A home that helps you stay safe and supports your physical and mental wellbeing is a priority that has been gaining momentum for years. Then 2020 arrived and suddenly wellness has become even more important. In response to the pandemic, buyer preferences have shifted, and architects, builders and designers are addressing consumers’ concerns and changing lifestyles. Trends such as an emphasis on outdoor living, smart home features and flexible floor plans have accelerated during this tumultuous year.

BUYER PREFERENCES

While the long-term impact of the pandemic on homebuyers remains to be seen, some shifts in priorities became evident even when COVID-19 first began to spread. In late April, architect Nancy Keenan, president and CEO of Dahlin Group in Southern California, partnered with marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki of tst ink, consumer strategist Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance and a national survey company to explore how 3,000 homeowners and renters were thinking about their homes. The America at Home Study found that the motivation to buy a home shifted, with 91% saying that home represents a safe place, 85% saying home represents comfort and 84% saying it represents family.

"People are realizing that they're more likely to stay home and away from public venues for a while, so they're thinking more about how to use their space to maximize their health and wellbeing."

“We’ve seen the lifestyle trends toward healthier living, especially with indoor-outdoor living, for a long time now,” says Keenan. “The pandemic accelerated those trends and brought some immediate changes, too. For example, 73% of people said they’re disinfecting more.”

Among the top design features that buyers said they’re willing to pay for, most are related to wellness in some way, says Keenan.

More than 50% said they want:

• Germ-resistant countertops/flooring
• Greater tech/energy efficiency
• More storage, specifically for food and water
• Touch-free faucets, appliances and smart toilets
• A better equipped kitchen for cooking
• More than 30% said they want:
• Touchless entry to home
• Home offices for more than one person
• Adaptability of space with flexible walls “People are more aware of indoor air quality, water purification and humidification now,” says Keenan. “They’re interested in germ-resistant materials and UV lighting and natural lighting for healthier living.”

UPDATING HOMES FOR WELLNESS

Now that Americans have spent most of their time at home for months, the remodeling business is thriving. Some renovations create more space for working, learning and exercising at home, while others are designed around specific health concerns.

“Air filtration systems can be altered for better air flow and UV lights can be added to an air exchange to kill microbes,” says Keenan. “Homeowners can add touchless faucets and water purification systems. They can replace carpet with more easily cleanable surfaces. Even the new laminate flooring looks good and is cost-effective. Solid surface countertops are also cost- effective and easier to clean.”

Real estate agents can recommend some of these changes to their sellers to help them compete against newer homes, suggests Keenan.

“The biggest trend we’ve seen around wellness for the past several years is maximizing access to outdoor living spaces,” says Michael Winn, owner of Winn Design + Build in Falls Church.

Clients with enough money for a major project are opening up their homes with walls of glass, adding a swimming pool, leveling the lawn for more space for kids to play and adding outdoor kitchens and screened porches, says Tracy Morris, owner of Tracy Morris Design in McLean.

“People aren’t taking vacations this year, and they don’t know if they will next year, so they’re more likely to spend more on making their house more like a vacation home,” says Morris. “For one client we built an indoor swimming pool so he can use it all year.”

Expanding outdoor living with terraces, decks, patios and screened porches has been a big part of the remodeling projects undertaken by Van Metre Homes’ Design + Build division, based in Fairfax.

“During the pandemic, people are realizing that their home is their sanctuary more than ever and are looking for ways to make their home more livable,” says James Wood, general manager of Van Metre Homes’ Design + Build division. “We’ve had lots of requests for built- in bookshelves, extending kitchens and adding a second dishwasher and a double-stacked oven because more people are eating at home. We’ve also renovated basements to make them a better entertaining space for the family.”

Three Ways to Create a Calmer Home Whether you need a more serene home for yourself or want to help your clients create a calmer atmosphere, Morris has three suggestions to try: 1. DECLUTTER. Getting rid of visual clutter can help you clear your mind, says Morris. She recommends throwing away or putting away as much as you can. 2. LIGHT YOUR HOME FOR CALM. While natural light is best for your body and mind, Morris suggests adding warm and soft lights rather than harsh lighting for darker rooms and evening. She recommends 2700 kelvin LED bulbs set on a dimmer for easier control. 3. ADD MUSIC AND SCENT. Playing soft music without words can calm anyone and set the mood for quiet time, Morris says. She also recommends adding your favorite scent with a candle or essential oils.

Winn says he also gets a lot of requests for a kitchen or bathroom that’s easier to clean. Some clients want wall-mounted toilets and faucets in their bathrooms, which not only are easier to keep clean but also take up less space, he says.

Winn is currently working on a whole house renovation in McLean with a focus on noise reduction for a calmer, quieter house.

“We’re insulating between all the levels and around electrical outlets and bathrooms to block noise transmission and using ‘quiet rock’ drywall, which makes the house more solid,” Winn says.

Other clients ask for better indoor air quality during a renovation, which Winn says typically is part of any major renovation.

“We introduce energy recovery ventilation and heat recovery ventilation for a better air exchange in all of our renovation projects,” Winn says.

NEW MATERIALS FOR HEALTHIER HOMES

Newly built homes have been getting healthier for years, says Kevin Rabil, executive vice president of Van Metre Homes.

