Columbus OH Parade of Homes — Dublin, OH — Last Weekend!

: Parade of Homes – Our Winner

The Mrs. and I hit the BIA Parade of Homes at Tartan Ridge, just north of Dublin last friday. This year, the builders were encouraged to focus on more traditional designs, ones that would mimic the look of 100-200 years ago (at least thats what one of the folks working at the Gossing model told me.

Did the builders hit the mark? Well, there is only so close that luxurious 5000 square foot homes in suburbs can go to mimic the humble homes of years gone by, with their lack of a 90 degree corners, and 7 foot ceilings (if you were lucky). I did wonder: How would Laura Ingalls Wilder have felt soaking in the giant tub of the glorious master suite in the Romanelli and Hughes model? I guess we’ll never know…

I would have to honestly agree with the judges as to the “winners”. The Kevin Knight model, the Duffy Homes model, and the Gossing Construction model were my 1-2-3. The New England Homes was a close 4th. They all hit the “traditional” theme spot on.

The Kevin Knight & Co. home was the unrivaled favorite for us. This year is the first time that we have gone back to see a model a second time. I think Mr. Knight thought he had a ready buyer, based on the amount of time we spent there. The Mrs. loves wide open spaces, natural surfaces, and DESPISES formal living areas, and the Knight home hit all those marks. It hadn’t sold yet as of our visit. I was somewhat surprised, but the more I pondered, the more I realized that his design did not have the typical large home appeal (read: Palatial). We talked to the builder, as well as the window contractor and the flooring artist. Kevin Knight described the design as ”seeing how close to the edge he could get without going too far”, or something like that.

Here are a few shots I took. I forgot to increase the resolution on the camera, or these photos might be better.

2nd floor technology area - Knight Model

Open living in Knight Model

Close up view of Kitchen Table

A local craftsman from Ostrander fashioned this table from timbers from a local barn. The hardwood floors also came from barn wood reclaimed from the same barn (you can see them in the photo below).