Homearama Cincinnati History

[circlew]

This Summer it will be 50 years since I first attended Homearama! I read about it in the newspaper, and mentioned it to my mom. She said it would be interesting to see, and asked my dad and sister if they wanted to go. Neither of them really were interested, so my mom said she would take me as part of my 13th birthday present. We went again in '69, '71, '73 and I've been nearly every year from then on.

The first year was '62, and the link is to the plan books for most years of the show. In addition to the houses, there are ads for GE, Hotpoint and Frigidaire, and other products.

http://www.cincybuilders.com/history-of-homearamareg.html

 

[norgeway]

Wonderful!

I remember my uncle who was a electrical contractor, telling about what it took to qualify for the Gold Medallion.

 

[gansky1]

That was fun. I've been poking around, through the years. I used to drag my friends to the Parade of Homes here nearly every year. I wished I'd saved some of the books now.

 

[circlew]

I have the books for the great majority of the years I attended.

One thing I can say about Homearama is how the prices increased over the years. Homes featured in the earlier years were nice, but were mostly affordable by middle class families. The last 25 years or so, they've all been ultra luxury models. The price's average about $900,000 now. Some have been well over $1,000,000. Unfortunately, some of the builders are more interested in quantity of space, rather than quality. I've seen mobile-home type bathtubs (steel or fiberglass), hollow-core doors, bad drywall seams, and switches and receptacles out of level in some of the houses.

Many of them have large open areas, with the upstairs hall overlooking the entry. One had an open stairwell all the way from the basement to the second floor. I don't think they put too much thought into fire safety, as I've never seen sprinklers in any of the homes. I'd also be afraid of a child falling over the railing to the floor below.

 

[dermacie]

Home-o-rama

We had home-o-rama also in Pittsburgh. I live in a former home-o-rama model home. It featured GE appliances, Andersen windows, and outdoor natural gas lighting and grill.

 

[vacerator]

We've had them

here since the early 80's. They ceased during the recession, but have come back some. Usually always expensive homes and areas.
One year, about 1985 or 86, I saw the Thomasville bedroom suite I liked, so I bought it. Those were slightly more affordable homes than the year prior.
No Thermador ovens, high level custom finish carpentry, etc. The economy was also recovering from the early 80's recession.
I went two years ago this September. The homes were beautiful custom craftsman and prarie
style ranches and split level colonials. Upwards of $550,000.00 With all the high end finishes, the three builders in the subdivision installed lower end Frigidaire so called professional appliances. One may have had a high end range with a pot filler. Like, for $700,000 fitted out like the builder spec. model, I expect quality through out. They had furniture from Gormans, a high end store which sells Baker, Heckman, Drexel, Henredon, etc.

 

[dermacie]

I always thought in our area it was replaced by a home show in a convention center. Not sure though but haven't heard of one in a long long time.