I Need My Space!
(Published in Inland Empire Magazine — July 2005: "Spaced Out")
The shape of the American family is changing faster than the cast of a reality TV show. And the spaces we live in are changing too. The Ozzie and Harriet fifties have given way to complex living arrangements. “We’re not seeing as much of the nuclear family: the husband, wife and two kids,” observes Janet Kemmerer, Director of Marketing for Centex Homes Southcoast Division. Blended or extended families are becoming the norm.
The new reality brings its own challenges: where to put Grandma—or Junior, who just moved back after finishing school? People need space, so modern floorplans try to separate the old folks from their noisier offspring. “We dedicate one wing to the master suite,” says Kemmerer of one Centex design, “and put the secondary bedrooms away.”
The downstairs bedroom is still a favorite, especially when flexibility is needed. It can be a home office today, then morph into mother-in-law quarters, and back again.
The separation of age groups takes a clever twist in one Centex design. “It’s a unique floor plan, in that the master suite is offered downstairs,” Kemmerer explains. “The entire upstairs is dedicated to the children.” The design didn’t catch on initially with younger buyers, nervous about having their small kids far away. “But once they hit that junior high age, and high school age, then it’s really well-received,” she says.
By then, most parents are happy to let their kids do the climbing. And it works well for the long term. “As the kids start going off to college, you can almost live like a single-story,” she notes. “All your major living areas are downstairs.”
Brains over brawn, as they say.
# # #
(909) 228–6333