Even if you haven’t heard these very numbers, probably you’ve heard similar ones: 59 percent of Americans now have home computers, according to one analyst; by 2003, about 10 million American homes will have some form of computer networking, according to another; and by 2005, more than 20 percent of our labor force will work at home, according to a third. Those are just for starters.
Home computers have become a fact of American life–a space-hogging fact of American life. Just as the day has passed when the typical household had one telephone or, perish the thought, one television, the day is coming when multiple PCs will be routine. If you’re building a house, the computer–make that computers–have to go somewhere.
The home building industry–at least part of it–is taking note of this change, according to industry observers. Although elaborate, wired-uphouses are far from the norm among Chicago builders, there seems to be at least a dawning of recognition that change is afoot. Some manifestations:
– You’re far more likely to see PC setups in model homes now than you were just a couple of years ago. “With the economy being the way it is and the move-up market being as demanding as it is, they’re in every model that we are doing, whether urban or suburban,” according to Mary Cook, a Chicago interior designer who furnishes model homes for Chicago builders and around the country. Such designers, known in the trade as merchandisers, are charged with outfitting model homes to reflect, and thus appeal to, the people who might live in them.
– The tail is starting to wag the dog. Where once (in some cases, mere months ago) builders put dummy PC setups on tables in model homes’ spare bedrooms, “now you’re seeing actual computer rooms devoted to a computer or computers,” according to John Biever, whose Omaha firm, Model Interiors, also merchandises models for Chicago builders.
“All of our models are more reality-based. We’re trying to show people how they can use the space in the home. The computer tends to be located now in an area that’s specified as a study and looks like a real in-home office, so that you can see that there’s plenty of work space,” he said.
– You’re likely to see multiple setups, reflecting an appeal to families who know what it’s like to hear the offspring (and maybe the parents) bickering about who’s hogging the keyboard. Two or three or even four “room vignettes” showcasing likely spots for the devices are becoming more commonplace.
– Multiple PCs and related products more often mean significant thought devoted to pre-wiring the house to accommodate them. Although there’s debate within the tech world about whether and how soon wireless communication might prevail in the marketplace, home-building companies that offer wiring for high-speed data and networking seem to be settling on a handful of structured-wiring systems.
Their cost often is generalized as $1 per square foot of the house, though it can run much higher, depending on what they’re being asked to do. Their relative economy means that production (tract) builders have begun to offer these systems at the more inexpensive end of the housing spectrum. And systems integrators–who may work up a whole-house wiring plan for computers, home theaters, sound systems, security cameras and much more–are starting to be involved routinely in higher-end homes.
“We’ve been spending the last year in educating the builders about structured wiring. They were kind of afraid of it,” according to Barbara Peterson, vice president of sales and marketing for Tech Systems, a systems-integration firm in Highland Park. “They didn’t want to deal with it because they’re dealing with so much that goes into a home already.”
Pushing from another direction have been the buyers, she says. “The consumer is becoming smarter and smarter because of the information they have access to. Some of our customers are very astute. Some have done a lot of research.
“On the other hand, some of them just say, `Put in fiber optic. I don’t care if I’m ever going to use it. I just want to tell my friends that I have fiber optic.’ ” Builders, consumers and electronics experts agree on one thing: It’s usually cheaper to plan for computers before the walls are up than it is to retrofit. Which brings us back to the question: Just where are you going to put these things?
A lot of people think the kitchen is the most logical spot.
In the beginning (a mere handful of years ago), builders almost always suggested that computers could find a home there.
“That’s happening still, mainly because the kitchen still tends to be a very central place for the family to gather,” Biever says. “Kids can do homework and parents can look over them while making dinner.”
So consumers often would see “planning desks” in kitchens, typically with a drawer or two, a computer and a phone. For homework and the occasional recipe retrieval, that may be fine, but some people see kitchens as being of limited utility, computer-wise. Some builders say they’re seeing less interest in kitchen-based PCs.
There’s the noise, for one thing. Oreo crumbs in the keyboard, for another. And then there’s the clutter that builders and designers say tends to pile up on those kitchen-centered desks.
“I think (for someone who desires a kitchen computer), I would put in some kind of counter that’s about 2 feet deep and at least maybe 6 feet long in the kitchen area,” possibly connected with the expanded laundry rooms that have become so popular lately in new homes, says architect Steve Pickett, vice president of Pickett & Associates in southwest suburban Romeoville.
For those who still want it right in the kitchen, Pickett suggests that having a realistic notion of space is key. “If the space is big enough to get a comfortable chair and counter and computer terminal, that’s probably better than worrying about the noise. If you can move around it easily, that’s the important thing.”
