Now that amenities aren't self-contained in each, individual, over-leveraged home, residents will look to their communities for parks, public spaces, pools and other almost-forgotten shared assets.
Property tax freeze? Good luck with that absurd notion. Evolve or die.
By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS
SMYRNA, Ga. -- For the first time in four decades in the luxury-home business, executives at John Wieland builders are thinking the unthinkable: Maybe houses in the South don't really need a fireplace.
They're also wondering whether new homes require 4,700 square feet of living space. Or private theaters with 100-inch screens. Or super-size-me foyers.
As they draw up blueprints for the house of the post-recession future, builders are struggling to distinguish among what home buyers need, what they want and what they can live without -- Jacuzzi by Jacuzzi, butler's pantry by butler's pantry.
"You have to keep taking things out until you hit a critical point where people reject your product," said Jeff Kingsfield, senior vice president of sales at Smyrna-based John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods.
It's an experiment brought on by necessity. Two years ago, closely held Wieland was building 1,800 houses a year in posh subdivisions in Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, selling for an average of $650,000 apiece. Today, the company is closing on just 600 homes annually, according to Wieland. It has slashed staff to 330 employees from 1,100.
Read the rest at: Builders Downsize the Dream Home - WSJ.com
Goodluck for this. Beautiful photo.
Deirdre G
Posted by: philippines homes | November 27, 2009 at 12:35 AM