In fact, today's homebuyers are looking for homes that not only function well, but also entertain well-spaces that are not only utilitarian, but also dramatic and inspiring. Rooms that are closed off, boxy or otherwise confined are just not popular right now. At Baker Residential's Treetops community, which comprises 55 single-family homes nestled along a forest preserve in Green Brook, one of the floor plans features a family room that is separated from the living room by way of double French doors. The Maple floor plan, Treetop's newest and most popular model, features a volume, center-island kitchen that opens to an informal eating area, which in turn flows into the family room area and out onto the deck or patio area. In this particular case, we've added pizzazz to the kitchen by way of a cathedral ceiling with exposed beams.
People like to have free-flowing space, but they also like to have it be as unique as possible.
Kehl finds that homebuyers today still want formal living spaces, such as dining and living rooms, but they want them to have some flow and continuity with the rest of the house. In this way, they are not sectioned off, enclosed spaces, but extensions of the home's primary living space, namely the kitchen, breakfast nook and family room. Serving as extensions of the interior living space, decks and patios have become an integral part of everyday living and entertaining as well. This is evident at Baker Residential's Ramapo River Reserve in Oakland. The community's newest phase, called the Overlook, which comprises 134 homesites set high along a ridge overlooking a spectacular river valley, features home designs that pay particular attention to the synergy between the home's interior and exterior landscape.