Calypso Green Parade of Homes Party at Grayson Park in Leland, NC

Saturday afternoon Marge and I went to Grayson Park in Leland, NC for two reasons. The first was to tour and talk about Stevens Fine Homes solar model featured in Grayson Park. The second reason was to party!

As soon as we got to the clubhouse and said hello we headed over to the solar model home.

From the front the house looks like the other homes on the street, but state-of-the-art solar panels on the back roof provide all the energy used by the house.

Here's developer and builder Craig Stevens talking about the solar home and the party!



We also met some folks in the market for environmentally sound, energy savings home, including Michael Rhodes, who is touring all the green homes and communities in the area before making a decision.

And, in Michael's words



Inside the model plenty of people were asking about the solar home from Matt, the site's construction manager.

Jennie Steele, Stevens Fine Homes Marketing Director took a few minutes to welcome us also.

As did Cynthia Rehberg, on-site sales specialist.

And Stan Powell, the other on-site sales specialist, here talking and laughing with Marge.

Brian Sartan of the Home Builders Association was on hand.

And happy to say a few words:



We also ran into old friend Lin Spears, Sales Manager of the local Countrywide office

With the introductions made and the good info about solar homes and environmentally-conscious building digesting, it was time to party. As you can see from the photo below, Craig Stevens and I were certainly ready!

Grayson Park residents and their guests, other visitors, and many REALTORs from the area gathered around the pool for food, drink, music, and conviviality.

Middle of the Island, the always-popular catering company, provided the food. It was tasty!

We even had a visit from one of Leland's finest, checking up on the music and the commotion.

The music, provided by Wilmington area's only calypso-style steel drum band, Pantastic Steel, was dance ready and a lot of fun. So if you have about three and half minutes, click on the video below, put it in HD, full-screen mode, turn up your speakers or headset volume and enjoy!

House to Home for Habitat - Buy Green & Help Habitat for Humanity

Several area groups and companies worked together to put on the House to Home for Habitat program that will run both weekends of the Parade of Homes in April and May. Stevens Fine Homes provided the model home, the nascent Wilmington Professional Stagers group did the staging and decorating, and Fast Signs provided signage for the event.

So here's the deal. During the weekends of April 25-26 and May 2-3, go the the fine new Stevens Fine Homes model home above in the neighborhood of South Brook in Mallory Creek in Winnabow. The actual address is 1206 South Brook Road, Winnabow. The house has been completely decorated with "found" items from six area shops (list below) that specialize in used or antique furniture and accessories. All the furniture and decorative items, including some great clothes in the humungous master bedroom closet, are for sale at appealing prices. Depending on the item, 10-15% of the sale price will be donated to the greater Wilmington area Habitat for Humanity. So how cool is that?

The house on South Brook Road is Green certified and Energy Star certified and by virtue of the "found" status of the decorations, the whole shootin' match is green.

If you are interested in the house itself, either of the fine ladies below, Charlotte Palmer on the left and Wendy Melville on the right will be happy to provide you with information about it. They'll also be delighted to tell you about other existing new homes or homes that can be built in the South Brook neighborhood or the adjacent Cove Landing. Please remember that Charlotte and Wendy both represent the builder and if you'd like a buyer's representative, I would be elated and honored to work with you.

The newly formed Wilmington Professional Stagers group did the work of staging and decorating the house. The WPS crew, below, consists of Melissa Prim, Barb Mihalik Pat McCartan, Shay Perryman, Cindy Jones, and Peggy Stone. Great job, folks, the house looks beautiful.

Remember that every piece in the house is "found". It's hard to believe that when you see how great it all looks. The living/great room is very inviting and looks out at a wooded back yard.

The dining room in particular looks right out of a design magazine.

Check out the headboard in the master bedroom. It's an old fireplace mantle! Neat, huh?

The upstairs playroom is huge and inviting, with lots of light and plenty of room to spread out and enjoy.

Even the mirror at bottom of the stairs was an unexpected delight. Ooops, and there's Wendy, too.

Here's a list of the stores and shops that provided furniture and decorations for House to Home for Habitat:

Habitat for Humanity

Fabulous Finds

The Seaside Cottage

Cape Fear Antiques

Primrose Cottage

Second Time Around

So check it out. And please call me at 910-297-8753 or e-mail me at brucebrown@seacoastrealty.com if you'd like buyer representation to see this or any other home in our area.