What do you picture in your mind’s eye when you hear the word “luxury?” You might imagine the elegance and opulence of Versaille, the seclusion and exclusivity of a private island or the pleasure of strolling through your own private gallery of priceless paintings. Because luxury can mean different things to different people, a property cannot be classified as a luxury home based on size or sales price alone.
Luxury is all about the details
Comfort and personalized features are major selling points, and not ones that homeowners take lightly. Expensive cabinets, lavish countertops and top-notch appliances only go so far in wooing a person with unique interests, and this is precisely why the luxury market is being redefined.
The future of American luxury housing is inevitably linked to technology. A massive walk-in closet or master bedroom en suite is a great addition to most houses, but those featuring USB ports, LED lighting and surround sound take things to another level. Smart homes now feature integrated, whole-home control devices that allow users to adjust everything from the temperature in their wine cellars to their garage floor car lifts. In terms of making a house “luxury,” it is these conveniences that count.
Space has long been connoted with luxury, though the 21st-century trend has been to downsize and build upward. Smaller lots are common in urban and suburban areas, so developers have begun adding additional floors in place of outward expansion. Vertical, multi-level houses that make modern, creative use of space are the norm these days and have attracted quite a bit of attention in many of America’s highly populated cities.
The definition of luxury not only changes from person to person but also region to region based on lifestyle. A tiered marble pool has less appeal in the Pacific Northwest than in Florida, and an expansive 14-car garage makes sense in Houston or L.A. but perhaps not Manhattan. Certain features and touches lose their wow factor when they’re not practical for a person’s idea of a luxury lifestyle.
