America at Home Study Concept Home

Garman Homes

Pittsboro, NC

October 2022

Some of the key design principles from the America at Home study that influenced the concept house are:

Every inch matters – flexible open floor plans that permit multiple uses
Kitchens and baths on the front line
Natural light = renewed focus on mental health
The role of the guest suite is more important than ever
We all need a place to get away, in our homes

America at Home Study Concept Home

In March 2020, the country shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, DAHLIN Group, tst ink LLC, and Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance came together to create a survey to learn about how Americans were dealing in this chaotic time. By April 23, 2020, the America at Home Study was designed and in the field. Over two waves (April and October), almost 7,000 people took the survey, which directly tested consumer sentiment considering life with COVID-19 to understand the design changes consumers want in new homes and communities. The results were nationally representative of US adults 25-74 years of age with household incomes of $50,000+/year. Go to www.AmericaAtHomeStudy.com to learn more.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The team took these consumer insights and designed a home virtually in 3 workshops and 2 design charrettes. The home is a collective effort of the founders of the study, Dahlin Group Architecture Planning (architect), Garman Homes (builder), and Cecilian Partners (digital customer experience). Since every home cannot be 5,000 square feet, the team really thought about how to realistically optimize space to use every square foot. The team designed the home around 10 principles, which will be discussed later in this feature and highlighted in bold with the features they influenced. The home is officially called the America at Home Study Concept Home, but is fondly called the Barnaby. This exact plan is not available in production and is only a concept home, so the team could “throw out the script” and rethink every space in the home. Garman Homes did come out with a production version of the Barnaby, which is called The No Little Plans and is part of Garman’s Quotables Collection.

America at Home Study Concept Home

One of the design principles is “Garages need to work harder – what can they become with little effort?”

The home includes a 1-car garage plus storage. The concept home’s garage was used as a place to teach people about the study and ask for their feedback on the home, but in the virtual tour, you can see the opportunities that the team found for the space. The team took a corner of the garage and converted it into a family room, so people could open the garage door and connect with the neighbors. Other uses could include a gym or office. The corner next to the rear yard could also connect to the outdoors.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Part of the garage includes an educational component which taught people about the survey and highlighted some of the key findings. One highlight is the survey started with asking “What does home mean to you?” Safety was the number 1 issue (91%). Rather than ask people to project, the survey asked what behaviors people had already changed in their home because of COVID. In the second wave of the survey, the team asked about expectations to continue behaviors once COVID is in the rear-view mirror. 60-80% expected to continue habits they had started during the pandemic.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The garage also includes a place where people could write their feedback on the concept home. This allows the team to continue to learn from consumers. The founding members are going to repeat the study again and this time will build another concept home with a manufactured home provider in Pittsburg, so be on the lookout.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Garman Homes built the concept home and Dahlin designed it. The home feels special even from the exterior with its colorful siding and details like the choice of porch railing and the awning over one of the windows. The exterior includes a mix of two different types of siding and brick. According to NHTI consumer research 68% of homeowners believe material mixing improves a home’s design.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Covered private outdoor spaces are key to social life.

The home includes covered outdoor spaces in both the front and the back. The large front porch is an outdoor place that, during the earlier days of COVID, would have been a great place to interact safely with neighbors and, today, is still a great place to connect with those on the street.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The Barnaby is 2,637 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2 offices, and a 1-car garage. The home has a 35’ x 95’ footprint on a 45’ x 129’ lot (5,805 sq. ft.). Unique highlights include the vestibule, office/flex, guest suite, family entry/opt laundry, bonus/secret room, and the family bath.

America at Home Study Concept Home

How you enter the home is important – owners and guests

The concept of a vestibule came out of the Spanish flu. The space needs to be sized right to not be small and constricted, but somewhere you feel like you could comfortably be. When designing the home, the initial considerations were germs and keeping away from people who could be sick, but the space pivoted as time went on to be a good place where a delivery person could come, and you could step into the vestibule. Then dogs or kids can’t charge the door and you can greet that person and decide if you want them to come further into the home.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The other side of the vestibule is bordered by a glass pocket door to preserve space but keep things open. The glass door allows light to come into the foyer while also allowing residents to easily see who is at the front door.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Every inch matters – a flexible open floor plan that permit multiple uses.

The office/flex at the front of the home can be a larger space as it is modeled or could option into two smaller spaces, one of which could be accessed off the vestibule. If you work a job where clients come to your home, the clients could enter the flex office without coming into the rest of the home, with this split layout and added Dutch door. The home has the potential for 4 offices: two here if the room was split and two additional pocket offices.

