Million Dollar Beauties!

How in the name of Happy Valley is anyone supposed to see all 31 entries in this years 27th annual Utah Valley Parade of Homes? With gas prices soaring over 3 dollars a gallon, it won’t just cost you alot of time to tour this Parade. So, as a public service, yours truly…after touring all 31 homes on your behalf…has simplified matters for you. If you’re short on time…and don’t have a bundle of cash for gas…just go see the Million Dollar Beauties!

The Denali, built by Kyle Smith of Maple Landing, is a great place to start. This rustic home in Mapleton does what the advance billing says it does…capture the spirit of Denali National Park in Alaska. Loved the indoor pool (I’m an old…and I do mean old…swimmer). And the theatre room? Impressive. Sure, the base price is a cool 4 mill…but hey, you get 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and over 13,000 square feet to kick around. The Denali is a Carl The Critic “Must See.”

Ditto for The Chateaux…another in a long line of amazing homes from Geoff Granum and Silver Creek Construction. After viewing several of Granum’s previous Parade Entries on Hot Homes of Utah, I didn’t think Silver Creek could raise the bar any higher. Wrong. Again. The marble staircase make a great first impression. The steam shower, the two saunas, the multi-level theme playhouse and the French theme theater room sealed the deal for this cowboy! With 6 bedrooms, 6 full baths and 3 half lbaths…The Chateaux is a steal at $2,750,000!!! Assuming you have $2,750,000 to spend on a home!

Moving right along, your next stop should be Pinnacle Ranch, offered up by John Olsen and Universal Remodeling. Ok, ok…I know…it’s not exactly a “new” home…and it’s not exactly a million dollar remodel. But it looks like one…and Olsen’s work is worth a million bucks…and looks like a million. Don’t know about anyone else…but I really couldn’t tell where the old home ends and the new one begins. Seamless. Well done. Especially the master suite with a nursery for the baby. If you’re thinking of remodeling instead of building, you’ve gotta see Pinnacle Ranch in Highland.

Last, and far from least…do yourself a favor and cruise through the Journey’s End…a master piece from Chris Shurian and Classic Construction Services. Bravo! This home stands out in the high end crowd down in Alpine. What does 3.3 mill get you? 8 killer bedrooms, 8 well appointed bathrooms (now here comes the cool stuff) an indoor dance studio/basketball court (I left my ballet shoes at home so I shot a few hoops) and there’s plenty of room for parking in the 6 car garage. Wish I had 6 cars…but if I did, this would be the house for me. Two big thumbs up for The Journeys End.

Of course, these are just MY opinions…and I could be wrong (possible, but highly unlikely). Life is short and unless you have tons of time to kill (and gas money to burn) these 4 million dollar beauties are the ones to see, if you can only see 4 or 5 homes. You can thank me later…and tell me where I went wrong! Happy gawking!