Survey names most popular rooms in new homes

If you’re buying a new construction – and might want to sell it later -- you ought to know that home theaters and fitness rooms are, like, sooo last year. Or so says a national survey by the American Institute of Architects detailing design preferences for the second quarter of 2010.

Some 31 percent of architects said the home office was the top-requested special function room, while only 8.8 percent put the media room at the top of the list. The report points out the more obvious reasons for the shift, such as the steep drop in home values and increased consumer interest in energy efficiency.

But locally, that’s only part of the story, says Don Eversoll, a partner in the Hauppauge-based residential building firm Timber Ridge Homes.

For one thing, the types of building permits being granted on Long Island recently create limitations that would partially account for those numbers, he says. “Most of the product being built on Long Island today is multi-family homes and condos, so it makes it more difficult to have those kinds of rooms available,” he says.

For single-family homes, there’s still a market for what the survey calls “special function rooms.” But instead of upscale extras like media rooms, buyers had more practical wish lists, with home offices, mudrooms and outdoor living spaces at the top.

Eversoll says that’s true for first-time buyers on Long Island. “In the starter-home communities, people want function, so they give up what was on everybody’s wish list five years ago.” Bridgehampton-based architect Kathryn Fee says the mudroom has become more popular with the green living trend. “One very important element I try to introduce is the mudroom that’s a step lower than the rest of the house.” It’s very effective to keep dirt and toxins out of the house, which improves the indoor air quality, she says.

But there’s still a market for luxury on Long Island, Eversoll says. “In our community in Westhampton, a retirement community, virtually everybody puts in the surround sound for the home theater experience … In the luxury market, those people want what they want, particularly the seniors. They don’t buy green bananas. They’re buying their last home effectively, and they want the amenities.”

Fee, agrees. “We’re still doing the home theaters. People still like the gyms,” she says.

So if you’re building with an eye for resale, what should your floor plan look like?

1. Build to suit your own needs. But leave it open to interpretation, says Eversoll. “There are still two distinct markets,” he says. Your sensible office space could serve as the next guy’s home gym, so don’t box yourself in – call it a “flex room,” he says.

2. And don’t forget that valuable underground real estate. Even if you’re not planning to finish the basement yourself, “allow for it to be habitable,” Fee says. “You plan for higher ceilings, lay out duct work and plumbing on the outside wall. Waterproof the foundation, insulate it, put in plumbing and connect it to the sewer line. It’s relatively inexpensive to do it while you’re still under construction.”