PARADE OF HOMES SPRING PREVIEW
What: 403 model homes in 98 communities throughout the Twin Cities area open for tours. Homes range from a $126,900 townhouse in Hugo to a $3.9 million house in Shorewood and the tour includes six certified Minnesota Greenstar homes.
When: Noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, today through March 22.
Events: Free programs on energy-saving features, entertaining, staging, design process and other topics.
Admission: Free, although it costs $5 to tour the two Dream Homes.
Information: Guidebooks are available at Twin Cities Holiday Station Stores and at www.paradeofhomes.org. Or contact the Builders Association of the Twin Cities at 651-697-1954.
60 YEARS
OF PARADE OF HOMES
In the fall of 1949, people lined up to tour 12 houses in Edina for an event organized by the Minneapolis Builders Association to celebrate National Home Week. For years the Minneapolis and St. Paul associations held separate tours on the same dates. In 1959, a rambler was priced at $13,000. In 1984, the organizations joined forces to host one spring event, which featured 367 homes, and they did it again that fall. Participation peaked at 1,249 homes in the spring of 2006; there will be 403 this spring.
