Cathedral Ceilinged "Great Rooms" Suddenly Falling Out Of Favor - WSJ

[hatrack]

Gee, I wonder why?!? :silly:

It's said that hemlines fall with the economy. Ceilings may be following suit.

The cathedral-ceilinged "great room" -- a defining feature of big suburban houses for the past 15 years -- is losing favor. Owners say these double-height rooms are expensive to heat and cool. They can be drafty and reverberate noise. Cobwebs are hard to reach, painting requires long ladders and washing the second-story windows can be a nightmare. Moreover, growing numbers of home buyers think these soaring rooms waste space.

Major home builders including Pulte Homes, Toll Brothers and K. Hovnanian say more buyers are looking for the maximum number of rooms and square footage for their money, so they're opting to have a loft, bedroom or playroom built in the air space where the plans call for a double-height ceiling. "People don't want it anymore," says Ken Gancarczyk, head of builder services for KB Home. The big Los Angeles-based builder has stopped offering double-height great rooms in response to falling demand.

Meantime, some people who already own such a room are seeking new uses for the air space. "The tide has turned," says Lisa Stacholy, an architect in Dunwoody, Ga., who, like other architects across the country, says she's getting more requests for renovations that put rooms where high ceilings used to be.

EDIT

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121149061748115291-LPgl3K5LQWDdOqo6CHyl8x7lZa8_20080621.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

[CoffeeCat]

1. Why do i get the feeling...

...that much of the current new construction in the suburbs--will soon
be ginormous symbols of stupidity?

It won't be long, before McMansions are laughed at and viewed as the
dwellings of idiots. I mean, who needs THAT much space--and space that
is so energy inefficient and wasteful?

When I see someone driving a Hummer now--I think that person looks ridiculous.

These wasteful icons--are really becoming a joke. I said in an earlier post that
I feel guilty driving my gas-guzzling "shamemobile." I am thoroughly embarrassed.

There's nothing wrong with having a nice car and a nice house--even a big house.
However, to drive something that tears up the environment and to build a house that
sucks up energy, and is really wasteful--could be construed as selfish.

I think this is a good thing.

[w13rd0]

4. Not just that...

...but its been shown that the McMansions last all of 10-20 years before they fall into disrepair. That not only displays someones stupidity but their vanity. But then again, I'm a minimalist. I use three rooms, plus one for the kids. Anything more would be more than I could handle, and I'm not hiring a maid :)

[XemaSab]

9. Just watching them built...

2x4 framing, covered with plywood, chicken wire, and stucco.

I'd hesitate to build a house for the dog out of chicken wire, plywood, and stucco.

My friend calls them "people coops." :P

[Johnny Noshoes]

8. One simple rule

never buy a camera bag bigger than you need. Oh one other thing I've finally learned is don't buy something just beacuse you want the latest shiny thing..either fix the thing you've got or replace it if fixing it costs more than its worth. You learn or you're forever chasing your own tail.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. They'll have to remodel and add rooms so they can take in

members of the family, friends, former neighbors, or just plain rent-paying tenants as more and more people are forced out by foreclosure or higher and higher rents -- and those who still have houses need renter income to keep up the mortgage along with rising cost of utilities, gas, groceries, etc.

I just wonder how many of these huge homes, like the big Victorians in the neighborhood I lived in in Norfolk, VA, will ultimately be turned into apartment units.

[tularetom]

3. My house has 10 foot ceilings in every room

We've spent a small fortune insulating it and replacing drafty windows.

It's over 3000 square feet with a heeyuge living room and a big ass kitchen.

It's way more house than two people in their late 60's need.

It was built in 1912.

[Oleladylib]

6. 2 people in their 60s...we have

a 2 bd., 2bath, 1100 sq foot home with sunporch...our total utilities (northern NY) were $1200 last year and we kept warm...We did away with cathedral ceilings in our last move.

[DUgosh]

5. There are McMansions all around here

Their owners would just flip at my 60$/ 80$ montly electric bill. It doesn't take much to cool this trailer.

[Oleladylib]

7. We looked at a manufactured home(aka trailer) ..Propane bill was $200. + a month.

[DUgosh]

10. We are all electric

and looking into wind power generators

[struggle4progress]

11. In older southern homes, the high ceilings were intended to keep the houses cooler in the summer

Space directly under the roof got hot, and upper story rooms could be in tolerable in the daytime

A ground level room into which no direct summer sunlight shone, with a high ceiling, could be tolerable

Depending on how one handles air conditioning, lower level high-ceiling rooms do not necessarily drive up air conditioning bills

If, for example, one avoids cooling the upper floors, it is possible to create a puddle of cooler air in high-ceiling downstairs rooms: it is not necessary to cool all the air in the room but only the bottom six feet or so