Home Builder’s Association celebrates 67th annual Fall Parade

Saturday marks the kickoff of the 67th annual Fall Parade of Homes. Presented by the Home Builder’s Association of Greater Kansas City, this year’s Parade is sponsored by Stewart Title and features 307 new homes constructed by 84 Kansas City metropolitan area home builders.

New-home communities featured on the Parade straddle both sides of the state line, encompassing single-family homes, townhomes, and villas in seven counties and 18 school districts. Prices range from $150,000 to $1,399,000. In each, prospective homebuyers can view the latest in home design, construction, technology and more.

Among the numerous fine builders on the Parade, homebuyers will find that many are family owned and operated building companies.

Among them is Allure Luxury Homes, specializing in custom-built, move-up luxury homes. The company was founded in 1966 by Dusty Rhodes and is now run by siblings Richard “Rocky” Rhodes and Lindy Rhodes, and business partner Paul Clem.

Together, they have continued the patriarch’s passion and legacy of building beautiful, innovative and structurally sound homes, while simultaneously reinventing the company to adapt to the current marketplace.

“Residential construction is in our DNA,” said Rocky Rhodes. “We were playing on rock piles as grade school kids while our dad was superintending construction. And we have been able to use this early exposure, and later construction education and experience, to fashion ourselves as a team that takes a holistic approach when working with and creating our clients’ homes.”

Allure Luxury Homes will have two furnished homes on this year’s Fall Parade: a 11/2-story, five-bedroom, five-bathroom plan in the Coffee Creek Crossing community (Tour No. 195), and a two-story, five-bedroom, five-bathroom plan in the WatersEdge subdivision (Tour No. 284), both located in south Overland Park.

Another long-time builder family is the Kerns family, who has been building quality homes in the area for more than 60 years. In 1943, Orville Kerns started the family building tradition and was later joined by his son, Wayne, under the name Kerns Homebuilders Inc. After grandson, Gary, graduated with a bachelor of science in construction engineering, he began a senior management position with the company, and when his father retired, the name was changed to Gary Kerns Homebuilders LLC.

“The Kerns family’s commitment to quality and customer satisfaction is still the same and a large part of our success today,” said Gary Kerns. “Since we are a family, we are used to being very close together, so we know what everyone is doing, saying and thinking. In business, we are able to do the same with our customers by offering a one-on-one atmosphere and a 100 percent commitment to customer satisfaction.”

Covered decks, three-car garages, granite counter tops in the kitchen, and bronze plumbing fixtures are among the features incorporated in their homes in response to current market desires, as evidenced in their Parade entries this year: a reverse 11/2-story, four-bedroom, three-bathroom plan (Tour No. 96), a ranch, five-bedroom, three-bathroom plan (Tour No. 97), and a split-level four-bedroom, three-bathroom plan (Tour No. 98) all in the Copper Ridge community in Platte City.

This story was originally published September 26, 2014 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Home Builder’s Association celebrates 67th annual Fall Parade."