Well….here’s my humble opinion. That is really tall and rooms can be un-cozy if not decorated properly. Just regular maintenance like cleaning windows, etc, is more work (or more money if you hire). I had 12’ in most of my downstairs with the living room and foyer being 15’ up to 20’. Since we didn’t use the living room much, I didn’t care that it wasn’t as inviting as i wanted. I had a heck of a time buying furniture and never did get the scale right. You might need some Kylie size money to heat and/or cool it though!

If pretentious is you, go for it. There are plenty of designers and builders that will take advantage of that. Just my opinion.

Why is it that tall ceilings are automatically percieved as pretentious? I like tall ceilings...I'm in Houston and it's pretty common here and it feels good. More airy and open especially will large windows if there is a decent view.

Maybe it is because I am from the Midwest. There just seems like better ways to meet the needs of shelter for humans than constructing space that will really never be really used. Construction is expensive and it is best to have priorities in line.

I prefer human scaled homes, and 16' ceilings are not comfortable for me. If you're an NBA player, and over 7' tall maybe 16' ceilings feel good to you. Many Design Dilemmas here on Houzz concern furnishing, decorating, lighting, heating, and otherwise living in homes with overly high ceilings. I'd rather spend my home budget on good proportions, quality materials and livable layouts.

It's a single story home, so every room will be utilized. I've always lived in small houses so i want this house to feel big. I

If cost is not an issue, then I dont see a problem. I do agree that if you had to heat the space up north it would not be fun, but here in the south I appreciate the height very much. My last house was a ranch with 10' ceilings, my current one has 10 down a d 9 up with the great room open to above and the study at 15 or so feet..it feels good to me and not because I'm trying to be pretentious..

The rooms are large...everything is bigger in TX and of course it would be silly to have high ceilings in a small room, proportions do matter but if it's a large open space, the extra few feet give a sense of space and openness. Not everything is utility...I happen to like wide hallways, so maybe it's just me.

But I do think a good architect is the best person to guide you through what you need and want.

If you live in the north have fun paying the heating bill. Sure high ceilings are nice and spacious feeling, but not very practical. Wasted space and utilities. If you have the money to burn, then go for it.

The word that jumps to my mind is "uncomfortable".

I was asked to design the renovation of an old factory built, site assembled, Yankee Barn where the main living space had 17 ft tall walls and a roof that sloped up to a height of 22 ft.

After struggling with a way to heat and light the space for several months I persuaded the owners to add a floor. The resulting spaces were scaled well and easy to heat, cool and light. It also added a bedroom with a better view than from the living room.

That project was built with 6x6 posts, steel connections and a sloping stressed skin panel roof that made it stable. I don't know how you intend to brace the exterior walls but the IRC limits the height of unbraced 2x6 exterior bearing stud to 10 ft.

Making the height 20 ft would make it easier to add a floor later.

Best way to find out if you'll like 16' ceiling in a home, is to visit a house that has one. Looking at one on TV won't tell you how it feels-- the photographer is being paid to make the place look better than real life. So visit open-houses and get a sense of what feels good to you. And remember that scale matters. If you're building a small house, really tall ceilings can make it feel disproportionate rather than spacious.

My new house has from 18-14 foot ceilings. But.... that's not finihsed height. It's open loft / bar joists. The bar joists hang down 2', then some rooms have ceilings at 8.5', and then there is exposted HVAC and a large ceiling fan in the open room that is set at 11' - so it's all bringing the scale down.

Just be careful on the size of the rooms to ensure that it doens't feel like an elevator shaft - the square footage needs to be able to accommodate the high ceilings.

How large a house are you intending to build? How large a living area? Kitchen? Dining? Bedrooms?

Scale is important. 16' ceilings in a 1000 square foot house will look incongruious.

I'm with those who say uncomfortable and pretentious. Way too much for a typical residential home, even for an above-average home.

I lived in a series of buildings that were built between 1830-1840. The ceiling heights were graduated and went 14, 12, 10, 8, up from the street level. They were converted to apartments then condos starting in 1965.

Some of the 14' ceiling areas got lofted. Which meant that part of each of those large rooms was vertically divided into kind of mean, less than 7 foot ceiling spaces and some of it stayed 14 ft.

Some of the top units had cut throughs from the 3rd to 4th floor so had 18 foot ceilings.

My conclusions were that the proportions of the rooms were Very important relating to height:

A full parlor with 14' ceiling at 18' wide and 25ish long seemed a little too high, when they were double parlors at 18" wide and 50 feel long with the pocket doors open it was very nicely proportioned overall.

The 14' ceilinged area left behind where part of it was divided into two levels felt awkwardly proportioned because the floor area was smaller.

The 12 foot full rooms were nice because they were big, about 18x25, same with the 10 foot, but when you started to encroach on the footprint some of the 12 foot ceiling started to feel a bit awkward. 10 was a little more flexible.

