Parade of Homes enters final weekend
You've got three days left to catch up with the 29th Annual Parade of Homes.
Presented annually by the Building Industry Association of Okaloosa and Walton Counties, this year's event features 63 homes in Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties.
Hours are from 1 to 6 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
"People request that we send them our guide and I've had requests from places like California, Texas and Tennessee," said Jennifer Fleming with the Building Industry Association. "I even had to drop one off at a hotel in Destin."
The two central sites are Heritage Plantation just north of Crestview and WaterSound, located 10 miles east of intersection of U.S. highways 98 and 331 in Walton.
The seven featured neighborhoods are Arbor Lake in Crestview, Audubon Point in Miramar Beach, Fox Valley in Crestview, Hammock Bay in Freeport, Plantation at Santa Rosa in Santa Rosa Beach, The Verandas in Freeport, and WaterSound West Beach in WaterSound.
Last weekend's Parade of Homes opening drew a strong response, said Fleming.
"A lot of the houses have told us they've had steady traffic of about 700 or 800 people in the first couple days," she said.
For builders, subcontractors, suppliers and service companies, the event affords the opportunity to showcase talents, ideas and products.
For visitors, the Parade of Homes provides an opportunity to view the latest innovations, materials, techniques and designs. With 63 homes, this year's event is the third-largest in the nearly three decades it has run.
Hammock Bay has 11 homes in the Parade that can be seen Friday, with nine more available Saturday and Sunday. People can obtain a form that gets a stamp at each of the first 11 locations. Visiting them, as well as the adjacent Freeport Regional Sports Complex at Hammock Bay and the Lake Club, means eligibility for a drawing at the close of the event.
Prizes will be $10,000, $5,000 and $1,000 respectively. Half of each will be in cash, with the other half to be used on the purchase of a home at Hammock Bay.
"Response has been phenomenal," said Martin Owen, marketing director for Crystal Beach Development, the company that's developing Hammock Bay