House Proud: See the Variety of Styles Dallas Builders Will Showcase in Charity Home Tour
If you like to spend the weekend house-gawking, you're in luck. The Dallas Builders Association is holding its annual home showcase Saturday, May 4, with seven open houses stretching from near Love Field in Northwest Dallas to Preston Hollow to near White Rock Lake. It's the second year in a row the builders trade group has held its Parade of Homes, after putting the annual event on hiatus for a decade after the Great Recession.
This year there are more houses with a greater variety of styles, from a Mediterranean mega-manse to an industrial-style home with modern commercial features. "Each home in this scattered-site, self-guided tour will be fully decorated and landscaped, featuring the very finest in innovative homebuilding and custom craftsmanship," said builders' association president Matt Robinson. "Visitors will be able to tour these luxury homes, experiencing state-of-the-art technology, energy efficiency and architectural design."
Proceeds from the tour will go to Operation Finally Home, a charitable organization that provides custom mortgage-free homes to combat-wounded U.S. military veterans and their families.
The custom builders who participate in the tour are showing off their work while drumming for clients for new business. "That's my hope," said builder Matt Mitchell, who builds two or three custom homes a year. "It's great exposure to get me some jobs down the line."
More than 500 people toured the five houses on the tour in 2018.
Builder Michael Turner helped kick off the program last year and said he's eager to participate again. "It was my idea to bring back the Parade of Homes a couple of years ago," Turner said. "I almost always sell a build job each time I do it." Don't expect to see starter houses on the Saturday tour. The properties start in price at about $700,000...
