It is that time of year again when the luxury home tours happens in the Seattle area. Actually, this year marks the 20th year of the Seattle Street of Dreams and it is happening in “Quinn’s Crossing” in Woodinville, Washington. What is new and exciting and different at this year’s show is the emphasis on Built-Green homes. The homes in the show all have a minimum of a 3 Star rating and have been built with environmentally “green” building materials. Home #5, The Urban Lodge, is the only 5 Star home in the show. The Seattle Master Builders Association is concerned with the built-green concept as I mentioned in a previous post

I went to the Street of Dreams on one of two Realtor Days. We Realtors get free admission to see the homes so we can then talk about the homes with our clients and maybe even sell one of the homes as a result! This year’s “Street” is a cluster of 5 homes located around a cul-de-sac. The exterior styling is more craftsman, lodge-like, and prairie style home. The first home stands out on the “Street” as unique to the show with its very European, Tuscan feel.

Pictures and comments on the individual homes are below, but you might need to scroll down to see them due to Blogger formatting issues…

#1 – La Belle Fleur It definitely had the most formal street presence with its stucco style siding and European flavor. There’s a lot of elegant ironwork, limestone, Venetian plastering, and wall murals. There’s even a fish tank, but it was not operating when we were there.

The master suite was the best of the five homes, more elegant than my taste generally, but you could just imagine yourself relaxing in the sitting area which comes complete with a built-in fridge. There was a private balcony and a gorgeous, huge dual headed shower. The tub conjured up relaxing images of soaking and gazing out at the view. However, I think you might take your life in your hands trying to get out of the tub with wet feet. It looked a little dangerous to me.

#2 – Greenleaf Retreat This home was truly unique to the show. It had the cleanest, most contemporary lines of any of the homes. I would call the exterior style transitional, but the interior was very contemporary. It seemed far more contemporary than the exterior of the home. Some retro furnishings, glass topped tables with metal legs were used to decorate the home. There’s a huge great room area with french doors that lead to the exterior and a unique outdoor metal fireplace, built-in grill, and fridge.

I loved the master bath with its see-through fireplace, gorgeous shower and interesting sinks. This master bath is more my style. Check out the tile work on the master bedroom side of the fireplace when you go to the show. I thought it was done well. Upstairs there was a huge bonus/media room that had a built-in coffee maker.

The entry is graced by a beautiful waterfall, a beautiful touch.

The backyard was great, beautifully landscaped with some nice plantings. You could almost see the family dog running across this backyard. It was the best backyard of the five homes. There’s an outdoor room with a fireplace that looked like a great place to relax and unwind.

This home is a well done re-creation of a Craftsman style home done in the Arts and Craft tradition, think of an updated version of the Greene and Green homes, such as the Gamble house in Pasadena. There’s lots of wood paneling, built-in glass shelving, and great period style light fixtures.

There is a beautiful yard, unfortunately, most of it was to the side of the house.

I was surprised to learn that California Closets installed the furniture in one of the offices. It looked terrific. The majority of the wood used in the flooring and woodwork is reclaimed hickory. Much of the cabinetry throughout the home was sleek in appearance, a little surprising because of the heavier look of the hickory wood trimwork.

Summary

Besides an emphasis on the “green building” for all of the homes, the show continues its traditional alliance with Make-A-Wish Foundation. A room in each home is decorated to mirror a wish that has been granted by the foundation. Drink up and eat at the show as a portion of the concession stand sales will be donated to help grant future foundation wishes.

My show favorites:

• Best home overall – #5 The Urban Lodge
• Best kitchen – #4 Tamarack
• Best master bedroom – #1 La Belle Fleur
• Best master bath – #2 Greenleaf Retreat
• Best backyard – #3 Copper Falls
• Best outdoor room – #5 The Urban Lodge

My Street of Dreams picks, tell me what you think! What were your favorites?

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