Street of Dreams offers higher views, prices

Friday, May 3, 2002 | 10:17 a.m.

What: Street of Dreams.

When: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, through June 16.

Where: MacDonald Highlands, Valle Verde Drive and Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson. Take I-215 to the Valle Verde exit. Go south to Horizon Ridge Parkway and proceed through the gate to the parking area.

Tickets: $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and children (ages 4-12); children 3 and under free.

Information: (702) 914-6777.This year's luxurious Street of Dreams is steep.

Four homes, with an average sale price of almost $3 million, have been built into the side of a hill at the MacDonald Highlands community in Henderson.

"The thing we are excited about is the hillside configuration," Dave Straughan, president of Street of Dreams Inc., said.

Some may find the price tag configuration as exciting as the panoramic view of the Strip from the multilevel homes, which are among the most expensive ever built for the local showcase.

One home, an 8,251-square-foot structure built by 5 Star Development, is the most expensive ever for the Street of Dreams event. Its price tag is $3.75 million, which does not include artwork and furnishings displayed.

The other three homes also carry hefty prices, including a $3.2 million, 7,021-square-foot home by Sun West Custom Homes; a $2.75 million, 6,000-square-foot home by Job Construction; and a $1.995 million, 5,408-square-foot home by GJM Development.

Prices of homes in the showcases have been inching upward. The last showcase included nine homes that ranged from $1.2 million to $2.95 million. The showcase in 1998 featured homes in the $1.6-$2 million range.

"We're not trying to get bigger every year," Straughan said. "But we have to adapt to whatever marketplace and showcase is being featured. We're trying to present houses appropriately priced."

Street of Dreams, based in Woodinville, Wash., has been showcasing luxury homes in cities around the nation since 1985, working with local developers, building contractors and designers to put on an exhibition that is both entertaining and profitable.

The company has organized more than 60 luxury home showcases in the past 17 years, in dozens of cities including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Diego. Each event lasts about six weeks and there are five or six events each year.

For the price of admission, visitors may wander in and out of the palatial residences for hours.

Street of Dreams has no financial interest in the properties being sold and it doesn't share in the profits of a sale. The company organizes and puts on the promotional event, working closely with builders and developers to assure everything is completed on schedule.

Once the homes are completed, interior decorators and designers volunteer their time and products to furnish the residences.

The furniture on display is for sale. So are the houses. It isn't unusual for someone to buy a house and its furnishings.

This year's event marks the third time that Street of Dreams has been in Las Vegas. In 1998 and 2000 homes were showcased in neighborhoods in Seven Hills, also a Henderson community.

While there are five fewer homes in this year's showcase than in 2000, sightseers walking through the properties may not notice an appreciable difference in the number of steps they have to take to see everything.

"There is nearly 30,000 square feet of residential living space," Straughan said. "People will be well-tired."

Because of the homes' multilevels, many of those steps will be on stairways.

Straughan said the luxury homes in Henderson compare to those built for the Street of Dreams in places such as Orlando, Fla. and Scottsdale, Ariz.

"The homes in these places have the same kind of feel," Straughan said.

One of the challenges to building showcase homes at MacDonald Highlands was covenant restrictions (restrictions by the community on the appearance of the houses).

"They all had to be desert contemporary," Straughan said.

In 2000 the homes were more varied, including traditional, French country and modified desert-traditional styles.

Straughan noted that most people who visit the Street of Dreams aren't there to buy a mansion, but to get decorating ideas.

"They want to see the trends in interior design, architecture and consumer electronics," he said. "People are interested in improving their lifestyles and environment, not just in buying a big home."

What customers will see this year, in addition to a spectacular view, may be awe inspiring: waterfalls cascading down the front of a home; basement recreation rooms with windows that view the inside of the swimming pool; two-story, his-and-hers walk-in closets; leather flooring and entertainment systems valued at $200,000.

Sun West Custom Homes is the only general contractor that has built homes for each of the three showcases in Southern Nevada.

Dan Coletti, spokesman for Sun West, said homes built by his company for the showcase have resulted in contracts to build many other homes, which is one of the motivations for contractors to become involved with the Street of Dreams program.

The homes are built on "spec," industry jargon for speculation, meaning that someone will buy it once they've seen the house.

"In both previous years we have sold the home and furnishings either before the showcase opened, or during the showcase," Coletti said. "Not everybody has had that success. We've been lucky."