Pickett is in the midst of building a new home for his own family and is solving his own kitchen/computer issue with a new product called IceBox. It’s a small monitor mounted under the overhead cabinets that provides access to cable television and the Internet and plays DVDs, all controlled via a small, waterproof keyboard that can be stashed in a drawer when not in use. It will be released by Seattle-based Cmi Worldwide in the fall, and the Picketts were among the first consumers to order it.
Steve Pickett is absolutely sure about where he wants PCs to be used in the new home: everywhere. “We’re going to have a server down in the basement, along with a control panel,” he said. “We’re going to wire the whole house for cable and computer. We’re setting up separate desk areas for the three kids, so they have a computer terminal at their work desks in their rooms. There will be access in the kitchen, and I have an office adjoining the family room.”
Even consumers who aren’t building in quite that “custom category” have more options these days about where to plug in, builders say. For one thing, first-floor “dens” are becoming more commonplace, and they routinely get turned into home offices, they say.
That’s what Jim and Kathy McHenry did to the den in the house built by Zale Homes at Gregg’s Landing in north suburban Vernon Hills. And, to their mild surprise, they learned something about their family dynamics–and about computer placement.
“Our son, Jimmy, is 5, and he has a computer in his bedroom,” explains the father. “But it’s hardly ever used, because he wants to be within eyesight of us.” Happy for the “together” time, the McHenrys set up their PC within a desk/hutch in the den, and designated a space for Jimmy to play games on the laptop alongside his dad, who is likely to be handling work concerns on the PC.
Of course, kids’ computer expectations are likely to change with age. “A lot of people want a separate children’s study area,” says Kathy Eiben, a spokesman for Kirk Homes who confirms that interest in kitchen computers seems to be waning. “Sometimes they utilize upstairs hallways for that,” installing built-in work areas in wide hall spaces.
Recently we did a `teenage room’ in a model home that was devoted to the two teens who might live in the house,” according to John Biever of Model Interiors. “One bedroom was devoted just to them. We took the closet out and built in a work center with two computers.”
Open-area “lofts” at the tops of stairways also are starting to be shown as computer areas, particularly in floor plans where space may be at a premium for “special-use” rooms.
In townhouses, they may have particular appeal. Biever’s company set up a townhouse model at Montalbano’s Malibu Bay development in Romeoville where the loft is designed to accommodate his-and-hers computer users. The 1,500-square-foot home is intended to appeal to first-time buyers.
“It would be for a young couple, and both of them are going to work,” Biever said of the loft space, which measures about 9 feet square. “They would need to be able to share the computer space. There are two desks with computers. A book case between the two of them houses boxes for files.”
Erin Pangallo looked at several such loft layouts when she and her husband were looking for a single-family home, and decided that they weren’t right for their home-office needs.
“In our (new house) the loft is right next to our bedroom,” she says of their nearly completed house at Kirk Homes’ Wing Pointe in far northwest suburban Huntley. “I wanted to be able to sleep. I wanted quiet and I wanted to be able to close the door (to my office). It’s a symbolic thing. Besides, it was upstairs, and I have to transport (work-related) stuff to and from my car.
“One thing that we were disappointed with was that the dens tended to be offered mostly in the highest-priced models” and out of their reach in the developments where they were shopping, she said.
So the Pangallos took an unconventional approach: They decided to forgo a living room, turning that space into what will become their shared office. French doors will close it off from the traffic in the rest of the house. She said the builder was accommodating. “Once I told them what I wanted to do, they said that it was such a good idea.”
Such “thinking outside the box” may be the best way to get computer space exactly where you want it, builders and designers say. Look for ways to “borrow” space.
Smykal Homes made just such an unscheduled change in the middle of constructing a model at Barrington Ridge in Aurora. During the framing, an employee suggested that space could be “borrowed” from the back of what would have been a huge walk-in closet for the master suite on the second floor. Thus, a separate computer niche, displayed to appeal to adults who might build that floor plan, was created.
The model already has a “study” set up for computer use, and an upstairs bedroom is displayed to appeal to teen use. Marketing director Peggy Taheri says that the third (unplanned) computer area has gotten a strong response from home shoppers, and the company is considering making it a regular option at the new development.
One complicating factor in these “niches” may be the space that computer peripherals claim. Lake Forest interior designer Lori Lennon suggests that no matter where the devices are put, their techno-baggage also is going to claim square footage. “I like to put in (furniture) doors that slide up and back, to hide things. Behind them is going to be a fax machine, a scanner, a printer. Don’t forget the files. And the shredder. That’s becoming a very common request.
“Ideally, if you have a computer space, and it is well-planned, everything can be put out of sight.”
Note that she did say, “ideally.”
