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Houses Built for Women (what a concept)

15 years ago

I ran across this great article today...

Home builders are trying to capitalize on why women are drawn to some houses -- and not others.

When Brandi Hach and her husband were looking for a new home, they swore that new home construction was not for them. She was eight months pregnant at the time and in no mood to deal with the frantic building process she saw her friends go through. Then the Hachs happened to drive by an open house held by Fargo, North Dakota-based Heritage Homes, and in they went. "I was blown away," says Hach. As soon as she walked through the front door, she was drawn to the enormous living area next to the kitchen, and then she spotted the rear entry lockers offering a counter and a place for everything.

Hach's response was exactly what Heritage Homes hoped for. They'd built the model house hoping to impress female buyers.

It's called woman-centric building, and some of today's savvy home builders are trying to woo more women by adding details that they think they'll appreciate. The increase in woman-centric home design has come about because more single women are buying houses, according to The Wall Street Journal. As a result, builders are aggressively adding more details and architectural features women will love, like "killer" walk-in closets (for obvious reasons) and gas fireplaces (easier to light and maintain).

Design Basics, a home plan design firm, is pioneering the movement. They work with sixty builders around the country who are designated Woman-Centric Matters members. More women seem to be signing on the dotted line: Heritage Homes, who opened their first woman-centric home in the fall of 2009, says that they are doing exceedingly well, even in an anemic housing market, thanks to the Woman-Centric Matters program.

The most popular feature of Heritage's Woman-Centric Matters homes seems to be the "drop zone" or rear foyer full of kid-friendly lockers. "Don't call it a mud room," says Paul Foresman, the mastermind behind the Woman-Centric Matters division of Design Basics. "Women don't like the perception of mud all over the home." And don't expect to see a living room in a Woman-Centric Matters' home -- just a nice big great room so women can interact with their families while they're in the kitchen.

"Men have always been more simple than women when it comes to wants and needs in a home," says Paula Miller, a seasoned realtor with Coldwell Banker in Shepherdstown, West Virginia and regional vice president of the National Association of Realtors. "Women always want the bells and whistles -- their own walk-in closet, granite counters, and newer homes that are maintenance free."

Now that she's all moved in to a Heritage woman-centric home, Hach says her favorite feature is the automatic light in the rear foyer. "How many times do moms have groceries in one hand and a child in the other, and we're walking into a dark house?" she says. "It may sound silly, but here we built this beautiful house and I'm in love with the simple features, such as the cookie sheet cabinet in the kitchen and the automatic pantry light." She also admits to loving the way the kitchen island faces the living area because in her old house Hach felt she was missing out on life when isolated in the kitchen.

It takes more than installing a light to attract women to a home. Design Basics' Woman-Centric Matters program is an extensively researched idea that launched in 2003. To reach home buyers -- 91 percent of which are women, according to Design Basics' research -- the program encourages participating builders to throw targeted events. "We recently had a Women's Day Out at one of our builder's homes in Columbus, Ohio," says Foresman. "We had wine, crab cakes, and more, and over 200 women came through the model home. Another hundred ladies came to a jewelry design party held in a Warwick, Rhode Island Woman-Centric Matters home and four contracts were written."

Anecdotal evidence suggests that women are drawn to these homes. Since adopting the program in 2008, Hugh Fisher, president of Deer Brook Development in Rhode Island, has increased the number of homes he's sold from an average of 20 per year to over 149 Woman-Centric Matters houses alone since 2008.

In fact, Heritage's business has gone up about 40 percent from where it was in 2009, thanks to the addition of the Woman-Centric Matters program. Though much of the advertising is word of mouth, Tyrone Leslie, president and chief operating officer of Heritage Homes, says that the local media has taken an interest and covered Woman-Centric Matters events. (For a clip, check out this CNBC feature.)

Now that Hach has lived in her woman-centric home for over a month, we had to ask: How does her husband feel about living in a home designed for a woman? "He loves the features," she says, "and he doesn't analyze the fact that it's a Woman-Centric Matters design."

How would a house built for a man differ? We'd venture a guess that there'd be much more attention paid to technology. Coldwell Banker's Miller says that men want to see lots of storage space for their tools.

Still, Hach is impressed with how comfortable she is in her new home. She's even had to deflect envy from female friends who come to visit, especially when they walk through the back foyer and spot the nifty automatic light.