Conversely, the 8 foot top floors when the space was wide open at 25 feet started to seem a bit low. But the 18 foot ceiling where it was cut through over the LR area felt too vertical.

The 14 foot ceilinged main hallways at 6' wide were a bit like walking in a crevasse.

I also had a friend who lived in an apartment with 16' ceilings, it was the old parlor of a big house. The living room felt okay, the old back parlor which was cut up into a bedroom, kitchen and bath...not so great. The ceiling seemed too high for the footprint of the bedroom, the kitchen felt a bit awkward, and taking a shower in a tiny bathroom with a 16' ceiling felt like you were at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

I like higher ceilings, specially living in warm climates. I'll repeat this again, it is not a new concept. When we looked at real estate in CA, most of the older 1920 homes we saw had high ceilings in the 10 - 14 ft range. The house we bought (not old) was mostly 9 ft with several vaulted ceilings up to 14 ft. I always felt the main living area should have been 10-11 ft and not 9 ft based on the size of the space. Our current build has 10-12 ft ceilings with large windows and 10 ft tall sliders.

And as far as "having priorities in line". Whose priorities? I'm a homebody these days, so having a house and space that I enjoy, in a warm climate, is my main priority.

@Te'Neika Henley, there are many ways to make a house feel big. I would visit as many open houses and model homes as possible. Buy yourself a laser measuring tape and you can quickly measure how high the ceilings are when you are out looking. Talk to some builders and some architects to get a feel for what works in your area, what the cost might be and these days, what their schedules and timelines look like.

Ms. Jenner's budget was $36.5 Mil. Every foot added to a wall adds cost... wall thickness, footing size, labor, more time, more time climbing ladders and scaffold than actually doing the work. More windows, more materials., etc.

But otherwise a cool look if its in the budget.

Our great room has 10' ceilings. It's 28x40. One side of the length has 4 evenly spaced 48"x92" elliptical topped windows facing South. The window height allows a view that includes sky. Those windows give a more expansive feeling than a ceiling. The 10 foot ceiling is comfortable with the room size. Window sizing and height are more important, ime, than ceiling.

Well, if budget isnt a consideration, then hire the architect that designed that thing. With 2021 prices, expect it to be more like 45M. If that’s 10x over your budget? You might want to scale back your ambitions 20x over that.

If it’s 100x over your budget, leave that for the paper doll barbie fantasy, and start thinking about the real world build that you can actually accomplish. And which will have zero in common with that monstrosity.

If it’s more than 100x your budget, start looking at entry level tract home builders who do the Model T’s of home builds. You can have anything you want, as long as its gray and cheap and exactly what is offered, with no changes. Or buy an existing entry level home.

You can determine ceiling heights in a vacuum. Ceiling heights have been getting lower for about 10 years. A function of concerns over heating and cooling costs. I like certain areas of our home with 10-14’ ceilings. For a single story, ceiling heights are more tricky. I like a 9-10’ in a dining room because I like a more intimate dining experience. Going over 18’ in a single story
Home requires a good architect and designer to ensure you get the “feeling” you want. We “decorate” where we live which means decor is usually kept below 9’. Post your floor plan and we can provide better feedback. I do think entry’s in any style, benefit from higher ceilings to accommodate great chandeliers.

“Edit- you CAN’t determine ceiling heights in a vacuum”.

Your photos in your Ideabooks lean to contemporary styling. That style lends itself to cooler looks. Here are some photos and I will explain some issues. This kitchen has very high ceiling. Above 9’ there is just space and added cost. Plus, controlling cooking odors is a issue. More cost.

In this photo, we have a pretty entrance with probably 14’ ceiling. Any higher and it would look and feel chimney like. The proportions would be off for the footprint of the space.

In this photo, very high ceiling but the windows and views are showcased so this works.

Notice the custom length of lighting and custom wood stove exhaust pipe to say nothing of the oversized custom windows. Everyone ultimately has a budget so consider the “total cost of building, furnishings and custom upcharge plus maintenance.

Nine is not exactly low

One last example. In master bedroom, a custom designed tray ceiling helps visually lower ceiling. In photo from Kylie’s home sale photos show the home is multilevel and each space is custom designed to achieve a grand but elegant look and contemporary style. So hire a experienced architect who can help you do the technical work necessary to achieve the “look” you want while keeping proportions aliened.

Here’s what to avoid.

Of course I had to look…K. Jenner’s house is 19,250 square feet. If I found the correct house, she owns a few.

Personally I prefer Kendall's https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/kendall-jenner-los-angeles-home

Is this ceiling considered "elegant" now? One soffit over a kitchen cabinet is the worst thing ever but three stacked on each other in an oddly shaped room is elegant? Well I guess if Kylie's huge implanted backside is elegant then this is too.

Gee palimpsest-might be a bit kinder. We need kindness in this world. You can offer differing opinions without the snarky attitude. Having a bad day? I hope things improve for you.

