Parade of Homes history lesson | Past 20 years

Learn more about about the roots of this annual home tour

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Though the BIA Parade of Homes has evolved substantially over the last 20 years, perhaps the most consistent theme in that time has been its steady migration north.

Though Dublin and northeastern suburbs saw their share of Parades in the early to mid-2000s, it’s Delaware County that has enjoyed the bulk of them recently.

“We know the New Albany Parades were very successful, (but) so were Verona … and some other ones in Delaware County,” says Jon Melchi, executive director of the BIA of Central Ohio.

Of these last 20 Parades, nine have been in Delaware County. The first since 1999, at Berlin Township’s Sherman Lakes in 2004, was billed at the time as the northernmost Parade ever in central Ohio. The next two Parades would also fall in Delaware County, before the 2007 Parade at Pinnacle brought the event to Grove City for the first time ever.

Milestones

Though the central Ohio Parade dates back to 1952, it has achieved a number of other firsts over the last two decades. In addition to the first Grove City Parade and the first Delaware City Parade (Glenross in 2005), the first Pickerington Parade took place at Shawnee Crossing in 2003.

There was also the first home designed with green building practices at Gahanna’s Village at Hannah Farms in 2008; the first set of mini “playhouses” for kids at Blacklick’s Stepping Stone in 2001, a trend that would continue for years; the first appearances by prominent HGTV celebrities at New Albany’s Ackerly Park in 2010; and the development of the event’s first mobile app at the Meadows at Lewis Center in 2012.

Shawnee Crossing and Sherman Lakes, in 2003 and 2004, were the two largest Parades of the last 20 years, each with a whopping 21 homes. The smallest was an intimate affair at Northstar in Sunbury, which had only six homes on its turn in 2015.

Not too far behind Delaware County’s nine Parades is the Dublin area, which totals five since 1999, including two in Jerome Township (Jerome Village in 2013, Jerome Village’s Eversole Run neighborhood in 2018) within Dublin City Schools.

20 Years Ago

The 1999 Parade is one of two over the past 20 years to have taken place in New Albany, both before the U.S. Census upgraded it from village to city. There were only eight builders in Tiverton Village in 1999, when the Parade’s consistent theme centered on New Albany’s signature Georgian architecture:

None of the 1999 builders are returning for 2019, but two of the 2000 builders are: Bob Webb and Cua Builders. In fact, of this year’s builders, Bob Webb has built more Parade homes over the last 20 years than all but one: 3 Pillar Homes, which has seven to Bob Webb’s six.

All told, only nine of this year’s 12 builders have appeared in a Parade in the last two decades. ALTA Design Build, Guzzo & Garner Custom Builders and Stonecliff Homes are all newcomers.

Garth Bishop is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.