Showtime From Practical Ideas To Impressive Extravagance, There’S A Little Bit Of Everything At This Year’S Showcase Of Homes
The perfect home show would offer something for everyone: extravagant features guaranteed to generate oohs and aahs, along with practical ideas most folks could afford to incorporate into their own kitchen or family room.
The perfect home show would offer the diversity of prices and the range of designs typical of a scattered-site event, but without the mileage and confusion inherent in cruising all over the countryside in search of the elusive “Home No. 21 — The Hideaway.”
The perfect home show would look something like…well, actually, something like this year’s Showcase of Homes, which opens today and continues through June 21.
Half of this year’s 10 display homes are in Eagle Ridge, a subdivision five minutes south of downtown Spokane and just off U.S. Highway 195.
The other homes are five miles farther south on U.S. 195 at The Ridge at Hangman.
Both developments are hilly sites held in place by native Ponderosa pines. And both are close to fairways — Eagle Ridge is near The Creek at Qualchan and the new, nine-hole Latah Short Course, while The Ridge overlooks Hangman Valley Golf Course. (In fact, one home’s back yard is just a seven-iron away from Hangman’s No. 4 green, as workers can attest.)
Both developments have miles of jogging paths. Both have homeowner fees to help maintain common areas.
What distinguishes them is density. The smaller of the two - 527-acre Eagle Ridge - eventually will accommodate 2,500 homes on compact lots. The Ridge at Hangman has just 240 large lots scattered among 930 acres.
Predictably, all that elbow room isn’t cheap.
“The Ridge is designed to be an upscale neighborhood - to create snob appeal,” explains Ridge sales manager Shane Delaney. “The average three-bedroom, two-bath rancher isn’t going to cut it here. A home has to have some gingerbread on it. That’s where our (design) covenants come in.”
Lots at The Ridge cost $65,000 to $140,000, and houses start at $300,000.
Back at Eagle Ridge, lot prices range from $35,000 to $45,000, and houses go for $125,000 to $325,000. That puts them within the range of typical new homes sold in Spokane County this year, which average $163,000, according to the Association of Realtors.
While The Ridge at Hangman’s sales manager stresses proximity to local hospitals - “We like to let people know that,” says Delaney, “because we get a lot of doctors that buy here” - Kim Whitman, development manager at Eagle Ridge, takes a different tack: “This is a street of affordable dreams where real people can find homes in a variety of price ranges.”
But, frankly, none of this year’s show homes at either site qualifies as a starter. Of the four already sold, two cost over $500,000. Among the six still available, prices range from $217,000 to $485,000.
And almost all are stock plans tweaked to fit site conditions or owner preferences.
Still, count on finding plenty to drool over, along with clever details that don’t cost a Harvard tuition. Here’s where you’ll find them:
The Ridge at Hangman
Upon entering builder Lori Gray’s $500,000-plus “Seven Gables,” three features compete for attention: a Rapunzelesque spiral stairway (by Anderson Iron Works) leading to a loft office; a grottolike indoor swimming pool at the foot of a long, stone-flanked stairway; and a verdant view of Hangman Valley Golf Course beyond a two-story wall of glass.
But don’t be too distracted by these fanfares or you’ll miss the custom home’s other fanciful details - like the television hidden behind a vanity mirror in the master bathroom. Flip the TV on by remote control, and - voila - the mirror disappears.
And check out the “distressed” tile and glass (by Janet Phillips of Interior Systems) in the main-floor guest bathroom, and the glass mantel above the central fireplace.
Gray, a frequent home show participant, describes “Seven Gables” as the most challenging home and the toughest site she’s ever taken on. Her intriguing solution was designed by Spokane architect Jon Sayler.
Jim Reugh is one of three builders in this year’s home show with two entries.
His “Kensington IV” overlooks the approach to Hangman’s No. 4 green in grand style, thanks to an expansive covered deck and generous pool area.
In fact, everything about this $500,000-plus home is XXL - the master suite closet, the kitchen pantry, even the interior doors, which measure a foot taller than normal.
