Expenses

The Latest, Hottest Luxury Essentials

The Chicago Sun Times
By Larry Finley, Real Estate Reporter

Luxury-home buyers want more. They want the best. They want the latest. Custom-built homes, with price tags of $2 million or much more, are the expression of the buyer's lifestyle and personality. The buyer can plan every detail, every color, every accessory.

"In our next house, we're going to have . . ." is a frequent lament for homeowners. Well, the big custom home is the ultimate "next house."

Juli Jacobs, marketing director for the North Shore builder Jacobs Homes, said 2003 has been the "Year of the Family" for custom builders.

"The home is that 'warm-and-fuzzy' place that we can't get anywhere else," Jacobs said. "People are investing a lot of time and money in their homes. They are taking what they like -- their passions, their hobbies -- and putting them into their houses."

What does the home-buyer-who-can-have-anything want? Jacobs composed a list of trends and innovations based on high-end homes built by her company and others.

KITCHENS. "'Bigger is better' is back," she said. Kitchens are now rooms where we live, eat, do homework and entertain. Extra couches, chairs, desks and TVs are taking their own places in the kitchen.

COUNTERTOPS. Granite and Corian are still in, but so is copper, stainless steel, soapstone and poured concrete. "One customer wanted to personalize," Jacobs said. "So she put in her handprint and her husband's in the concrete."

PANTRIES. The butler's pantry is making a comeback, with plenty of room for a work station and all of those new appliances and gadgets.

WALK-IN REFRIGERATORS. "These are the days of Costco and Sam's. People buy in bulk and need room to store stuff. That's why pantries and walk-in fridges."

RANGES. Restaurant appliances are in, including Wolf cooktops, which feature a round, flat surface, with different rings of temperature for different pans.

POT FILLERS. Water faucets over the stove for filling big kettles.

SALAMANDERS. Not the "Call Orkin" kind, but super-hot top browners that restaurants use for toasting, crisping or glazing.

COFFEE STATIONS. Big setups like Starbucks for homemade lattes, etc.

DUST PORTS. A ground-level suction station to gobble up floor sweepings.

BATHS/SPAS. Also getting bigger, with fireplaces, couches and chaise lounges for communal cleanliness. "There are very elaborate steam showers, aroma-therapy showers. I've seen light therapy showers that change colors for your mood." Tubs are clawfoot with effervescence.

WINE CELLARS. Out of the basement and upstairs where the vintage bottles can be seen, maybe large enough for an intimate table for two.

SAFE OR PANIC ROOMS. "Post 9/11, security and seclusion are high priority, so people are putting them behind mirrors and bookcases," Jacob said. When you're not hiding from intruders, the secret rooms are good for the family safe, important records and bulky valuables and collections.

CLOSETS. Growing to room size, with lounges, chairs, windows.

GARAGE DOORS. Custom panels to blend with your siding or for a touch of whimsy, the barn door look.

The high-tech house is still in demand to one degree or another. Security and entertainment are the two areas where people are most likely to wire up their homes with cameras, screens, speakers and computers.

Ross Friedman, of Windward Builders in Lake Forest, is one of the few builders who has done a really Smart House.

"We have one home that's extremely high tech," Friedman said. "The owner is from the high-tech industries. Everything is voice activated. He wears a headset and he can voice command everything in his home -- 'turn on plasma TV, open the door to the indoor pool.'"

Windward is a "boutique builder" and general contractor that has its own in-house carpentry division. They build a few homes a year from the North Shore over to Barrington. Prices range from $500,000 to $10 million.

Indoor swimming pools are marking a comeback, he said, because builders have learned how to deal with all of that water, he said.

"We have done several indoor pools that require many special features to maintain the climate in the house, and not allow the moisture to destroy the house," Friedman said. "There is neon in and above the pools and sound systems.

"We did a home where we installed a golf simulator on the second floor above an indoor pool," he said. "He has golf-course [images] from around the world that he projects onto a screen, and he practices in the winter."