Comments (19)

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Gee, what took them so long?

    lol

    Love the article. I have long thought my idea of home design would be different than the norm. Exceptional laundry facilities, better storage in the kitchen, and a crafting area would be among the tops on my list. Yes, kitchens that work with the living areas would be terrific.

    Speaking of automatic lights. I had my dh put one in our little laundry room...no more going in there with an armful of dirty laundry and fumbling for the light. It goes on and off without my intervention. Such a simple delight.

    My ideal 'woman-centric' home would have tons more electrical outlets(especially in the bathroom) than my current house.

    Thanks for posting. I enjoyed reading it.

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I really have only one word:

    Duh...

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    But I totally agree with HappyinTexas.
    What [TF] took them so long?!

    Why is designing a house for women a novel idea at all?
    I mean, didn't anyone ever notice that the WOMAN was the primary decider when it came to which house to buy anyway?

    I went shopping with a good friend of mine for a new SUV not long ago. And the one she fell in love with? It had a spot for her purse! (What a concept!) Right between the seats, accessible, handy... Why doesn't every vehicle have that?

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Not at all offensive...sigh.

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Love this idea. And Sweeby, it's so funny about your friend, I mentioned to a male friend years ago that car makers needed to get their act together and start designing vehicles for WOMEN. We don't want our purse on the floor next to us, or even on the seat, we need a place to keep it handy.

    Good to know SOMEONE is getting smarter and realizing that women hold just as much, if not more, purchasing power decisions as men on these big ticket items! And we girls are big girls who can make these decisions on our own. (Ok, off my soap box now!)

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    LOL Sweeby on that purse thing. Really...it is little things that speak to practicality that really sell products. The manufactures of the cookie cutter car and house could sooo benefit from listening to super-users on design.

    I'm a single women in a 3000 sq ft new home. I think it spoke to me because it was a floor plan in a retirement community built by Del Wbb. Del Webb knew how to meet the needs of the older consumer who had excessive life-experiences and knew about convenience and practicality. He understood the magic of great floor plans.

    I am on my third Nissan Murano....why...because it is uber-comfortable, has great performance, electric seats, GPS and a sun-glass holder...LOL

    BRING ON THE GOOD DESIGN!!!!

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    LOL about buying a car because it has a place for a purse. Several years ago, we did NOT buy a big honking 4 door Ford F-150 because there were no cup holders in the rear seating area. Cup holders make my life easier.

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    My only issue with this is: 'And don't expect to see a living room in a Woman-Centric Matters' home -- just a nice big great room so women can interact with their families while they're in the kitchen." Why are WE still the ones EXPECTED to be in the kitchen all the time???? My DH is a much better cook than I. Although I do like a lot of the features, maybe the issue isn't just design. Good design is good design. Attitudes still need a little work, it seems.

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Thank you for sharing this- it was a wonderful read....... and while I am not sure that some of these great features (or lack thereof) would be deal maker or breaker, they sure do ring true for me. Very good read.:

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I drive a Land Rover because it's gonna get me where I'm going.....now apply that to a house.....? I want function...I want built-ins....low maintenance....high tech...off the main road and acreage.....

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    At a college reunion I spoke with one of my engineering professors, who told me of the great new course they were instituting, Design for Manufacture. This was to review the design of the product with an eye for how it would actually be built. Wow, I said, forget about designing for manufacture, how about designing for maintenance? As a consumer who has to live with the product, I want to be able to keep it functioning. He had no idea that this would be an issue.

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I just want a laundry area next to the bedrooms---that vents straight out the back. I can't tell you how many new home owners have issues with the stupid idea of trying to vent a dryer straight up throught the roof, or worse, venting down through the slab where all of the moisture condenses and stops it up in about a month's time. And I want at least enough room to fold the clothes in the laundry room and some room to hand stuff up too. Put all of this in my master closet with a built in coffee machine and beverage fridge and I might never leave the suite!

    And while I don't care for the concept of a "formal living room" and want to have an open concept plan, I also do want a "den", sunroom, office, or other comfy space where I can shut the door and watch my TV shows or read with a minimum of disruption when the other half (or kids for other families) has friends over and monopolizes the "family" space.

    I want a vanity space next to a sink and running water, but not necessarily in the "bathroom" with good lighting and a mirror that telescopes to me because I'm blind as a bat and getting worse.

