Consumer push
Consumers, Gayle Butler reported, want the house of the future to be a "reality house," serving the real needs of their lifestyles. "The reality home connects us both inside and outside the home, and it is that focus on connectivity that will shape the design of homes now and in the future," said Butler. Six features distinguish the reality home as envisioned by consumers:
- It is part of an authentic neighborhood.
- The floor plan connects people to each other and the things they enjoy.
- It has a kitchen-connected design.
- The home provides organization and storage features that are customized to simplify life.
- It features living space that extends to the outdoors.
- It incorporates green elements.
"The new way of looking at outdoor living space is one of the most significant changes in attitudes over the past 10 years," said Butler. "We're rethinking our approach to the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces, so that the flow of the home both considers and integrates outdoor living areas."
Look for more and wider openings to the outdoors at all levels of the market. Outdoor spaces will be true living spaces, virtually recreating living, kitchen and eating spaces outside, particularly in upscale homes. Butler said consumers desire the sense of "sanctuary" provided by connections to outdoors.
Authentic neighborhoods may be the toughest feature to realize. But Butler is optimistic, due to changes in local governments' planning attitudes, the power of consumers' willingness to pay more for homes in such neighborhoods, and forward-thinking developers taking leadership in providing those neighborhoods.
From concept to concrete
How will builders get from today to tomorrow? Consumer demand pushes pretty hard. "Once one builder starts offering some feature consumers like, other builders will follow," said Ahluwalia. "Look at fireplaces; everyone's doing them now."
Butler agreed and said consumers' pursuit of the perfect home is intensifying. "So many readers who renovate their home or build a new home say to us 'I never knew how much it would change our life,'" she said. "Having the right kind of living spaces enriches our lives in so many ways."
Meeting those demands, said Butler, should challenge and intrigue builders, particularly in addressing these areas:
- Devising inviting gathering spaces
- Well-organized spaces for hobbies, homework, paperwork, laundry
- Varying the streetscapes and pleasing placement and design of garages
- Carving out flex spaces, mudroom areas, window seats and pocket spaces with character, such as an indented space for a two-person reading bench in a child's room
- Connecting to the outdoors, a must even at the entry level of the market. "In the middle and upscale markets," Butler said, "I hope builders will take a close look at outdoor amenities as a significant way of differentiating their homes."
Builders should also keep in touch with trends in renovation, Butler said, particularly upscale renovation. "I consider that the purest form of expression of consumer interest, because it reflects the up-to-the-moment choices that homeowners are making. And often they are putting in the things that, as they put it, 'the builder left out.'"
Richard Wall is a freelance writer working in St. Augustine, Florida.