Elaborate kitchens are a must, even though some clients are empty-nesters who don't cook that much anymore or are away several months of the year, he said.

"The sky's the limit on appliances," he said. "We are using the stainless steel look and big stand-alone ranges, really heavy equipment."

Also popular are appliances with front panels to match the walls or woodwork, he said.

The entertainment areas are extensive and generally extend into the backyards, with landscaping, stone terraces, fireplaces, "significant" barbecues and elaborate wood decks, he said.

The latest thing in decking is palupe, Friedman said. Palupe is a dense, exotic hardwood grown on tree farms in the South American rain forests, he said.

They are building a palupe deck that's cantilevered out over a ravine and includes a hot tub. The deck is constructed without any visible nail or screw heads to detract from the grain of the wood, he said.

Custom builder Charles Page confirms that big kitchens, usually with fireplaces, are a must now. Formal living rooms are a thing of the past.

They have been replaced with great rooms, or family rooms, that might or might not be connected to the kitchen area.

"The one thing that hasn't changed is dining rooms," Page said. "It's the only formal space that people hang onto for that big, family get-together or for entertaining. We have only done one house without a dining room."

Large square and round tables are popular now for the dining rooms, he said.

Children are also getting their own entertainment rooms, usually upstairs, away from the adults. These spaces can have computers, TVs, toys and games.

Plasma TVs are the thing now, he said. The large, relatively thin screens can be hung on a wall like a picture.

"All of those elaborate TV cabinets and built-in TVs are passe," Page said. "You don't need the armoires any more."

All the stereo components that were once stacked proudly in view can now be tucked away in a closet or the basement, and controlled remotely, he added.

TVs aren't the only things found in duplicate in today's luxury home, Page said.

"We are building a house with multiple gyms or workout rooms," he added. "One is for the adults, off the master suite. The other is for the kids on the first" floor.

"Multiple kitchens or kitchenettes are common now," Page said. "One large home will have a kitchenette in the kids' entertainment room, and one in the lower-level recreation area, and of course the main kitchen."

Curt Langille, president of Lanco Development, said that large, finished basements are a must in many of his custom and semi-custom homes.

The downstairs space usually comes with a fireplace, and the area is used for games, exercise rooms and an additional bedroom suite.

"Large home theaters are still very popular," he said.

In addition to custom and semi-custom homes in the north and northwest suburbs, Lanco is building Riverwalk in the suburb of McHenry.

Here, the 2- and 3-bedroom luxury town houses will come with the Fox River, as standard. The complex is on Boone Lagoon, on the river, and each unit includes its own boat slip.

Custom builder DiamondSchreiber showcased the latest in technology and innovation with its 970 Bluff Home, in Glencoe.

Behind the English Tudor walls are 14 rooms packed with luxury features.

The goodies include:

* A 50-by-90-foot entertainment/ family room with fireplace, granite wet bar, refrigerator, sink, dishwasher and microwave.

* Golf, tennis and baseball practice area, with a video camera and a computer to help analyze a swing and improve the game.

* A 1,000-bottle wine cellar, with red wood racks and etched glass.

* A backup electrical generating system to provide emergency power for the house, which includes 5 bedrooms, 5 baths, 2 powder rooms and a 3-car garage with radiant heated floor.

"We are seeing new trends in the high-end custom market," said Susan Schreiber, a partner in DiamondSchreiber, with Jim Diamond. "Several recent buyers have come to us asking for the sports courts, either underground or half in the round."

Also popular, she said, was the home sports bar idea, an informal area with a wet bar and multiple TV screens for watching several games.

Home theaters are still popular, Schreiber said, but the large, flat plasma screens are catching on.

"We think that the big plasma, that is more out in the open and can accommodate more people, has more appeal," she said.

Schreiber and Diamond develop homes from about $1.35 million to $5 million.