Showcase of New Homes - Green Bay Area

After Eric and Melanie's wedding in Manitowoc on the 25th, Jason and I (and a ride-hitching Greg) drove up to where Jeremy, Karen, Iris, and Heatley were residing (a.k.a. Nikki and Matt's house).  The next morning, Karen and Iris gave Jason and I a tour of their new home before the Showcase officially opened for the day (although the fact that the Showcase hadn't officially opened didn't stop a few people from trying to view the home, which was really irritating).  Jeremy had taken Jason and I on a detailed tour through the home in the middle of July when the exterior and interior construction was complete, but without any of the finishing construction.  As part of the Showcase, the main living areas and the master bedroom of the homes were staged, which give the homes a very lived-in feel.  I had my camera with me and quickly snapped a few pictures before my camera battery died.  Here are a few pictures of the main living space of their home.

And a few of other areas.

I didn't include a picture of the master bedroom closet, but believe me when I say it is ridiculously big.  It's been awhile since I've seen the master bedroom closet in Kris and Sarah's house, but I think Jeremy and Karen's takes the cake.  Jason and I both really loved the house and are looking forward to spending a holiday or two there.

Jeremy and Karen had two unused Showcase tickets for us so Jason and I decided to check out a few of other homes before heading back home.  The Showcase had homes ranging from under $200k to well over $500k, which was very refreshing.  Most of the homes were built for a specific owner, but a few of the homes were for sale.  The first home we stopped at was one of the for sale homes and it was listed at $214k, which is less than what we paid for our much older and not nearly as nice home.  We both absolutely loved another one of semi-modest homes that we visited (listed in the $301-$400k).  We loved the layout and the details of the house, especially the master bathroom which had this amazing walk-through shower.

I absolutely loved the stone shower wall - a similar stone was used for the two story fireplace in the living room and I thought it was absolutely breathtaking!

Jason and I also made it a point to check out the other two houses which were built by the builders who built Jeremy and Karen's house, which is also coincidentally the builder that my cousin Jason works for.  These two homes were anything but modest - they were both listed in the above $500k category and I suspect one of the them was closer to $1 million if not over (especially on its ridiculously big lot).   The other homes had a "sport court" in the basement, which was essentially a room with super high ceilings - Jason was SO jealous when the builder told us that the owners have three sons who play hockey and that the room was built for that purpose.

We had a really great time checking out a few of the Showcase homes.  I was a little apprehensive at first and I thought is would be difficult seeing all those super awesome homes knowing that it is unlikely that we will ever live in a house half as nice as some of the ones we looked at (or ever get the chance to build our dream home).