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LBA's Parade of Homes opens doors to innovating designs, details

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Attendees to this year's Parade of Homes can see this Delavan home and art studio by Stebnitz Builders that were rebuilt from a barn and cottage. The home includes a 30-foot ceiling in the great room, Brazilian cherry floors, an elevator and a curved shower.

ELKHORN — If you’re thinking about building a home or renovating the one you have, you’ll want to attend the Lakeland Builders Association Parade of Homes. It’s held over two weekends: July 28-29 and Aug. 4-5. Ten homes will be open for touring from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is an hour earlier than previous parades, so you’ll even have time for breakfast ... which the LBA will provide at their office in Elkhorn.

A pancake breakfast will be served from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. July 28 only for a donation to the Walworth County Alliance for Children. The first 100 people will receive a free ticket for the Parade of Homes.

Kate De Lazzer, of Southern Lakes Plumbing and Heating Inc., is this year’s parade chair. She believes that people who have attended these parades in the past have even more reasons to schedule a tour this year.

Builders often develop a certain style of their own. They put their stamp on the structures they build in myriad ways, but De Lazzer points out, there are some builders on the parade who haven’t participated before.

“Plus, we have a couple homes on Whitewater Lake and that’s new,” she adds.

LBA’s Executive Officer Ann Pienkos also believes this is a good year to take a look at these homes. This year is a bit unusual, she said, in that there are no parade homes on Geneva Lake. “Yet, we have quite a few homes on lakes, both Lauderdale Lake and Whitewater Lake,” she said.

Lake lots can be notoriously challenging for builders, often including steep slopes, easements, drainage, zoning regulations and oddly shaped lots. Some can be long and narrow and others have a variety of issues including sight lines and environmental issues.

Audrey Boss, of Sweetwater Builders, said one of their two parade homes is built on a complicated lot with a very limited design capability, yet they made it work. “There are lake views from almost every room,” she said. “It goes to show what a little imagination and great styling can do.”

“If a person is considering building on a lake property, this is definitely an opportunity to take advantage of,” Pienkos said.

Thelen Total Construction, which has built many fine lake homes, has a farmhouse style home on this parade. Situated on a horse farm in rural Elkhorn, the home features graceful 19th century architecture and features.

While it’s a new home, the owner is doing some interesting things to make it look old, including using antique cabinets and fixtures.

“There are plenty of new, modern conveniences -- such as geothermal HVAC and low-maintenance siding and roofing and high-efficiency windows,” said Melody Thelen.

According to Thelen, this is the third home they’ve built that has space roughed in for future elevators. It could be part of the trend of aging-in-place design. When a person has the home of their dreams, they don’t want to move just because the stairs become problematic. Anticipating future needs is part of good design.

Jeff Auberger, of Preservation Homes Inc., is very excited about this year’s parade home for similar reasons. The energy-free home means the homeowners will never pay a utility bill again, he said. Plus, more than 90 percent of the dollars used to build this home were spent on American-made products.

“This is the greenest new home our company or anyone has built ... that we can build again and again,” Auberger said.

“I just think we have a great selection of homes this year, from small, medium to large; every style and size is well represented,” said De Lazzer.

As you look through this section listing each parade home, you’ll find a QR code (quick response code), which works like a bar code with your phone. Scan the code listed with each home and you’ll pull up a map for that location.

If you go

-- What: 23rd annual Parade of Homes

-- Sponsored by: Lakeland Builders Association, 1560 N. Country Club Parkway, Elkhorn

-- When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 28-29 and Aug. 4-5

-- Where: Ten homes in the Walworth County area

-- Tickets: $5 (12 and under enter free), available at the Parade Homes, at Piggly Wiggly stores in Delavan, East Troy, Elkhorn and Lake Geneva, and at Peoples Bank in Elkhorn, the Walworth State Bank in Walworth and the LBA office in Elkhorn.

-- Contact: (262) 723-2908 or go to www.lakelandba.com