America at Home Study Concept Home

With an open floor plan, residents need a nearby flex space to support other needs. Garman Homes merchandised this space to highlight the opportunity to flex between school, when all the kids were at home, to a play space, when the kids went back in-person. Even if the space was split into two, the residents could use one half as an office and the other half for the kids.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The role of the guest suite is more important than ever.

The guest suite is located off the foyer. Instead of using a typical door, the team included a glass pocket door, which still visually connects the space to the rest of the home but provides some audio privacy. The entry vestibule provides visual privacy for the bedroom. A mini kitchenette is located at the entrance to the suite. While the team thought of this as a quarantine space at first, they then pivoted to thinking more about other uses like returning family or someone recovering from surgery that needs to be on the ground floor.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The suite has a studio layout with a kitchenette and a full bath with walk-in shower. Rather than include a sitting room, the suite has access to the porch which becomes an outdoor living area for the space. The doors to the porch could also be used as a separate entrance.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Every inch matters.

The family room isn’t a big barn. It’s right-sized with enough space to feel comfortable while being the right distance from the TV, around 14’ to 16’ away. Larger spaces may be grand, but they can be less practical.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Kitchens and baths on the front line

With the kitchen being such a key space in the home, it needed to be 100% usable. Kitchens don’t need to be bigger; they need to work harder. The team coined the term “Swiss army kitchen” for what they were trying to design. The space features plentiful storage as well as a two-level island with a higher part for prep and the kitchen sink and a lower portion for dining.

America at Home Study Concept Home

It’s all in the details. Note the storage along the island which is the perfect height for kids to get their own plates and utensils for dinner. Consider who will be using the space and how.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The kitchen includes the necessary appliances with a range, oven, microwave, and dishwasher. The team balanced appeal and function, along with cabinets and counter space.

America at Home Study Concept Home

What is often throwaway space under the stairs where a pantry might have gone is repurposed as a zoom room. The team thought this space could be better used than just for storage.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The mini office has a door and a window as well as a standing desk and bookcase for storage. The offices in the home are sized appropriately and can be a disconnect space at different times too.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The upper portion of the kitchen island provides space for the kitchen sink, as well as plenty of counter space around and storage opportunities. It’s nice to separate the sink from the dining area of the island, so water doesn’t spill where people are eating or doing homework.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The kitchen has levels of storage with the pantry cabinet running along the side of the kitchen for items that are used more often and this walk-in pantry for bulk items.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The home includes multiple dining opportunities with space for a dining table, as well as the lower portion of the island.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Natural light = renewed focus on mental health.

The windows throughout the home, especially these sliding glass doors along the side of the great room, fill the space with light. As people were stuck in their homes during 2020 and into parts of 2021, a connection to the outdoors and natural light become more important.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Covered private outdoor spaces

The covered patio provides a more private alternative to the front porch and is spacious enough to accommodate a seating area as is seen here or could even support a dining setup. This would also work well as a space to work outside for a telecommuter.

America at Home Study Concept Home

When the team created the first iteration of the elevation, it had 47 windows. Garman Homes typically puts in less, so the team relooked at the home and discussed the value and purpose each window brought to the elevation and home. Light in the house was most important to the team with the elevation appeal as next important. Since the home is plotted on a smaller lot, the team designed active and passive sides to the house, so that the design preserves privacy between homes. The side seen here that is open to the side yard has bigger or more plentiful windows while the other side has less windows and focuses on high fixed windows that bring in light while preserving privacy.

America at Home Study Concept Home

How you enter the home is important – owners and guests

Part two of this design principle. This doesn’t just apply to the front of the home, but also the back.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The team took the family entrance to another level with a drop zone as well as the laundry, a sink, and a powder room nearby. Originally the team envisioned a front-line worker coming home and needing a transition space, so they grouped the laundry with the back entrance. Front line workers could wash their hands and remove clothing that they wore out. Since the space is also attached to the outdoors and includes a secondary fridge, kids could grab a popsicle without needing to come into the whole home. Like the vestibule, this family entry provides a natural barrier and helps to control who enters the home.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Natural light = renewed focus on mental health

There is a big window at the top of the stairs, which you can see the result of in this bright area on the second floor. The team wanted to make the whole area feel bright and cheery. The window also provides a connection to the outdoors by giving you a view of the sky as you walk up the stairs.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The team designed the home so the laundry could go either upstairs or in the family entry. 51% of consumers would prefer laundry on main level regardless of where the primary bedroom is located. 11% more said they wanted laundry downstairs (between wave 1 and 2). By optioning where the laundry goes, you let the homebuyer select where they want it. Since the concept house included the laundry in the family entry, the upper area is modeled as the optional pocket office. This 6’x6’ room has a window and provides enough space for a nice little work setup. Offices don’t need to be large, just functional.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The primary bedroom is big enough without being too big and is thoughtfully designed to easily furnish. Note the two high fixed windows along the bed wall that bring in light but preserve privacy and the ability to put any size bed there.

