It's never just another day in the second home real estate market. A couple's future may change when they pick up a magazine and see a beach home that steals their hearts. A family may drive by a home with a soul-stirring lake view while on a ski vacation and decide to act on their dream of a second home..... but in an entirely different region than what they were previously thinking. Real estate is a dynamic business and even more so in the second home market since COVID-19.
The Escape Home latest Newsletter "Helipads, Mud Rooms and Ivanka Trump's Next Home" has several quotes from Blue Water's Construction's Jason Beane regarding changes they've seen in the design/build business since COVID-19.
"Even in the northeast, where the winters can get extremely cold, vacation-home builders are designing more outdoor living space that can be used for several seasons. Jason Beane, a designer at Blue Water Construction & Development, which builds custom homes in the lakes region of New Hampshire, said his company has traditionally built vacation homes that were used mainly in the summer. But now the buildings are designed to be used year around."
“The outdoor kitchen and outdoor living space has always been a big design feature in our vacation homes, but now the outdoor space is being designed for three seasons, not just one season,” he said. That means adding more heating elements inside and outside. “We’re even heating up the garages now,” said Beane.
"A popular feature is the three-season porch, a screened-in room off the main house typically with lots of windows and skylights. For comfort in colder months, the rooms are designed to include gas heaters or fireplaces and glass inserts that replace the screens in the fall. “Screened-in porches have always been popular, but we’re seeing more of that than ever.” Blue Water specializes in Adirondack timber frame homes.
Journalist constance Mitchell Ford sums up her builder interview stating, "The big question now is whether these design trends—and our embrace of spending more time outdoors in the cold—will be long lasting or just a temporary response to the pandemic. If so, the basement office can always be turned back into the wine cellar."
Check out a few of The Escape Home's other recent newsletters.
The Escape Home has also teamed up with Pacaso, a platform for co-ownership of second homes to identify the shifting climate around second home ownership since COVID-19. Click to read their second home market trend research.
If you are looking for your escape home, browse Adriondack homes, homes with acreage, or condominiums. You can adjust the searches by selecting to search by Newest First, Most Recently Updated, or Lowest Price First.
Not sure which type of property would suit you? Feel free to search MLS.
If you're already a Lakes Region home owner, may your winter dreams be of summer boating!
Take care and stay well!
