The term “great room” has been debated among home buyers for many years, along with “volume ceilings.”
One wag said the idea of a “great room” stemmed from someone walking into a room and saying, “Wow. This is great.”
As builders continue in their quest to tweak the English language in pursuit of home sales, more and more phrases are tossed at home buyers. You’ll see them in marketing literature and hear them as you walk through model homes.
After all, who wants to buy an ordinary bathtub when you can have a luxurious “soaker tub?” Does this mean you have to soak in the tub if you buy the house? Of course not, but the image is more glamorous.
As a potential home buyer, how can you weed through all the marketing terms and make an informed decision about whether you want a house with a “keeping room” or a “morning room?” Should you spring for that “large, soaker tub?”
Let’s start with that “keeping room.” Before you start worrying about what you can “keep” in there, consider the term’s origin.
“The keeping room is an old New England term,” said Al Bloom, president of Bloom and Fiorino Architects Inc. in Oak Brook. “Generally speaking, it has a lot of windows and perhaps skylights.”
The “keeping room” usually is at least 12-by-12-feet, sometimes taking on unusual shapes.
“It can be an octagon or it might even be a huge walk-in bay area,” Bloom said.
The “keeping room” sometimes is called a “hearth room,” described as a cozy room or sitting area, often with a fireplace. Some builders add it near the back of the house, while others use it in place of a living room in the front of the house.
“Most of our homeowners are not doing a formal living room, they are doing a hearth room,” said Curtis Perlman, project manager for Empeco Custom Builders.
Years ago, the living room might have been called the “plastic room” to account for all the clear film on the furniture or the “don’t sit down” room for the instructions parents gave to kids.
Today, the living room often becomes a showcase for fine furniture or a kids’ play space until the parents buy the nice furniture.
Some builders are tossing caution to the wind and reinventing that space at the front of the house.
“When it comes down to the price per square foot for a living room, it’s a lot of money to spend for a space you don’t use,” Perlman said.
“Morning rooms” are another variation on the casual room theme. The morning room – not to be confused with an evening room – typically is about 200 square feet and is adjacent to the kitchen and breakfast room. It is designed for seating, but does not include cabinetry, said one builder.
In some floor plans, the kitchen will have a countertop area with an overhang that separates the kitchen from the morning room. The morning room then becomes a place for pulling up bar stools to the countertop for casual meals.
This large kitchen often will include a group of “gourmet appliances,” although they do not actually do the cooking for you. They are all part of a “gourmet kitchen,” a term that is now being used to market everything from a $150,000 townhouse to a $2.5 million custom home.
Appliance manufacturers also will toss a little jargon your way. One example is the “over and under” refrigerator.
The freezer typically is “over” the refrigerator, which then becomes the “under” part. Many manufacturers are turning that model upside down so the refrigerator is the “over” part and freezer is the “under” part.
In that scenario, however, manufacturers and kitchen designers just call it a “bottom freezer.”
One new twist on refrigerator lingo is the “French door” model. This is not a gateway to the patio, but rather a new way to combine refrigeration and freezer space.
The top of the refrigerator has two doors that open side-by-side, while the bottom has a freezer that opens from one side.
As you peruse builders’ marketing literature, please note that there are a few terms that have fallen out of favor. For instance, it just isn’t cool to call a cozy breakfast room a “dinette.”
That term often evokes memories of a metal kitchen table with grooved edges and a scratched laminate top.
“We look for friendlier names,” said Court Airhart, president of Airhart Construction. “Sometimes names become antiquated.”
The “den” also is being used less and less, as it conjures visions of a small, dark room where one would go to watch a 19-inch television or smoke a pipe.
And, in some cases, builders start out with one marketing term, but have to modify it to avoid confusing buyers. Airhart Construction did just that with Blanchard Court in Wheaton. Some units have English basements, which means the basement is raised out of the ground.
“We were calling it our garden room,” Airhart said. “We had taken the name from an old garden apartment, but we realized in today’s vernacular, it doesn’t work.”
There also are some new terms, such as “roof room.” This room functions like a “bonus room” at the top level of a townhouse.
At Eastgate Village, a townhouse, duplex and condominium project at 26th and King Drive in Chicago, home buyers can add a finished roof room in place of some flat roof space.
“We found that people were looking for that bonus space,” said Terrie Whittaker, president of sales and marketing for New West Realty, one of the companies developing the project.
Others who like their outdoor space may have heard about the “green roof.” Focus Development uses it to describe landscaped roof areas at some condominium developments.
“We typically have a parking garage and above the garage we have a green, landscaped area so residents can enjoy the outdoors,” said Anita Olsen, director of sales and marketing for Focus Development.
The area includes some public spaces and, with some units, the option of having a private terrace leading from the unit to the open space above the garage.
“It’s kind of nice for residents to enjoy the outdoors when they live in a condominium,” Olsen said.
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A long list of things you should know
Home builders use many terms to describe their homes and communities. Here’s a look at some common building terms:
Exteriors
Balustrade — a row of repeating balusters, which are small vertical posts that support the upper rail of a railing. Balustrades are found on staircases and porches.
Elevation — the view of the house as it sits on the lot. Most builders have several elevations that vary in terms of the exterior materials used, the window arrangements and the rooflines.
Fascia — Horizontal boards running across the end of the roof rafters, creating the border of the roof.
Gable roof — a roof that has two sloping planes that meet at the peak (ridge). The planes are supported at the ends by triangular, upward extensions of walls called gables.
Windows and Insulation
Casement — a window that has vertical hinges and swings outward, usually with a crank.
Double hung — a window with two sections that are raised and lowered vertically.
Palladian — a large window that typically is arched and is divided into three parts with the center portion larger than the two side portions.
R-Value — the measurement of the insulating value of a product. The term often is used to define insulation. The higher the number, the higher the insulating value, so insulation that is R-25 has more insulating qualities than insulation with R-19.
Slider — a window that slides sideways, not to be confused with a baseball pitch.
Transom — a rectangular window with separate sections that often is placed near the ceiling or above a doorway. The window typically is for light flow only and does not open.
Interiors
Four-season room — as the name implies, it is a room that can be used throughout the year. Builders often use this term to imply flexibility, rather than telling buyers it has to be a sunroom.
Owner’s suite — a term representatives of at least one builder uses for the master bedroom. It’s considered more warm and fuzzy.
Bonus room — an “extra” room, typically unfinished and over the garage or in an unusual roof line area, that buyers can finish for a variety of uses.
Ceilings
Cathedral ceiling — like those found in a church, it has two sides of equal length that come together in the center.
Coffered ceiling — the top section is recessed.
Vaulted ceiling — one side is longer than the other.
Volume ceiling — a generic term for tall ceilings. Volume ceilings can be cathedral, vaulted or another style. The term is designed to imply spaciousness.
— Allison E. Beatty
