Home Builders Accommodate Demand For Home Offices, Outdoor Retreats In Post-Pandemic Era

It’s been two years since the COVID-19 pandemic blindsided Americans, prompting us to self-quarantine, wear masks, and do the dreaded social distancing dance.

Now that businesses have long-since reopened and the kids are back to school, the home is no longer just a place to crash after a hard day’s work. The grown-ups are there all day now in some cases, and that dictates what they’re looking for in a home.

While builders and designers say the changes are ever so slight, homeowner preferences over the past couple of years have clearly shifted.

Changing Spaces

Heaven Porteous, the chief design officer and co-creator of Avant Group, a Candy’s Dirt preferred builder, says the shifts are subtle.

“Nothing has changed dramatically,” Porteous said. “Bigger homes have become a little more desirable. We don’t necessarily see that as being a direct result of COVID. Two or three years ago we had people coming to us and saying, ‘Can you make it smaller?’ We haven’t heard that since. We now hear from people who want five bedrooms, a dedicated office space, and a flex room that could be used as a bedroom or an office. We’ve always done that but now it’s non-negotiable.”

Many families also want a closed game room or play area for kids — and they want it in a very separate location from the office space.

“We used to have a lot of open playrooms with no doors or walls,” Porteous said. “That’s no longer desirable.”

David Goettsche, founder of Desco Fine Homes, said the changes he’s seen in home construction over the past two years have been minimal. Design-wise, buyers still want open floor plans, big kitchens, and movie rooms, but the bottom line has changed.

“Costs are above what everyone will expect,” he said.

A survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders found that Millennials have changed their housing preferences due to the pandemic.

“More than a third (36%) of Millennials are now in favor of a larger home and more builders are responding to this trend,” the survey states.

Bigger houses are more expensive, however, and high interest rates will make a mortgage even harder to afford, the NAHB report points out. 

Cool For The Summer

It’s also become non-negotiable to have plenty of outdoor entertaining space, Porteous said.

“The biggest change we’ve seen post-COVID is people wanting pools or outdoor spaces,” Porteous said. “That’s probably the No. 1 ask in the last two years. Pool prices are rising. The demand is fueling that.”

A lot of homeowners are now asking for a guest house or casita detached from the main house for visiting guests.

“[COVID] probably made our appreciation for entertaining — having guests, family and friends over, having dinner parties — even greater,” she said. “We never know what we’re missing until it’s gone.”

More Trends

As homes have gotten bigger, more light is needed. Transitional-style homes that bring the outdoors inside are something homeowners appreciate, Porteous said.

“Now, more than ever, you want to have the ability to bring the outside in,” she said. “That’s always something I like to focus on — an open floor plan with lots of light.” 

An open kitchen with a huge island and lots of seating has been trendy for years, along with an informal dining space, she added. 

“People are now thinking about landscape early on in the process,” she said. “It used to be a secondary thought.”

Avant Group homes — typically purchased by young families and empty nesters — range in price from about $240 per square foot to $305 per square foot, depending on the level of customization.

The recent custom build at 4302 Bluffview Blvd. demonstrates what new buyers are looking for.

“It’s a really cool modern C-shaped home with the pool in the courtyard, so it connects straight off the living and kitchen area, straight off the casita, and straight off the master bedroom,” Porteous said. “It’s a really nice, cool floor plan.” 

You Better Work

Equipping a home with an office is nothing new for Avant, which has been in business since 2015.

“We’ve always been heavy-handed on the technology and smart home features,” Porteous said. “We have clients who are software engineers or work remotely for physicians. We have to make sure they have the hard lines they need for data processing. They’re very particular on where things are located. We do it to the very last outlet. We walk through the entire home, when it’s still just sticks, and mark everything that is above and beyond. [The clients] bring a marker too.”

Builders now have to give some thought to which rooms have the best lighting for someone who spends all day on Zoom meetings, Porteous added. 

Millennials and Gen Xers are demanding home offices, according to the NAHB study, which means square footage of new construction will continue to grow.

“The home-building industry expects to see home sizes continue to increase due to a shift in consumer preferences as more activities are taking place in the home in the post-pandemic environment,” NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter said in a press release.

Porteous said she’s also met with out-of-state home buyers who’ve relocated to Texas during this post-pandemic era because they don’t want to be locked down.

“They’re not just coming for economic opportunities,” she said. “It’s a little more freedom. People from New York and New Jersey, they’ve seen a lot of lockdown. They feel a little more at ease here, safer, less confined. There’s freedom of community and neighborhoods where they can feel that sense of community.”

The COVID pandemic did bring about some positive change, Porteous added.

“What COVID did was allow people to start pursuing what they actually wanted,” she said. “It’s allowed them to make that big step, that big leap of getting a custom home. I think it’s important to have spaces for what is most valuable to you.”