I think there are a lot of factors which go into appropriate ceiling height, including the climate you live in and the proportions of your house. I live in a single story, 2000 sq ft house with ceilings ranging from 8 1/2 to 10 feet. Anything higher would be out of proportion with the size of the rooms (and would cost a fortune to heat and cool in my climate).

Exactly jmm1837. It’s all about proportion and balance.

Kylie's Holmby Hills mansion doesn't appear to have 16' ceilings in the public rooms.

For example:

Check out the current architectural King of the Megamansions, Canadian born Richard Landry's site for ideas. Kylie is reported to have contacted him for designing a home for her $15 million Hidden Hills vacant lot.

I'm buildng a single-story which will have 16' ceilings in the great room, entry breezway and a media room. It's a great look that can bring in more light (e.g., with clerestory windows) and delight if done properly. Some folks prefer a more practical (e.g., 8' ceilings) scale because of the additional costs (building, heating/cooling) associated with higher ceilings and will criticize what they perceive as impractical.

Other parts of our home will have 10' ceilings which I think is the perfect height for secondaary spaces like bedrooms and offices.

In a climate where mostly cooling is needed, high ceilings are actually quite good. Although there is more air volume to cool, you will be able to set the thermostat a few degrees higher and still be comfortable, since the warmer air will rise higher where you won't feel it. Overall, this leads to a more comfortable climate in the house.

Of course in a climate where you need heating, the opposite is true. So in a suitable climate, cooling costs should not be a factor when considering ceiling height. It's only about your preferred aesthetics and cost of construction.

One issue that I sometimes see with high ceilings (say higher than 10') is that there could be issues with window placement. Standard window height doesn't work well, because then you have a lot of empty wall space above the windows, which doesn't look good, so you really need large windows or transoms. Again, going back to the climate question, in a hot climate this may be an issue depending on which direction the windows are facing.

In our previous home we had ceilings that sloped upward from 8 feet at the side wall of the open area kitchen/dining/living area to 14 feet on the opposite wall. Because the open area was large, the ceiling height wasn't disproportionate, plus we had fabulous views on three sides. That said, heating was an issue, and the challenges of changing lightbulbs and removing cobwebs got old pretty quickly.

To the OP: You know, there are alternatives to choosing between 8' and 16'. Something in the 10'-12' range might give you the look you want and be more practical, cost less to heat/cool, and have more of a human scale. I have one room, the living room, that has sloping ceilings with about a 16' peak. Ask me how happy I am when I have to get out a ladder at 3 AM to change the battery in a beeping smoke alarm, or how fun it is to change the bulbs in my recessed lighting.... ;-)

Mine range from 10’ ( bedrooms, baths, etc ) to 12’ in living & dining. I much prefer the 10’ heights, more human scale even though my single level home is way over 3000 sq feet.

Keep in mind , depending upon your climate, you have to air condition & heat those high ceilings, not to mention things like changing recessed lighting bulbs, smoke detectors ,etc.

I have to call my handyman to do those 😡

And I agree with those that say anything higher looks a little pretentious .

What is NEVER photographed in homes with high ceilings is how they look at night. If the windows are also tall, are they yawning black holes? And think about the window treatments that will be required for windows that tall. And what does that ceiling look like at night? Will the ceiling look like a black cavern? Will you wonder if there are bats up there? You will have to light that 16' ceiling with care and expertise. A lighting designer is a must.

te-neika-you now have a large collection of opinions, advice and suggestions. And there are real pros and cons to 16’ ceilings. I look forward to hearing your thoughts once you have time to sort through all comments.

Again, much will depend on the overall size of your house too. A 16' high living room will not have the same look in a house where the living room is only 12' x 14' as it will in a living room that is 20' x 24'

Here's are two example of single-story homes with 18' ceilings. You can always fill some of the height with trusses and stone to add texture.

Patrick A makes a great point. With ceilings that high, you can add interest and bring down the height with beams, trusses, coffers, and other interesting ceiling treatments. But it all has to work with the style of the home and the proportions of the rooms.

I’ve lived in 2 lofts with high ceilings- one at 14’ the other at 15’. Loved them and prefer them to my little small roomed 8’3” ceilings now. The lofts were open spaces, didn’t have issues with cooking smells (just need good exhaust), was able to heat just fine (in NYC and Boston). These were in old buildings- former 1880’s fire house and 1900 factory respectively. Sounds bounce around in a high ceiling space, so it’s good to make sure you have plenty of rugs, soft furnishings and drapes to help muffle sounds. Long drapes are gorgeous against tall windows. Giant walls mean you have excellent space for giant art, tapestries, rugs on the walls….

Can’t wait to see what you come up with. Please keep us posted!

Building rooms with high-ceilings and then adding beams, trusses, etc. to counteract the appearance suggests that this is not always a good design decision in the first place. I like simplicity rather than putting more ornamentation on a dramatic design choice. Less is more....