Parading Through the
Homes
by Jane Hampton, CID. Access Specialist
Dear Jane,
I have noticed billboards
throughout the city advertising this year’s
Parade of Homes. I was disappointed when looking at the guide book
that there weren’t any builders advertising accessible single
family homes, but I did notice several builders advertising accessible
townhomes and condominiums. What are your thoughts?
Sheila, Apple Valley, MN
Dear Sheila,
The Parade of Homes Spring Preview is an annual showcase of newly
constructed homes which began on February 11, 2006 and will be running
through March 19, 2006. This year, there are 1,249 homes featured,
open to the public from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm, Thursdays through
Sundays. At the Parade of Homes, visitors can see a variety of styles,
sizes, and pricing of homes in neighborhoods throughout the metropolitan
area.
During the tour, free
guidebooks are available at Holiday Station stores and any of the
homes on the Parade. In the guidebooks, editors have identified
models whose builders indicated they have “experience
building Universal Design (accessible) homes and offer main levels
accessible to wheelchairs.” This year, you are correct; there
are no single family accessible homes on the Parade; only townhomes
and condominiums listed with access potential.
In the past, there have
been homes in the Parade that have been constructed to be fully
wheelchair accessible. In fact, I had the privilege of designing
one of the very first accessible homes to be in the Parade back
in 1993. This year, however, the list in the Parade of Homes guide
focuses on the builder and his/or her experience of creating Universal
Designed homes and not the home on the Parade. Thus, our afternoon
of touring 31+ homes (condos and town- homes) revealed that although
most of the buildings were accessible in their common areas, the
privately owned units appeared to be very “normal” (inaccessible),
yet some units had basic access features such as:
• no steps;
• wide doors;
• wide corridors;
• lever door hardware;
• easy to operate
faucet hardware;
• low pile carpet
with good transitions to hard flooring;
• large windows
with low window sills (for better viewing from a seated position;
i.e., wheelchairs);
• open floor plans
with potential for more extensive accessibility;
• some models provided
kitchen pass-throughs;
• larger rooms
to provide needed turning space for mobility aids, and wheelchairs.
A good sign was that
all of the builders and builders’ representatives
(i.e., realtors) we spoke to: 1) knew what we were asking for; 2)
had an appropriate vocabulary to answer our questions; and, 3) showed
interest in working with us to customize their standard floor plans
to achieve desired and necessary accessibility features for our clients
or a new homeowner. This demonstrated to us that there is far more
awareness of accessible housing needs than we had just a few years
ago. We also must remember that builders who have built an accessible
home this year may have done so for a specific client and thus may
not need to “advertise” the home, because it is already
sold. Accessibility Design alone has been a part of several newly
constructed homes this year, but all wanted immediate occupancy making
it difficult to be showcased on the Parade.
If you are looking at
building an accessible home in the future, the Parade of Homes
is a great way to shop for a home builder and see trends first
hand. Irregardless of the builder you choose, you will most likely
need to modify the design/plans to create an accessible home that
meets your needs. There are Access Specialists and Designers in
the Minneapolis/St. Paul area that can assist you with this, but
you may have to be your own advocate and bring them onto your team.
The builder may not have these resources for you already established.
Also, contacting them early in the process may save time and money
in re-designing, eliminate costly “change orders,” and
reduce the need to remodel later…after construction and/or
as future issues arise.
If you are planning
to spend time touring the Parade of Homes, before selecting which
builders you would like to visit, do a little research by phone
or internet to minimize “dead-end” visits. You
will want to figure out exactly what units are accessible to you
and what units are on the Parade that aren’t accessible, but
could be if you modified the design before or while it is under construction.
If you are Internet savvy, most floor plans are available online
with the availability of alternative configurations as well. The
Parade of Homes has a Web site: www.paradeofhomes.org which can
link you to builders showing homes in the Parade.
And if you’re
not looking at building a home, the Parade of Homes is a lot of
fun to visit and dream. We hope that as the years go by and access
features become more mainstreamed through code adoption, awareness,
and/or public demand, accessible single family homes will, too,
be prevalent in the Parade of Homes.
Do you have a question
for Jane and Accessibility Design? We’ll
cover all of your questions in future issues of Home Access Answers.
Please contact us at 952-925-0301 or email us at info@accessibilitydesign.com or visit us at www.accessibilitydesign.com.
Jane Hampton, president
of Accessibility Design, founded the company in 1992 to enhance
lives through design and project management. They provide design,
consultation, project management, and product recommendation services
specializing in home access for individuals with disabilities at
all stages of life.
