Dream Home Concepts : Living Rooms Too Formal for Today, Survey Finds

What features make up the ideal home?

A Eugene, Ore.-based home design company recently found out. Responses to a recent Dream Home survey conducted by Landmark Designs Inc. in California and Oregon showed some family living concepts may be changing.

For example, several amenities showed up in the personal preference list: a guest cottage, wine cellar, library and sewing room. However, a dominant idea was that less emphasis should be placed on the traditional living room.

Respondents indicated they would rather have a congregating “great” room--one that would have more practical uses for the whole family than a semi-formal, not-too-often-used living room.

Floor plan changes came in for strong comment. Some respondents felt that separating the kitchen from the garage added unnecessary physical difficulties to family activities such as unloading the car.

Master bedrooms, it was indicated, should be well isolated from the rest of the house. Attached master bathrooms should be generous in size, with oversized tubs, double vanities and two shower heads. Toilets would be better separated from vanity/dressing room areas.

Older persons asked for easy-care homes (siding that needs no repainting and limited yard maintenance).

And others suggested clusters of studios around a central living area; families combining efforts to build one luxury home without sacrificing privacy, and an A-frame with plenty of sleeping lofts for children and grandchildren--built near a river or ocean.