Think smaller. Maybe closer. Not necessarily cheaper.
Those were some of the new-home themes that emerged at the 2003 International Builders’ Show sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders in Las Vegas.
After years of reporting on the ever-larger size of the average U. S. single-family home, Gopal Ahluwali, vice president of research and the NAHB’s go-to-guy for new home numbers, said recent figures indicate the size of the average new home is leveling off around 2,300 square feet.
Most of the showhouses at the NAHB’s annual trade show reflected the trend.
Whether it was the sluggishness of the general economy–though certainly not the building industry–or boredom with massive square footage, some exhibitors at the show stepped back from the blockbuster houses of the past.
They presented smaller–dare we say cozier?–alternatives.
Skokie-based Portland Cement Association, for example, which sponsored a virtual mini-Versailles in the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta two years ago, this year teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to show a simple square dwelling of pre-cast concrete panels.
The 1,237 square-foot house was erected in a day and destined to be disassembled after the show to be reassembled elsewhere for a deserving family.
“We’d done the big house. It was time for a change,” said Bruce McIntosh, the cement association’s managing director of communications.
Genesis Homes, a Michigan-based producer of modular houses, erected a charming 1,900 square foot Craftsman-style cottage on the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The appealing design, with a usable front porch and a clever compact floorplan, attracted a steady stream of the estimated 90,000 people attending the convention.
The chief example of paring down, however, was the New American Home, the “official” showcase of new design trends, building products and construction techniques sponsored by the National Council of the Housing Industry, Builder magazine and Home Planners LCC.
The 2003 “home” was really three homes–attached townhouses– as organizers switched away from a stand-alone single-family house for the first time in the New American Home’s 20-year history.
None of the residences were exactly small–they ranged in size from 2,775 square feet to 3,151 square feet–but they were a far cry from the 6,431-square-foot New American Home 2002 in Atlanta.
“This is the land we had available,” said builder Chet Nichols, executive vice-president of Las Vegas-based AmLand Development, about why townhouses where chosen.
Nichols’ answer underscores one of the growing realities of new home building.
As the price of land increases and land planning regulations become more stringent, attached housing with its smaller footprint for each residence is an increasingly important option, whatever the terrain and in all price ranges.
Furthermore, the townhouses allowed the showcase organizers to present design ideas for several different kinds of buyers, recognizing that the home buying public is splintering into a myriad of different configurations that no longer conforms to the old notion of Mom, Dad and two children.
In all cases, these imaginery “target” buyers could afford prices of $850,000 to $1.1 million.
Situated on a steep slope overlooking Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nev., 18 miles east of the well-known entertainment strip, the homes included a dramatic A floorplan with 2,950-square feet designed to be a young family’s second home.
The B plan, the largest unit at 3,151 square feet and the most conventional layout, was designed as the second home/possible retirement place for an empty-nest couple.
The 2,775-square foot C unit, the smallest and most awkward floorplan, was for a single-adult home buyer. In this case, the owner was envisioned as a woman executive in her 40s.
What worked in these was homes was clustering six townhouses (three were already sold) with garages largely hidden from public view. Yet owners were provided maximum privacy and outdoor access with views of the green golf course, the distant lake and desert.
Unlike the rows of townhouses sometimes side-by-side with balconies overlooking garage doors so common in the Chicago area, these townhouses, designed by Walt Richardson of RNM Architecture Planners, Newport Beach, Calif., were clustered in something more akin to a hacienda.
All garages were in the interior courtyard, as are the entrances to the townhouses.
While this makes for tight interior configuration–and some inconvenience if all owners decide to try to back out of the garage at the same time–it has the advantage of hiding garage doors from the streetscape. This is something being demanded by many municipalities.
Patios and balconies are on the other side of the building away from the central parking area, allowed each household maximum views.
Equally impressive was the access to the outside on almost every level of each townhouse and the use of windows to create visability to the outside.
Whether a roomy balcony, patio, courtyard or sky deck, the outside spaces were large enough to be usable and add significantly to the feeling of roominess of the interior living space.
In the unit designated for the young family, for example, a small courtyard is surrounded on three sides by the house. The space can serve as small, safe outdoor play space for a young child, a peaceful adult outdoor retreat or an entertainment area. The window wall made the interior almost indistinguishable from the exterior.
The empty-nester unit has several extensions of the interior space to the outdoors. A sizable balcony has enough space for four people to dine comfortably, visible from the dining room. This room in turn extends into the long, sizable kitchen.
Downstairs, a similar feeling is achieved by a not so big bedroom with an outdoor patio. The view from the patio to mountains in the distance expands the feeling of spaciousness.
At least two of the townhouses show judicious use of “flex” rooms, somewhat ambiguous in designation. They don’t shout “bedroom” or “home office” when you reach the threshhold.
One opens onto the small courtyard. Decorated as a home office, it is easy to imagine it as a guest bedroom or a child’s playroom.
Less noticeable, but important, was the “visitability” factor built into these homes. All three units had wider entrances, wider hallways where necessary and at least one bathroom big enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Two of the homes were equipped with elevators. These are features that would be useful not only to handicapped guests but older relatives who might visit the future owners.
As shown, the units each had only two bedrooms though rooms designated as home offices might be options for conversion to extra sleeping space. In the largest townhouse, the one designated for the older couple, there were two master bedroom suites.
In the C unit designed for the single executive woman, the entire top floor of the three-level home was devoted to the master bedroom suite.
Chicago builder Court Airhart, president of Airhart Construction, West Chicago, who toured the houses with several members of his staff, found this “compartmentalization” or separation of the bedrooms interesting, although he questioned the saleability of the design particularly in the smallest unit.
“Most of our buyers are thinking not only how they will use a house in 5 or 10 years but also whether it is attractive for resale,” he observed. “I can’t imagine 99 percent of the Realtors would allow their buyers to buy such a house.”
On the other hand, he thinks the designers were correct in showing lots of “outside spaces that are extensions of their home. We have people do that all the time.”
What not to like in these homes?
No feature provoked more groans than the stairs. There are lots of them though two units also have elevators.
The reaction perhaps is an indication of why the U.S. is cursed with suburban sprawl. We like living on one floor, two at the most.
Other complaints could be lodged about the lack of closet space even in what were designed as second homes.
And while “volume” in the form of higher ceilings or soaring light wells and rooms opening onto each added to the feeling of space, some rooms were just plain small. Just to the right of the entrance of the unit designed for the executive woman, the room was big enough only for a baby grand piano and two easy chairs.