America at Home Study Concept Home

We all need a place to get away, in our homes.

What seems like a bookshelf is actually a door to the hidden room.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The team created the hidden room is response to thinking about how we utilize space and how we can escape in our homes. The room provides extra space within the primary suite to be away as a couple or alone. While kids will walk right into a bedroom, they won’t necessarily walk into another room off it, so the hidden room creates a place to get away for “me-time.”

America at Home Study Concept Home

Kitchens and baths on the front-line

Baths are for sanitization and a whole lot more. Instead of creating a huge primary bath, the team reallocated the space to create a nicely sized primary bath and a large family bath down the hall.

America at Home Study Concept Home

While the primary bath only has a shower, residents haven’t lost the ability to use a tub. The team just moved where it is in the home. While this may seem odd, a tub in the primary bath is not as important as it used to be, and consumers now are looking for a large shower more often.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Re-think secondary bedrooms for more flexible and changeable uses.

Most secondary bedrooms are only able to be a bedroom since the closet limits the merchandising opportunities of the space.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The team got rid of the strip closet in the concept house since it limited merchandising. The team thought with IKEA, you can customize your own closet or maybe you don’t even put a closet in there and it’s a little kid’s room with just a dresser. The team wanted to make the space more flexible so people can customize it to their needs. Since the Barnaby is a concept home, the team “tossed the script” and explored alternative choices like this to start conversations and get people to rethink their standard ideas. Garman Homes still put in the closets in the production version of the plan.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Oftentimes, architects go into a project with the mentality of, “I know what people want,” as the expert but sometimes we need to put people in the role of the expert. People want to be able to customize homes, but that can sometimes be difficult for a builder. The team wanted to explore a compromise that would make the home more customizable without making it too challenging for a builder.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The team did add in additional storage opportunities to both secondary bedrooms with a storage cabinet in this room and a bookshelf and window seat in the other bedroom. Note how the lack of a closet opens up opportunities for the space.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Kitchens and baths on the front line

The family bathroom is not a new concept. Many European houses have a larger bathroom to take care of kids and a tiny en-suite bathroom in the primary suite. The space includes a full five-piece bath with two sinks, a water closet, tub, and shower. It is only a bit wider than a normal secondary bath – about 7’ wide versus the normal 5’. This little bit of additional space goes a long way.

America at Home Study Concept Home

Since the space is meant to be shared, the team created a water closet with frosted glass doors. The team chose to include those doors so that light from the nearby window would still shine through to the rest of the bathroom.

America at Home Study Concept Home

The bathroom includes both a tub and shower. The tub is large and has a ledge to sit on the side so parents can easily bathe their children. Then when the kids get older, the kids can use the shower. The space grows with them.

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Design analysis

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What can you do with great research and a team full of innovative creatives? Create a unique concept home that “throws out the script.”

Photography by Amber Gluckin

Buyer: A wide range of buyers since the home is so flexible
Elevation: Colorful contemporary
Unique Home Features:
- Layered entries with a vestibule in the front and a multifunctional owner’s entry
- A guest suite with kitchenette, en suite bath, and outdoor living area
- House has the potential for up to four offices by utilizing niches and breaking up rooms
- A larger 5-piece family bath to take care of the kids and a “right-sized” primary bath
- A hidden room in the primary bedroom to get away from it all

Product type: Single-family detached

PROJECT STATS

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Project Summaries

Price as of...: –/ starting at

Square footage (min): 2,637

Lot size: 5,805/ square feet average

Density: –

Sales start date: –

Total homes: 1

Sales as of: –

HOA: –

Target market: Designed with a family in mind, this home can work for a wide range of consumers

Unique selling position: This data-driven designed home "throws out the script" and rethinks all spaces in the home with inspiring results.

Consultants

Builders

Garman Homes

Architects

DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors

Interior designers

Garman Homes

Landscape Architects

–

Developers

–

JBREC Consultant

Lesley Deutch

Managing Principal

Boca Raton, FL

ldeutch@jbrec.com

Location

Chatham Park

Phone number

Region Southeast

State North Carolina

City Pittsboro

Zip Code 27312