Parade of Homes: Rooms With(out) a View

A girlfriend called with tickets to the region's parade of homes, so I ditched work to see what's happening out there in the world of high-dollar abodes. Nothing earth-shattering, but I'm loving the little Seaside, Florida, neo-urban communities that continue cropping up, with a pre-suburban mentality: alleys, sidewalks, close proximity to one another. (Thanks for saving some farm fields, folks!)

The biggest delight was a cottage-style home with high ceilings and transoms over the regular windows. The use of up space totally changed the scale of the home, making it cozy and expansive at the same time. (And apparently it's good for the brain. A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research says high ceilings prompts a sense of freedom, which lets problem-solving skills to flourish.)

I didn't see any huge home design or decor innovations, just lots of the white Bosch washers, silver SubZero refrigerators, granite countertops, cherry-wood floors, wine cellars, home theaters, bazillion-jet showers and a fixation on Prairie-School-meets-Pacific-Northwoods design. Colors trended toward browns, taupes, bamboos and buttery tones, with occasional black and red accents.

The biggest surprise? Home design. Most of the extravagent homes up here have million-dollar views of waters, primarily Grand Traverse Bay, a huge body of water off Lake Michigan (see below). These homes of course played to those views. In most, you see water the instant you walk into a space. It was gorgeous—until you looked more closely at the space, and realized that if you lived there, you'd only see the water when you walked in. Not when you're in bed. Not when you're in the tub. Not when you're sitting on the couch knitting. From beds, tubs and couches, you'd see walls, cabinets and rooftops. Ouch!

Here's hoping next year's parade features rooms with usable views.


Top Photo: Morgan Farms, a neo-urban community in Traverse City, Michigan. Above: A view of the bay.