Pity the baffled builders who cater to the luxury market and constantly have to dream up “something different” for buyers who can afford what they want.
Ask North Shore architect/builder Charles Page, who has provided a few lavish somethings for his clients: a house with three steam showers, another with a kitchen that has cabinets as well as counters made of an exotic hardwood and, perhaps an ultimate, a lot that cost $3.5 million–that’s for the lot, not the house and lot.
Even Page, who is accustomed to speaking in terms of millions as well as in multiples (a garage, for example, “for either eight or nine cars”), admits that $3.5 million was the highest lot price in his 40-year career: “But, it was not just an ordinary lot. It was perfect for them, exactly what they wanted.”
Oh, I hope so.
While most of us ponder mundane decisions that have to be made about mortgage rates, buying a raw or finished basement, or the resale potential of a house without a living room, there are those who have to choose, say, between Nubian oak or hickory, three laundry rooms or only two. And then, it’s not a matter of cost but of convenience, appearance, perhaps rarity.
Some suburban builders who specialize in the luxury market (those who have more $$ than the rest of us, that is, those who can easily afford paying maybe $700,000 to a few million dollars) recently chatted at an industry gathering about what such buyers want. Let’s live vicariously.
Location, of course. That tops many priority lists, but the affluent will pay anywhere from $300,000 to several million for a prime half- to one-acre lot.
Kitchens, still. People continue to spend more on kitchens than on any other room in the house, even though many don’t cook. The builders’ consensus: The combined kitchen/great room is the gathering place, the entertainment center, so it gets look-at-me cabinetry, floors in top grade and unusual woods.
Curt Langille of Lanco Development Co. says people who buy his homes ($600,000 and up) want “nice,” not necessarily over-the-top kitchens. That means oversized Vikings and Sub-Zeros; warming drawers; wine coolers.
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Kitchen comes first
The ultimate: Mark Farraharof Reese Classic Residences had a client with “a vision of the kitchen she wanted, then we built the house around it.”
Garages. Farrahar’s standard is the 4 1/2 car garage because parents think “every one of their kids will need a parking space.” Those with quite a few vehicles who don’t want to give up yard space to a gigantic garage are installing car lifts, according to Jeff Samuels of Samuels Homes.
“Stash the Lamborghini on the top and the everyday Jaguar on the bottom,” quipped a wit.
Beds and baths. The design of bathrooms has become more important than size, with grandiose McBaths shrinking, making way for well-planned storage, vanity seating, bigger multiple head showers.
Builders are getting more requests for secondary bedrooms and bathrooms that mimic the master suite. Look for such bed-bath-sitting room suites for grandparents, guests and children, says David Hoffman of Red Seal Development Corp. (One builder tells of a client’s daughter who has a fireplace in her suite).
Multiples. Refrigerators for the exercise room, the children’s suites or rooms, the media room or home theater. Two dishwashers? That’s a given. Two laundry rooms? That was yesterday. Today’s wealthy set wants laundering facilities on the bedroom level, near the kitchen, in the lower level (near the exercise room, golf practice range, kitchen, billiards table).
Top to bottom. Ceilings are higher (even some basements are 11 feet high); fancier (coffered, vaulted, volume, tray); lighted; have multiple skylights; are painted in contrasting colors.
Floors that are radiant-heated (via coils below the finished flooring) are “practically standard” in Page’s homes and are becoming popular in many Red Seal homes. Langille calls one of his buyers a “radiant fanatic–he even had it installed in his finished lower level.”
Extras. Outside/in or inside/out, that is the question. Decks are growing larger or a home may have two–one screened, the other an outdoor spa.
Dan Venard of Pulte Homes says there’s an emphasis on the three-season room “that’s part of the home and doesn’t look like an afterthought.”
Specialty rooms. Home theaters on the main level (in the space that was once the living room) rather than in the basement, says Page; computer room for kids. “Make it a dedicated space,” says Langille, adding “the point is to take the kids out of a public space or out of my home office.”
Rooms within rooms–niches, reading corners–are gaining popularity, according to Susanne Tauke of New American Homes. “Wardrobe areas,” often his-and-her closets (the size of some bedrooms) joined by a multi-mirrored dressing space.
Soundproofing. Necessary, says Hoffman, for two-story living areas, “which become very noisy.” Ditto for city lofts.
The luxury market
Where do buyers paying $700,000 to more than $2 million put their money?
Fancy ceilings: Vaulted or tray styles and multiple skylights.
Exotic woods: Nubian oak, walnut, hickory for cabinets, floors–even counter tops.
Locations: On lots costing $450,000 or more, all the way up to astronomical.
Secondary bedroom suites: Sometimes as big as Mom’s and Dad’s master suite, but these are for the kids, grandparents or other guests.
Radiant floor heating: As comfy as bun warmers are in fancy cars.
Kitchens: Super-sized Vikings and Sub-Zeros and deluxe everything because the kitchen has become a gathering place, the house’s entertainment center.
Extra rooms: For wine tastings, contoured putting greens, computer rooms just for kids. Also “wardrobe areas,” which once were known as closets.
Soundproofing: Thank the Lord and Allelujah!
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More House Hunters: Past column by Genevieve Buck are available at CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM/HOMES