Time was when the only kind of house was a family house—bedrooms arrayed around a couple of bathrooms, community rooms off a central hallway near the front door, and a separate family entrance accented by friendly things like the dog bowl and the three-speed. In those days, dens were the hot new options, and nobody had even heard of a home office.

With the maturing of the Baby Boom, all that has changed. Since the 1960s, the average American family has shrunk by 25% while the average home size has grown by 50%. It’s been an amazing time for the home: First we blew our houses out to maximum size, then we stuffed them with every available amenity, then we expanded outside with pools and hot tubs. Finally came the garage, which in the ’90s became the fastest growing part of the home—those Ford Expeditions need a lot of space. Investment in the home has jumped forward even more since 9/11.

But wait a minute! Whatever happened to the not-so-big house? Or energy conservation? Not to mention “kitchen as the heart of the home”? Doesn’t anyone have a conversation anymore or read a book? Raise children? Take care of aging parents?

 

The times are changing so rapidly that perhaps we need to call a timeout and rethink the game plan for our homes. I’m sure we can build homes more subtle and satisfying than the current crop of oversized investment havens. Why design solely for affluent empty-nesters when in the blink of an eye there will be a whole new generation of homeowners who might actually want to raise a family? Better to create homes that are flexible enough to accommodate fast-paced techno-
cultural change, offer resale value to diverse buyers, and respond to family configurations whether conventional, blended, or extended.

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