Juliet ~ Haven't seen any of these yet myself, but I like the idea of the elevator and the laundry upstairs (which always made sense to me since the clothes, towels and sheets are already upstairs!).  I also like the double-sided fireplace; I'm hoping for something like that in my next house!

We have a lot of homes with elevators here - even in the $300K range!  I love the see through fireplaces.  It is something I've always wanted myself!

The house we bought has a huge master bedroom with 2 walk in closets and a large ensuite. I'm ripping them out and turning the ensuite in to a dressing room with an island and the area that is currently the 2 walk-ins (huge) will become our 'ensuite' and be open to the bedroom area.

There will be the 'morning kitchen' as well. Thanks for a name for it! The current layout does include this but not nearly as much as what my hubby wants and myself.

Basically I think people are looking for escapes. We all recognize it as luxury I think it is now necessity!

The house is a 5 bedroom, but the 5th bedroom (no closet) will be the kids playroom and will grow with them.

The basement, an unfinished area for bikes...kids are looking forward to this even though they can ride the bikes outside right now!

Now that basement would be cool for kids, especially where it's cold in the winter. 

I have a laundry room on the same floor as the 4 bedrooms in my house - I'd be really mad if they put it in the basement 2 floors down.  I always say that a women designed my house!

Ok, am I the only one who noticed a bottle of bubbly in the "morning kitchen?"  Mimosas all around folks!  Now that's some living!!

Ever the eagle eye, Susan!  Well spotted.  I guess they want a glass at night to go to sleep and a coffee in the morning to wake up.

Dane, I agree, people do see luxury as an escape.

Melissa - lots of elevators, huh?  wonder why.. aren't you still in a hurricane zone?  Doesn't a hollow space like an elevator shaft destabilize the house?  Not that I would know! <gr>

Kathy - I have a double-sided fireplace and it's great.  I thought I'd hate gas, but I lvoe the ease and cleanliness of it.

Love following you, and especially enjoyed the indulgences pictured here.

Hi Juliet,

Interesting, I just read a Chicago Tribune article a few weeks back about how the trend of McMansions is passé and that the major area Builders are reducing their foot prints of their blue prints, and that McMansions are fading quickly.

Here are a few spaces I've heard of from other trades people - Building super deep basements for their lower-level interior basketball courts, a "sauce" room ( I was like Huh? when I heard this one.) They like to make homemade tomato sauce, so they built a specialty room in the basement - a swim-up bar for their pool (great in the always tropical Chicago weather...) and my favorite I saw recently down the road from me- a high brick wall surrounding the patio for the French-styled château.  The property butted up against an Illinois protected forest preserve - I guess they're afraid some wildlife or tree leaves may want to invade the castle!

Hello there Juliet!  Yes, there seem to be more of the trends you named happening here in Florida.  The addition of personal 'putting greens' and 'tennis courts' on the property has also risen.  The see-through fireplaces have been around for a while here in FL as we don't usually have those dense looking walls as seen up north.  No cement basements to be found...our water table would surely flood those spaces!  I liked your name for the morning kitchen...I call them 'Evening bars' actually....thinking of night-caps and midnight snacks....I guess it could be named either one! Regards-Kathleen G

PS-Dane's closet will rock! I see those in the larger homes and just wish I had the space for one!

I agree, Julea, I too have read, and heard from hi end realtors that the trend is for smaller footprints.  However, I'm still seeing 2, 3 4 million dollar spec builds.  Go figure!  And they sell!!  Not so easily on the secondary market, but the first time around they go easy.  Totally love the idiosyncracy of a sauce room.... are they going into commercial production? ,gr>

Kathleen, it's not my name - I got it from a realtor who was showing me a house he wanted me to stage.  He called it that, and then I went back to a builder friend and asked her what she called it and she agreed that she had called it that on the plans.  No idea if it's official or not.

Hello Juliet, hope all is well with you...  In our area it's huge basements and Even bigger media rooms.  It appears as though everyone that is selling their McMansions here in Indianapolis are downsizing, although that's a matter of perspective.  I'm not sure you can call going from 13,000 sq ft to 7,000 sq ft, downsizing...???

Juliet:  The last McMansion I was in was going for an Adirondak feel.  They had shaker shingles inside, all the appliances (microwave included) below the counters, and an average size claw foot tub.  The tub was aesthically pleasing, but I'm a spoiled brat.  Give me the big garden tub with the jets.  And did I mention that the shower stall was in the middle of the bathroom?

Juliet:  When I hosted for a house tour, I got to show off the squash court that was adjacent to the family room - and completely visible thanks to the tempered glass wall!  Julie

Oy, Chris, now THAT's niche marketing, isn't it?  Wouldn't want to take that risk were I a spec builder!  Some people have a ton of courage.

I'm vastly amused that rich folks in Indianapolis are turning into moles, Gary!!  And I agree, 7,000 sq. ft is quite enough! I have a client here who has done the same - he says he just wasn't using all of the 13,000 sq.ft.  He may not have, but his 4 kids were, or at least that's how I rationalized the mess when I arrived to stage the place!