Off Highway 175 in rural Richfield, some 25 miles northwest of Downtown Milwaukee, sits 114 acres of largely unused land. The plan was to create a walkable hamlet with multiuse trails, shops and homes reminiscent of the early 1900s. But on this warm May day, a gas station attendant down the road hasn’t even heard of the vintage-inspired Reflections Village, and the bare bones of nine homes-to-be are mere glimpses of what so many hoped would be a completed subdivision.
Planning began in 2005, with developers aiming for nostalgia, a small-town, community-oriented feel and no home styles more modern than the 1940s. But traditionalism took a modern twist. Plans incorporated AT&T U-verse (TV, high-speed Internet, phone) and fiber-optic technology while also adding a community septic system and a community well, amenities uncommon in Richfield.
Young families and elderly couples alike gravitated toward the one-of-a-kind subdivision, and developers reported that half of phase one was sold. But then, the market turned, and the development hung in limbo. Now, a few years later, Reflections Village will debut at the 2010 Parade of Homes (Aug. 21-Sept.12).
The brainchild of Robert Fleischmann, a Lutheran minister, the project plunged toward foreclosure in late 2007. Prudential Absolute Realtors’ Jon Spheeris swept it up with four investors. Two years passed, and in December 2009, the bank called the note. In the wake of the bursting real estate bubble, lenders wanted a bigger down payment to refinance, and the project’s small crew of rescuers got smaller. Only two remained – Robert Parchem, the previous owner of Interstate Tree Landscaping Company, and former Roundy’s CEO Jerry Lestina.
Parchem turned 78 in July, but he’s taken on the role of investor-turned-developer. On site nearly every day, he oversees everything from landscaping to the well. “Robert and I have never been this involved,” says Parchem’s wife, Caryl. “It’s a joy – to a point,” Robert says. “I’m married to it.”
Parchem, who was also an original investor in The Legend at Brandybrook (in Wales, Wis.), is keeping the project alive. “Robert has … invested a lot more money; way, way more,” Caryl says. “We’re talking millions.”
To participate in the Parade of Homes, each site must have five builders. The Parchems met thatrequirement until two builders unexpectedly backed out. To remain eligible for the Parade, the Parchems bought six lots themselves to lower costs for the builders. “The economy and banks have made it so very, very tough for builders to get financing for spec homes,” Caryl says.
Now, with seven builders and nine homes, Reflections Village is this year’s largest Parade site. One lot is scheduled to close soon, and the Parchems and Spheeris remain confident progress will continue. Hartford Savings Bank, which is providing much of the builders’ financing, has also signed to build a bank branch on a commercial spot, an aspect of the project yet to be fully promoted. The same can be said of the seven live-work sites, which harken back to a simpler era when business owners lived above their shops.
Meanwhile, Reflections marks a radical change for Richfield and its status quo of big homes on big lots. “At a minimum, most lots are an acre to 3 acres-plus,” says Village Administrator Josh Schoemann. At Reflections, the minimum lot size is a quarter-acre, and sites begin at $99,900.
Reflections’ homes are also more modest, as small as 1,300 square feet, so long as the home’s design works within the 1890s-to-1940s theme. “It’s kind of blazing a new trail,” Schoemann says. “[In Richfield] we don’t have sidewalks. We don’t have sewer and water in a dense area like that. ”
But however old-time the setting, everyone involved is focused on the future. In three to four years, the Parchems may even be able to walk away.
“The entrance will be tree-lined and lit,” says Spheeris, giving a personal tour in May. He points to where the pool and clubhouse will be while Robert Parchem directs attention to the not-yet-completed Miracle Homes model. It’s a three-bedroom house off the entrance roundabout with a “flooding patio,” a space just a few steps lower than the rest of the patio,where people can dip their feet into cool water during hot months. “There’s no other development like this in the Milwaukee area,” Spheeris says. Indeed.
