2009 East Central Illinois Builders Showcase of Homes

The summer Showcase of Homes in the Champaign-Urbana area began this past Friday and continues through this weekend. This year it is located in the Liberty on the Lake subdivision in Savoy. We did a quick run through all six homes, but want to go back and do a more thorough examination, hopefully when it is less crowded.

Something different and exciting.

McGuire Custom Homes of Gibson City designed "The Abby" home with a metro feel that was a stark contrast to its more traditional exterior. Reds, blacks, grays, with glass tiles and chrome dominated the first floor color scheme. The lighting was superb, especially in the kitchen area.

Click here for the listing information. The pictures shown here came from their information sheet. It was difficult to use our camera with so many people roaming around. The company took a risk in this conservative community, but we thought the interior was a pleasant change from many of the carbon copy suburban homes surrounding it. We did think they could have been a bit riskier with the exterior too.

We bet the show favorite will be Timbercreek Development's "House for Kids' Sake." Part of the proceeds of the sale of this home will go to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Champaign/Ford Counties. This home evoked a very comfy, family-friendly feeling. Jim Walder always pays attention to the little details and that's what makes his homes more attractive over similar competing traditional style homes.

The odd-ball home was "The Liberty Bell". The builders and decorators were bold using a dark blue as an exterior color, and multiple colored walls in the interior open floor plan. Personally, it just didn't work for us, but it did for someone, because that house is already sold.

Teal seemed a popular color with the decorators this year. It might be fine for walls and accessories, but we'd recommend staying away from that color when it comes to furnishings. Save your money. We believe its popularity will wane in a few short years, as it did in the late 1950's.






Our disappointments continue to be the same as previous shows. Lots in the subdivisions are small for these homes, and thus the garages and driveways must face the front. Three car garage doors and massive concrete take all the impact away from the front entries as far as we're concerned.

We also hate, hate, hate (and yes we mean to use the strong language) siding on exterior chimneys. Fake veneer brick would look better than vinyl or concrete siding. Or simply omit the chimney completely. Those new gas fireplaces don't even require them.

Our Marketing Award goes to Stefanie Pratt, listing agent for "The Stefani". Pictures of her were discretely hanging on many of the walls, as family portraits. Also, note the name of the home. Love that subliminal advertising!

Checking out some Real Esate

We didn't feel much like shopping this weekend, so we decided to spend Sunday afternoon roaming through several area real estate open houses. D. sold real estate for over 28 years and has renovated and resold many residential and commercial properties. C. is contemplating buying a new place in the near future, but he's hoping to wait until the market bottoms out to get a better deal.


One Realtor had baked chocolate chip cookies and the odor hit our noses before we got to the front door. Although many Realtors suggest doing this to make the property seem homey, D. is always suspicious that it is masking an odor that cannot be removed (i.e. pet urine, mildew). Have the cookies available for prospective buyers, but don't overdo the aroma thing. It can have the opposite effect of what you're trying to accomplish. The odor question distracted us from enjoying the otherwise comfortable, stylish home.


Another property was fairly new and most of the furnishings had been removed, but the lower level was strewn with children's toys. The owners or Realtor should have stored or organized the toys before the public entered the area. A jumbled mess of toys all over a room in an otherwise empty house says that perhaps the whole house looked like this when they lived here, and if so, how well has this house been maintained?


D. had been known to make beds, hide dirty laundry, put away toys and pick up dog poop before an open house. These Realtors perhaps just didn't have the experience yet to know how to get a property sold. The trick is not showing the public how you really live.


We really enjoyed walking through a beautiful two story brick 1920's Georgian home. The owners and Realtor did this open house the correct way. Everything was clean, put away, and odor-free. All the lights were on, the hardwood floors shined, and even the yard looked good despite the still somewhat unattractive time of year. D. had actually sold this house a couple times and it was interesting to her to see how the house had looked good once, fallen into disrepair, and now looked great again. We predicted that the Georgian house would sell fairly quickly compared to the other two properties. It was well maintained, decorated tastefully, but not bland, and showed well.