Hot Luxury Home Trends: Second Kitchens and Underground Garages
Two home trends gaining in popularity are second kitchens and underground garages. A Newsday article says the second kitchens fit into three categories.
Second kitchens tend to fall into three categories: those still-rare high-end restaurant-style kitchens for personal chefs and caterers, lower-cost functional kitchens for home cooking too messy or smoky for the luxury show kitchen seen by guests, and small auxiliary kitchens used primarily for religious holidays or for entertaining.
These kitchens are ideal for homes that hire a personal chef. Homeowners that do a lot of entertaining may also find a second kitchen a great place to allow caterers to set-up their gourmet deliveries.
"This is the new thing," says John Kean, a luxury home builder based in Cold Spring Harbor. "We really didn't get much call for it until the last few years."
His clients want restaurant-style kitchens in their huge vacation homes in the Hamptons, Palm Beach, Fla., and Vail, Colo., for their personal chefs and caterers to use. "Now we're starting to see it more on the North Shore of Long Island," he adds. "Some clients suggest it to us, and others, a light bulb goes off in their heads when we suggest it to them."
Shawn Elliott, broker-owner of Woodbury-based Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes, says big elaborate butler's pantries (which may have every appliance but a stove) and separate kitchens become more common the closer the home's value is to $5 million-plus. But in any case, whether and how it's done depends on local rules and regulations.
"The plans have to be approved; there's no hiding a second kitchen," he says. "But it definitely can be done. Where there's a will, there's a way."
Another emerging luxury home trend is underground garages. A Dallas Morning Newsarticle says the idea is becoming more popular for homeowners who want an underground garage so they can save space for a bigger yard or a pool.
Local builders say many of the homeowners opting for a basement or underground garage are transplanted Northerners accustomed to having a subterranean space.
"As land gets more expensive, you have to either give things up or try to find a different way," Mr. Moore said.
"It costs less to put part of your house underground than by buying another lot."
That's why Ed Abraham started putting underground garages in all his company's residential projects three years ago.
It adds about 10 percent to the cost, so a $400,000 house costs closer to $440,000.
"It gives them the ability to have at least a five-car garage," said Mr. Abraham, president of Park Cities Custom Builders. "All my houses have five-car garages; some have six. Plus, it gives them room in the basement to do like a media room."
The article does flag some concerns about water problems in underground garages and the need for a sump pump.
