Housing Trends for 2015: Practicality and nostalgia meet technology

With the U.S. economic rebound gaining strength and the housing market slowly returning to normal, now is a great time to peer ahead at what kind of design trends and amenities new home buyers are likely to prefer in 2015.  Whether related to technology, easy maintenance, a more practical use of space or even better materials, with consumer confidence rising and unemployment falling, this time look for a return to nostalgia versus living large.

Given the importance of access to information in today’s world, one key unstoppable trend covers technology.  With lower prices for web-controlled cameras, motion sensors for pets, more battery-operated devices, and software which allow smart devices to communicate with each other, the concept of a relatively inexpensive, scalable whole-home system is getting closer to reality.

As smart phones and tablets get smaller, the demand for large built-in desks and separate home offices is declining in favor of charging stations strewn throughout the home.  The most popular spaces are common areas such as corners of kitchens, entrances from the garage and even stairway landings.  For extra security, more builders are beginning to offer various types of keyless entry systems, some of which track who entered the home and when.  Given the rise of the sharing economy, vacation home owners will also benefit from the ability to change entry codes remotely in between guests.

Other technologies targeting the environment and health issues are also gaining ground, including heat recovery systems which constantly filter out particulates, lighting systems which work in concert with natural sunlight, and gardens featuring edible items.  For pool owners, a new method to filter the water simply borrows from the earth with the use of a second pool filled with plants and gravel which cleanse without the use of chlorine or salt.

With water use increasingly on our minds given long-term climate change, more owners are also looking for tanks and cisterns to collect and store rain, gray water systems to re-use on outdoor areas, sprinkler systems which are sync with weather conditions, permeable pavement which resupply groundwater inventories, grass which requires little or no mowing, and more drought-tolerant plants.

Also prepare to say goodbye to the McMansion, at least in most communities. Since the Great Recession, many new homes have also been returning to more practical plans, with a return to smaller kitchens and family rooms which surround residents on a more human scale.  We’ll start seeing less of what I like to call the two-story, “impress the in-laws” foyers.

Instead, look for larger, temperature-controlled garages with nooks for hobbies as well as specialized storage areas throughout the home where everything has its place to minimize clutter.  In addition, given advances in portable fireplaces which don’t require traditional venting, look for more indoor and outdoor fire pits and even painting-sized options which can be hung on walls.

In terms of design cues, don’t be surprised to see some updated relics from the past which have been re-purposed for 2015, such as free-standing bathtubs accompanied by open wall niches for storage.  The durability of porcelain is now competing with other materials as imitation wood for flooring options, which not only saves money (and the environment) versus the real thing, but is more resistant to moisture and actually stands up better to high-traffic areas over time.  Similarly, the durability of naturally occurring quartzite is starting to edge out man-made quartz due to its closer appearance to marble as well as being nearly indestructible.

For fixtures, tiles or even pots dangling from a kitchen ceiling, copper is making a big comeback, allowing designers to introduce a warm yet industrial look to any type of floor plan.  In the kitchen, look for variations of all white to re-emerge, which not only stands the test of time (sadly, the same could not be said of avocado green), but also allows the choice of more striking hardware to stand out.  In other rooms, a growing optimism in the country is being revealed in more Miami-like coral shades, which can add color to a room without being too flashy.

Finally, the trend towards up-selling outdoor living spaces will continue to gain ground this year.  Whether it’s a rooftop deck with pool and spa atop a high-rise urban condo building, a suburban townhome community with pet washing facilities located next to a dog park, or an executive single-family home with backyard amenities usually reserved for resorts, this is one area in which builders of new homes can really excel with their most creative instincts.  Happy 2015!

The end of the 'McMansion?'

When my younger brother was recently visiting for the holidays, he was expressing disdain for a well-known film producer with an enormous home measured in the tens of thousands of square feet. In the interests of family peace, I decided not to remind him of his own 4,000-square-foot, 3-level McMansion on a 1/3-acre plot of land near Philadelphia, which he now admits is much more home than he needs for a family of four.

But I think he's onto something -- having experienced the associated costs with owning and maintaining a large home, the housing bust is now having an impact on the very design of homes. Since it stands to reason that builders must innovate if they expect buyers to purchase new homes rather than the perfectly good 3-year-old homes built by the same companies, what might new homes look like over the next few years? A story in the L.A. Times ponders the question:

...History hints that this downturn could change our tastes. Homes built in the 1940s and '50s, for example, were usually smaller and simpler than large, frilly Victorians that had been in style before the Great Depression and World War II. Materials remained scarce for years after the war, and returning veterans, boosted by mortgage assistance provided under the GI Bill of Rights of 1944, bought Levittowns full of simple new houses as quickly as they could be made.

Virginia McAlester, author of the classic "A Field Guide to American Houses," said that after this recession she expects smaller homes built closer together, but with more attention to their positioning on the lot to better preserve privacy and the occupants' access to a little spot of nature...

"We are going to have far more small houses and attached houses," she predicted. The cost of building the roads, sewers and utility lines to serve compact neighborhoods is lower. Soundproofing will become more important when buyers are living closer to their neighbors or to retail and commercial properties...

Some large suburban houses might be turned into multifamily homes, just as many large homes of the late 1880s and early 1900s were converted into duplexes once lifestyles grew more spare.

"There is actually a pattern of building out there that is called manor houses," she said. From the front, they look like traditional houses, with a single entry. But the structure may incorporate two to five homes within, with separate entries tucked away on the sides of the building. "It's been found to be a way of putting affordable housing into an area," McAlester said.

Certainly that would provoke NIMBY wars and probably require changes to some local zoning laws, but breaking up homes into many units could be a way to preserve values if there aren't enough people willing to bear the burden of big-house upkeep by themselves.

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