Seventeen new and remodeled homes across six Central Minnesota communities are opening their doors to the public this month, free of charge, as the Central Minnesota Builders Association stages its showcase of local construction. The Fall Tour of Homes runs in two weekend stretches, September 18-20 and September 25-27, with hours from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Fridays and 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The free tours span Sartell, St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, St. Joseph, Avon and Melrose, and range from patio homes to luxury builds, according to KNSI. Central Minnesota Builders Association Executive Director Wanda Schroeder said the tour featured multiple price points and styles, giving prospective buyers a wide look at what local builders are producing this fall. The event is organized by the Central Minnesota Builders Association, the regional trade group representing builders, remodelers, sub-contractors and suppliers that has operated since 1971 and relocated its headquarters to a Second Street South office in St. Cloud in 2022, according to WJON.
A Habitat Home Built With Student Hands
Among the stops is Home Number Three, a Habitat for Humanity house in Sartell where high school students helped construct part of the build alongside CMBA builders, per the same KNSI report. Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity has partnered with area high schools including Sartell High School's SabreCON program, St. Cloud Tech High and ROCORI High School, letting students help build homes on school property, according to KNSI.
That partnership has deep roots in Sartell. Local construction business owners Ryan and Bethany Cross donated a half-acre wooded lot in the city to Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity in December 2021 after an earlier build site fell through, a move that kept the SabreCON program's student build within city limits, as reported by Wild Country 99. That earlier donated lot accommodated a bi-level house that SabreCON students helped build.
Design Trends: Additions and Golf Simulators
Builder David Werschay of Werschay Homes, who leads the architectural vision for the DayBreak master-planned neighborhood in Sartell, told KNSI that additions remain a steady request from homeowners and that anyone considering design changes should talk through their ideas directly with a builder. Werschay Homes builds custom single-family residences and acreage properties across St. Cloud, Sartell and the surrounding region, and DayBreak itself features private acreage lots at The Cove along with access to Daybreak Lake, according to Homes.com.
Golf simulator rooms emerged as a current popular topic on this year's tour, KNSI reports, and several contractors participating have their own remodeling divisions for homeowners looking to add such features to existing houses. The tour includes both new construction and remodeled homes, giving visitors side-by-side comparisons of build styles and finish trends.
Builders and Homebuyers Face Rising Costs
The tour arrives amid ongoing friction between local builders and St. Cloud City Hall over the cost of residential construction. In May, the Central Minnesota Builders Association and Schroeder opposed proposed city council increases to building permit fees, including a jump in residential roofing and siding permits from $60 to $100, warning that rising development costs threaten regional housing affordability, as Hoodline reported in St. Cloud Builders Push Back Over Permit Fee Hikes. That proposed overhaul represented St. Cloud's first comprehensive permit rate adjustment in more than 15 years.
Those cost pressures play out against a housing market with varying price metrics. By mid-2026, Movoto listed a $359,900 median listing price for St. Cloud.
Funding the Next Generation of Builders
The builders association also channels money directly into local trade education. CMBA allocated more than $30,000 to high school industrial technology departments across Central Minnesota in 2026 through its Tools for Schools initiative, raising over $17,000 of that total from its annual June bean bag tournament alone, according to the Central Minnesota Builders Association. The program provides grants to high school trades programs.
That fundraiser has produced some creative crossover with student labor before. During a past Tools for Schools bean bag tournament, Sartell-St. Stephen High School industrial tech students built the tournament's game boards themselves, per KNSI. The boards were used in a fundraiser tournament for the Tools for Schools Fund. Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity has since widened this school-building pipeline further, expanding its high school construction partnership program in 2025 to include Elk River High School as part of a broader effort to address affordable housing shortages while training future skilled trade workers, according to the Minnesota Housing Partnership.
Planning a Visit
Visitors can find printed tour magazines at Coborn's, Cash Wise and Little Dukes stores, or use the Tour of Homes CMBA app, which maps a route between stops. One property, Home Number 14, sold before the tour began and will be available for photos only rather than a walk-through, though its images are included in the app.
Tour organizers are asking visitors to treat the properties as private property, monitor children throughout the walk-throughs, and avoid bare feet inside the houses. Booties will be provided to wear over socks rather than shoes, and food and drink are prohibited inside all the homes on the route. The tour's visitor rules include these restrictions.