    Most of all, I want smaller square footage than most home plans that I see being built. As attractive as having a maid would be, it'll never be in my future. So, if I have to clean it all, it had better be all space that I use and no wasted space like a formal dining room that gets used once a year and accumulates dust the rest of the time.

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Re. cars and exterior shots and interior
    designs..yes! I'm in the market, and already
    know what the thing looks like from seeing
    it on the road. I want great shots of the
    interior! I am craving a luxe interior in
    warm tones, but most are still in boring
    gray, black or light taupe. Years ago I owned
    a Mercury Cougar. It's interior was in camel:
    a combo of soft corduroy and leather.....it was
    yummy!

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I used to embarrass my ex-DH by walking through model homes remarking on how stupid the designs were (and then occasionally saying it to the sales people). By the flawed and/or hard to maintain house designs out there, there are obviously a lot of architects designing houses who have never done any housekeeping.

    What moron came up with the idea of a walk-through laundry room? You don't dare drop a piece of clothing on the floor which you can't keep clean, and you risk being slapped in the face with a door by someone coming in from the garage. And no floor space at all. And have you seen the laundry rooms built without a washtub? Someone who doesn't do laundry (like maybe an architect) would not understand why you need anything more than a washer and dryer. They don't understand that to get hot water in a front load washer, you need to run a faucet nearby. And where do you fill and dump the pail of water to clean the ceramic floor? And then there is wall-to-wall carpeting in bathrooms. I'd better stop, I feel a rant coming on.

    This is the light switch that HappyinTexas probably has. They are fabulous.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sensor light

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    How about a kitchen floor with a drain right in the middle of it, and a retractable house that you could use to hose down messes? And while we're at it, all the windows in the house would tilt in for easy washing.... The laundry room would have plenty of room to hang clothes that are drying and would offer plenty of easy access/hidden storage to the soap, bleach, etc. At least one bathroom would include a shampoo bowl like salons have. I could go on ....

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    What timing!

    About 2-3 yrs ago I told DH that if there was one dream thing that I could do it would be to design and build a custom home based upon a survey sent out to women.

    I would compile the data, come up w/ the design concept and have my dad and FIL (the architects) design it. I would market it drom dream to fruition and then sell it. DH kind of looked at me and asked 'Why?' and I said - 'You're a man - you wouldn't understand. Men are commonly the ones who come up w/ these designs and then build the houses. What do most of them know about what we do or how we operate? This is a fabulous idea and one that would sell.'.

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Yep, graywings, that's similar to what we have. One of the best decisions we've ever made.

    Yes, yes, yes to all the laundry ideas. One of my pet peeves is the walk through laundry. While I don't have that, my laundry 'room' is little more than a walk in closet. Laundry is something we do every dad-blamed week. Sometimes every day. The next one I have (if I have another) will be loaded with space to fold and hang, plus storage for holiday and entertaining supplies.

    Ditto some thoughtful plentiful storage in the kitchen. I want an old fashioned pantry like my sis-in-law had. Walk in dream. Sigh. Good task lighting and built in cookie sheet holders. And pull out drawers so I can get to the stuff at the back of the cabinets.

    Any house I'd design would have some decor elements built in...like an electrical plug close to or on the mantle so I can plug in lamps or something on the mantle. Plenty more under the eaves outside for Christmas lights.

    Did I mention a creative room?

  • 15 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I LOVE the idea and I love the motivation for it! As many before me have already said, WTF took them so long to realize this?!?
    Eighteen years ago, we were looking to buy our forever home. DH, who was totally tied down to his very busy practice, could not get away to look at many homes. So, while DS was in school, our realtor and I looked at 119 homes. Beautiful homes, but to my eye, there were so many impractical drawbacks to each of them. Impractical tile that looked great but would be a bear to keep clean. Bathrooms with views to nowhere. Bedrooms situated with views into their neighbors bedrooms. Impractical closets . . . entrances . . . laundry rooms . . . and the kitchens! I should have been an architect, as I could immediately see the impracticality of most of them!

    I love the great, practical solutions mentioned above in the article. THAT's the kind of home I was looking for back then and that's the kind of place I'd look for in the future! We had to custom build to get that kind of stuff and we still got a screwy kitchen that I had to replace finally. I'm going to do more research on this company. Thanks, V-rn! I hope that I never move from here, but if I do, I'm looking for one of these homes for sure!
    Lynn