“Builders including Van Metre have been aggressively pursuing sustainability for years, which is good for the environment and good for our customers,” says Rabil. “We’ve upgraded indoor air quality to reduce pollutants inside the home and we’re looking at the materials we’re putting into homes, too. We’ve built our first solar-powered house in Winchester and plan to build more as an alternative to natural gas.”

Air filtration systems and low VOC products make new homes healthier than in the past, says Rabil, along with more windows and more access to outdoor space for natural light and fresh air.

Karen Pearse, owner of Karen Pearse Global Direct, a New York City-based supplier of natural stone and other architectural materials to homeowners and real estate developers around the globe, says that material choices are long-term and tend to be made based on aesthetics. However, she says, there are some materials that are getting greater attention now because of their wellness properties.

“Before the pandemic, I didn’t even mention the fact that Protect porcelain tiles have Microban, an antimicrobial element, embedded in the tiles,” says Pearse. “The tiles emulate marble or wood or cement and come in thin, even slabs, which make them easy to work with. Now clients love them because they’re also protecting them against mold and bacteria.”

Other products that have health benefits include appliances with a sanitizing cycle, and lighting and temperature systems controlled by a smartphone to reduce the number of people touching switches and thermostats.

Pearse also recommends ECOCARAT Japanese tiles that absorb odors and VOCs and regulate humidity.

“You can use them on a large- scale renovation, but for a temporary fix you can even just place one in a bathroom used by multiple family members without even installing the tile,” says Pearse.

RECONFIGURING ROOMS FOR WELLNESS

When many people’s lifestyles shifted from spending hours at the office, gym and restaurants to working at home, exercising at home and eating at home, a new priority became reorganizing or reconfiguring home to accommodate all these needs.

“A big priority among my clients has been finding separate spaces for an office and for schoolwork and for a ‘get away from my spouse’ space,” says Morris. “People are realizing that they’re more likely to stay home and away from public venues for a while, so they’re thinking more about how to use their space to maximize their health and wellbeing.”

Morris has been adding massage rooms, meditation spaces and yoga rooms to many of her projects for several years, with requests increasing since the pandemic began.

“For a meditation room, you can just have a plain room with mats or perhaps some favorite artwork,” says Morris. “Sometimes we add a soft chair or a chaise lounge, but mostly it’s just a quiet place to be alone. You can even design a corner in an office with a chair and soft lighting for a mental health break, a space to meditate or to write.”

Meditation and yoga rooms have replaced giftwrapping rooms in many luxury properties, says Pearse.

“Mudrooms and family entrances are more important than before the pandemic, too, with people looking into antimicrobial f looring for that space and temporary solutions like adding a table with masks and a box for dirty masks,” says Pearse. “We also designed a beautiful marble stand and a marble container for hand sanitizer to put in a foyer.”

HOMEOWNER AND CONDO ASSOCIATIONS AND WELLNESS

Newly planned communities typically include a fitness center and swimming pool, but Rabil says developers today are even more focused on open space for physical and mental wellbeing.

“We’re opening a new community in Marshall next year called Heritage which will have connected trails with fitness stops,” says Rabil. “We want to design a community where people can keep active and also have social interaction with their neighbors.”

Van Metre has partnered with chef Spike Mendelsohn to design their kitchens, do cooking demonstrations in their model homes and to provide healthy recipes for residents in Van Metre communities.

While condo and homeowner associations often include access to gyms and swimming pools for physical fitness and social opportunities for mental health, these associations sometimes get involved on a more personal level with health issues. A common discussion, especially in high-rise condos or communities with adjacent patios, is whether smoking can be banned.

“Ten years ago a few people wanted to explore the possibility of banning smoking in a building or on the premises of their community, but it was very difficult to get support for that,” says Airielle Hansford, vice president of First Service Residential in Fairfax and 2020 president of the Washington Metro Chapter of the Community Associations Institute. “It was especially a challenge to institute a rule that was telling someone what they could or couldn’t do in their own unit. But now perceptions are changing, especially about tobacco, because of all the evidence about the dangers of secondhand smoke.”

While Hansford says smoking bans are not common, they are happening more often than in the past.

“You see it more frequently in new construction, where a smoking ban is included in governing documents with guidelines about whether you can smoke in your unit, in common areas or on a balcony or patio,” says Hansford. “If smoking guidelines are not in the governing documents, a board needs to go through the process of amending the documents and getting a significant number of association members to vote on the issue.”

Hansford says that when associations get complaints about smoke getting into a nonsmoker’s unit or bothering a resident’s allergies, they can start with advice about how to minimize smoke or pass-through damage.

“There is a difference when people are talking about medical marijuana, which is more like handling issues around an emotional support animal, so it would be difficult to ban,” says Hansford. “Banning smoking typically requires a long process and a lot of transparent discussions in a community.”

A smoking ban is even less common in a homeowner association, although it’s possible to enact a ban on smoking in common areas and perhaps have a designated smoking area, Hansford says. (Read a related story about a condominium smoking ban on page 26.)

Whether in a condo, single-family house, apartment or other style of housing, it is clear that health and wellness extend beyond our bodies and minds into the spaces we call home. In today’s environment, Realtors® play an increasingly important role in helping consumers find a home that suits their needs and promises a happy and healthy life.

 



Michele Lerner, a freelance writer based in the Washington, D.C. area, has been writing about real estate and personal finance for more than 20 years.