Talk about a golden opportunity to see what’s new in the world of home design: The 2012 COBA Tour of Homes, which is open to the public July 20-22 and July 27-29, offers participants a chance to check out innovations in area home-building at just about every price point (well, from $150,000 to $2 million plus).
The 35 homes featured on the tour are scattered throughout Central Oregon — with stops in Bend, Tumalo, Redmond, Sisters, Powell Butte, Pronghorn Resort and Caldera Springs. Participating builders include Pahlisch Homes, SolAire Homebuilders, Arrowood Development, Sage Builders, Sunterra Homes, BlackRock Construction, Woodhill Homes, Greg Welch Construction, Hayden Homes and Pacwest Homes, among others.
So if you’re considering building a home in Central Oregon (and, these days, more and more people are), here’s an outstanding opportunity to see the latest handiwork of many of the area’s premier builders. It’s also a great way to spot emerging trends.
One of the fastest-growing changes: sustainable design (aka green building), which has supplanted “extravagance” as a common request among new-home buyers. Look for innovative new approaches not only to materials used (such as sustainable wood flooring and cabinetry, LED lighting and no-VOC finishes) but to overall construction (a more tightly insulated home shell, solar energy and solar hot-water sources, whole-house ventilation systems, high-efficiency duct systems, triple-pane windows). The ultimate goal: finding innovative and attractive ways to reduce energy use and natural-resource consumption while improving indoor air quality and overall quality of life.
This year’s featured homes will be open for touring during the upcoming two weekends: Fridays from noon-6, Saturdays & Sundays from 10-6. Free admission. Printed copies of the official COBA Tour of Homes Guide are available at the following locations: The Bend Bulletin, The Bend Chamber of Commerce office, COBA, Central Oregon Visitor’s Association, Jackson’s Corner and all local title company offices.
Also, here’s an online map of the tour.
And here’s the 2012 COBA Tour of Homes website, which provides detailed information about each of the homes on tour.
About the Author
Lisa Broadwater, GRI, CDPE, is a Central Oregon-based real estate professional who specializes in listing and selling homes, especially in Sisters, Tumalo, Bend and Redmond.