!


Can you imagine sleeping at night with the doors open like this, feeling the breeze and waking up to this view? Sounds a bit like heaven to me.


Here is the vanity area of the bathroom, incorporated into the suite. This leads to a wonderful shower with a rainfall shower head. There is actually a door in the shower which leads to...


...this outdoor shower! Oh, how I loved this feature! Can you imagine taking a shower in this little nook overlooking the lake? I think outdoor showers are so cool, and a bit of oo la la sexy!


Back inside, a stairwell led to a guest bedroom upstairs which was also part of the new addition. This room was also very large, open and breezy. It was 95 degrees that day, but the room felt cool even without central air. The home was decorated by the owners, and I loved this antique bed they owned.


I could imagine myself sitting in the little nook near the window, reading by the sunlight as I sat in the comfy chair.


Here is another bedroom in the home.


The stairway led back downstairs to the living room. Notice these lovely windows, original to the home. These windows are recreated in the new addition, and even in the garage!


A big sun porch the length of the original part of the house led out to the lake.


Pretty, isn't it? Although I didn't get any pictures, on the lake level, there is a big storage unit and a Tiki Bar! There is also a spigot at the edge of the stairs so that bathers can rinse their feet off after leaving the sandy beach.


One of my favorite features was this outdoor kitchen. The owner was making cookies and pizza for all of the tour guests in his outdoor oven. One of the best features was an outdoor fan rigged to a beam which swung around so that it could be positioned to service several different areas of the adjacent dining area. I didn't get a pic because the builder was demonstating how it worked. Outdoor kitchens are very unusual in this area because of the harsh winters and short summer season. However, this was built with very durable materials such as concrete countertops. They have to be durable to withstand temps as low as -15 degrees!

I so enjoyed my visit to the Pearl Bay Bed and Breakfast! If I lived there, I would never want to leave during the summer! I asked if there was a website for the home so that I could be a guest at the Bed and Breakfast, but was then told that this was merely the title of the property. It wasn't actually a working bed and breakfast? Wah!

Another home I toured was the Lakeview on Crooked Lake in Indiana by RCI Developers. I believe I heard a representative say that it was for sale in excess of $600,000. It was in a gated area, adjacent to the Crooked Lake Beach Club. I was disappointed that the rooms were really not decorated much, some not at all, but some of the features were so outstanding that I wanted to share them with you.


Here was the living room with a view of the lake.


A charming dining nook:


Here is a better view of the lake.


There was a great kitchen.


And also the laundry room of my dreams.


I would love to have had a mudroom like this for all my kids! It's incredible.


It had a great bathroom. There is another vanity just like this on the other side of the tub.


It had a nice shower. Hard to see from this pic.


Several of the homes had pretty doors just like this. This particular door led to this...


...the most incredible and spacious walk-in closet that I have ever seen! I love the idea of that high bar, so high that you need the hook to take your clothes down! I think you could own a ton of clothes and still have room for everything. Maybe you could just have the hubby put his clothes there. Ha!


Though this house was not directly on the lake, there was a little road for golf cars that led to the Crooked Lake Beach Club, directily on the lake. It was cool to take a ride down the hill and through a tunnel under the road and coming out onto the patio of the club. It was not really a big building, but it had a full kitchen with indoor and screened outdoor eating areas, a storage area so that people could store their beach equipment over the winter, a sandy beach, a firepit area, and it could be accessed for residents to have parties and get togethers. It made it almost as good as living right on the lake.

Well, that concludes part one of my tour. I will feature several other homes, but not all of them as I did last year. Some were merely spec homes that weren't even furnished for the event or unremarkable. You know I would only save the best for you!

Tune in for the next two parts, and don't forget to enter my giveaway in my prior post in honor of my 200th post!