BAXTER VILLAGE BLOG

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You’re familiar with “comfort food.” The five designer houses featured in HomeArama, which opens today at Baxter in Fort Mill, S.C., are “comfort homes.” Nothing so everyday as mac and cheese, though more lobster bisque.

Broadly, the homes are interpretations of the American farmhouse, always familiar and welcoming. But several – Cyras and New Old Homes, for instance – interpret liberally and could hardly be more different from each other.

Color palettes are mostly subdued – you’ll see lots of grays, from dove to deep charcoal – and textures are lush and layered. In the SH Designer Collection home, a cowhide rug tops a seagrass rug in the family room. Weathered and reclaimed wood abounds, a popular trend in today’s furniture.

Like last year, the focus is on downsizing or “right sizing.” These homes range from roughly 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. As homes give up space, formal dining rooms give way to family dining spaces. The formal, wood-paneled office becomes a “flex” room, which also can accommodate overnight guests. Amazingly, though, kitchen islands seem to grow in size and style. In the David Weekley showhouse, the island is topped by a hand-finished walnut countertop adorned with farmhouse sink.

The houses in the showcase, sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Charlotte, are priced from about $520,000 to $649,900 – and three have been sold. Those homes were built for real families, and you’ll see real design choices they made.

When you visit, be sure to drive Baxter’s bustling Market Street.

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Last year’s HomeArama, featuring ‘right-sized’ homes instead of faux castles, was a hit. Organizers say visitors enjoyed the houses with more open floor plans and fewer extraneous rooms than the event featured during the peak of the housing boom. Visitors appreciated the elegant but understated, family-friendly decor – and the price tags that didn’t soar into seven figures.

Those homes seemed designed for real families.

This year’s showcase builds on that, with some important additions: The five homes are crafted by different builders, not a single company like last year, ensuring more architectural diversity. And four of the five homes have already been sold, so they are, indeed, for real families. Real moms and dads with real kids and real budgets.

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Organizers are still working out some details but, if you look forward to HomeArama, go ahead and mark your calendar. The showcase of new homes is scheduled for early October at Baxter Village in Fort Mill, S.C. The show will build on the success of last year’s event, when “right-sized” homes drew more than 10,000 visitors. That provided lots of momentum, according to Diane Virkler of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte, and helped convince builders to participate this year.

The featured homes will be priced from about $525,00 to $625,000, similar to last year, but there’s an important difference. They’ll be built by five different builders, in five strikingly different styles.

The builders are Cyras Custom Homes, David Weekley, Evans-Coghill, New Old Homes and SH Studio Designer Collection by True Custom Homes. Last year the homes were built by a single company, the former Simonini Builders.

The homes are going up in a new phase of Baxter Village called the River District, which stretches south to the Catawba River from the heart of the large, planned development at Interstate 77 and S.C. 160. The section features large, wooded lots for buyers who want to hire their own custom builders. The 52 lots are among the last at Baxter Village, which is now home to nearly 1,300 families.

Kerri Robusto of Baxter Village said she visited last year’s HomeArama and realized the River District also would be an ideal place to feature high-end homes on a smaller scale. “It was such a different HomeArama,” she said, “with no multimillion-dollar homes… And people loved it.”

She pitched the idea to builders who, it turned out, were looking for an opportunity to showcase their ability to include custom touches in more realistically priced houses. Work has started on some – but not all – of the houses. Plans for interior decor aren’t complete. But architectural styles range from farmhouse to French country, from Gothic to English manor.

HomeArama will open Oct.8. I’ll pass along other details closer to the event.

HomeArama 2011 is all about right-sized luxury living for today. This is Charlotte’s largest, fully-decorated home tour, with five all-new home designs, furnished by some of the area’s most exciting design retailers. If you want to see the newest trends in luxury living, the best in interior and outdoor design, or are looking for remodeling ideas, then mark the date for HomeArama 2011.

Saturday, October 8 through Sunday, October 23, 2011.
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am – Entrance closes at 6pm -Homes remain open until 7pm. Closed on Mondays.

Ticket prices: Adult – $15, Seniors (62+) – $13, Children (12 and under) – Free

Our newest phase is now open in Baxter Village and features larger, wooded homesites which are perfect for the custom home of your dreams.  Choose a home plan from one of our exceptional approved builders, or start from scratch and create your own plan.  Our builder team can build it for you, or you can bring in your own expert.  You get all the advantages and amenities of living in Baxter, but our newest phase offers more flexibility in design style, and a little more ‘elbow room’.

Lots range from .5 acres to 1.5 acres.  Lot prices start in the $120′s.  Custom Home prices start in the $450′s.

Check here for more information.