Home tour event

Remodeled homes

Home tour events or housing shows, sometimes branded as Parade of Homes, Street of Dreams, Tour of Homes, or Homearama, are building industry showcases of homes, typically new builds, held in several regions throughout the United States. The events date to the late 1940s.

In the years following World War II, the United States experienced housing shortages. According to Samuel Dodd, writing in the Journal of Design History, the first housing show was organized in 1948 by the NABH under the brand Parade of Homes. The nation's first home tour organization was established in Minnesota in 1948 by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (now known as Housing First Minnesota). Early events featured crowd drawing publicity stunts such as beauty contests and other sexualized components; a Hartford, Connecticut show featured a "girl in a bathtub" promotion a female employee sitting in a bathtub answering questions. The event runs twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, with participation peaking at 1,259 home entries in a single event in 2006. The first United States Trademark for "Parade of Homes" was registered by the Home Builders Association of Fort Wayne, Inc. and was transferred to Housing First Minnesota in 2010. The Portland metropolitan area of Oregon Home Builders Association event features high end homes designed to showcase new designs and amenities. Started in 1976, a previous incarnation of the event was known as the Parade of Homes and later as Street of Dreams. Some events allow tours for free; others require an admission ticket to view the homes. Some events offer awards in various categories. Some events feature remodeled homes.