Among the home’s special touches are the trompe l’oeil wall and ceiling mural in the main-floor powder room and the glass-block sunken bar in the daylight basement.
The kitchen features dark cherrywood cabinets, black granite counter tops and black appliances. The library off the informal eating area is lined floor to ceiling with cherry bookshelves.
Next door in Reugh’s traditional “Villa Serena” (also sold, but entered in the show’s “under $500,000” category), the color scheme is basic white - floors, walls, wood trim. Skylights illuminate the upstairs hall leading to the over-the-garage “bonus room,” a popular feature in this year’s home show.
Across the street, builder Jim Thompson’s $485,000 “Le Pavillion” blends a swooping front gable, shutters, cultured stones, clinker bricks and synthetic stucco to conjure a “French country” ambience. The effect is enhanced by designer Curt Schimanski’s decision to conceal the doors to a three-car garage.
Inside, the home has a spacious, well-appointed country kitchen and a “great room” with natural gas fireplace and 16-foot ceiling.
Like several other homes in The Ridge subdivision, this one is heated and cooled with an efficient, closed-loop geo-thermal system that extracts warmth from the ground in winter and dumps excess heat there during the summer.
Builder Greg Sicilia’s $442,900 “The Victoriana” next door suggests a Queen Anne pedigree with a large, octagonal turret anchoring one corner.
The Victorian theme is reinforced by the floral carpet and stained-glass skylight just inside the front door.
The combination kitchen-family room features Brazilian cherry floors, cherry cabinets and a marble fireplace.
Eagle Ridge
Working with small lots is a mixed blessing, says builder Gerry Morse.
On one hand, it spreads the cost of roads, utilities and other services among more homeowners, helping keep lots affordable.
But it also means squeezing the amenities that buyers expect in a $200,000-plus home onto what starts feeling like a postage-stamp-size patch of land.
“The biggest challenge is when people want a three-car garage, which takes 32 feet plus setbacks,” Morse says. “It’s hard to get nice curb appeal when you’re mostly looking at garage doors.”
Morse opts instead for a two-car garage tucked underneath the living room of his $245,000 “Garden Party” and lavishes special attention on the backyard landscape, including a water feature and gazebo.
Inside, he staggers floors to break up the home’s long, curving flight of stairs.
Across the street, Morse’s $228,000 “Timberlake” has a more casual, “woodsy” feel, with a cultured stone fireplace, solid cedar doors and earth-tone wall and floor treatments.
Bill Graham of Castlewood Homes also has two entries in this year’s show: “The Chalet” at $264,999 and “The Heritage” at $217,000.
Graham already has built 20 homes in Eagle Ridge and is comfortable with the development’s range of compact lots. Instead of encouraging everyone to build similarly priced ranchers, he says, Eagle Ridge accommodates “niche builders” who can cater to different segments of the home-buying market.
His “Chalet” is aimed at financially comfortable empty-nesters. It includes a master-bedroom suite and den/guest bedroom on the main floor, raised-panel cherrywood cabinets in the kitchen, lots of tile, and rope lighting recessed in the coffered dining-room ceiling.
Graham kept “The Heritage” more basic but with plenty of room for a family to spread out. The bonus room off the stairway landing and the second-floor laundry room are thoughtful touches.
“The Liberty” by WESBAR Construction is a daylight rancher with what builder Ron Barnes calls “a nice, practical kitchen that didn’t cost oodles of money.” The kitchen includes lighted cabinets and a trash compactor in the island, a double oven and a sunny breakfast area.
Elsewhere, the $200,000 custom home includes a see-through natural gas fireplace between the living room and master bedroom and a frost-free hot-and-cold hose connection in the garage.
HOME SHOW The annual Showcase of Homes opens today and continues through June 21 at Eagle Ridge and The Ridge at Hangman, both south of Spokane off U.S. Highway 195. Hours are 3-9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $6, with children 12 and under admitted free. Seniors 62 and older pay half price on Wednesday. Additional information is available from the Spokane Home Builders Association at 532-4990.