Nancy Gear was 56 when she decided to trade in her house on a half acre outside Redding, Calif., for something smaller and closer to town. “My husband died several years ago, and I found I was spending every weekend doing yard work or housework,” says Gear, a former division director for the county probation department. “I also realized it wasn't so safe living alone in the country. If I screamed, no one would hear me. So I decided to make some lifestyle changes upon retirement. I put my house on the market, went to Central America for three months, and then rented while I looked for a new place in the 1,000-square-foot range.”
Gear found what she was looking for in Parkview, a three-acre pocket of 33 single-family cottages on small lots, just two blocks from Redding's City Hall and a newly renovated grocery store. The two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot bungalow she now owns (the “Cedar” model) is a place that feels secure when she's home alone—and one she knows is watched after by the neighbors when she's not.
“Now I can leave my house for a month or two and know that someone is keeping an eye on it,” says the avid mountain biker and kayaker who serves on several nonprofit boards and volunteers as a relief worker for the American Red Cross.
Gear may live by herself, but demographically speaking, she is not alone. Single women now represent 22 percent of home buyers, up 14 percent from a decade ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. That number is likely to increase as more women divorce, delay marriage to focus on their careers, outlive their domestic partners, or simply eschew wedlock altogether. And with college degrees and work-force participation at record highs among women, this group's buying power is nothing to sneeze at.
So what exactly do they seek in a home? BUILDER looked at four neighborhoods that sold well to single women, and the design features that sealed the deal.
Rules of Proportion
SMALL AND SMART: Cute porches and crisp trim details create mega curb appeal at Parkview. Plan options include both single-and two-story variations, and all homes have alley-loaded parking.
Credit: New Urban Builders
Gear wasn't the only single woman to fall in love with Parkview, and it's no coincidence. Market research indicated that other buyers of like mind—social, educated, active, unattached women—represented a largely untapped market that was crying out for right-sized homes, and New Urban Builders aimed to please.
In the end, 70 percent of the houses in Parkview sold to single women, thanks, in part, to floor plans that were affordable by nature of their size—the largest is 1,488 square feet—but didn't skimp on kitchen or bathroom space.
“Even though these are smaller houses, they are loaded up with more kitchen than, proportionally, a house that size would call for according to conventional wisdom,” says John Anderson, vice president of planning and design for the Chico, Calif.–based builder/developer. “Our research indicated that [for this buyer segment] the kitchen needed to be a real working kitchen and not just a place to microwave leftovers. That meant including all the appliances, plus 5 or 6 feet of open counter space for meal prep and entertaining. Older professional women have extended families and groups they belong to, and they entertain a lot.”
New Urban also won points by sweetening its standard package with a few choice goodies, including locally crafted cabinetry (painted or stain-grade), tankless water heaters, and Sterling Vikrell bathtubs (a nice step up from the typical fiberglass tub/shower).
Where the builder achieved cost efficiencies (thereby keeping home prices manageable for a single salary) was in value-engineering the basic anatomy of each house. Although exterior colors and trim details vary, the neighborhood's 33 homes are all built on five basic “chassis.” And the four different floor plans (ranging from 890 square feet to 1,448 square feet) are tweaked versions of plans the builder tested in a previous TND, so purchasing channels were already in place, and the building sequences were familiar.
With this buyer group, there was something to be said for restraint, Anderson adds, describing the simple, flexible floor plans at Parkview as the housing equivalent of the little black dress. “We've found that [single women] are looking for something that looks good on them and fits their lifestyle, but that isn't over-accessorized with lots of unnecessary stuff.”
Project: Parkview, Redding, Calif.; Project size: 33 single-family homes on 3 acres, plus a half-acre park; Price: $240,000 to $320,000; Unit size: 890 to 1,448 square feet; Builder/Developer/Architect/ Interior designer: New Urban Builders, Chico, Calif.; Landscape designer: Alpine Landscaping, Chico
Room to Breathe
GARDEN VARIETY: The success of the outdoor courtyards in Dahlia Park confirmed that flowers (and shrubs) are still a surefire way to a woman's heart.
Credit: Ilya's Photography
When Bellevue, Wash.–based Bennett Homes acquired the parcel that was to become the Harmony Collection at Dahlia Park, an enclave of 60 homes in the master planned community of Issaquah Highlands, the builder was intent on outfitting each residence with a strong connection to the outdoors. No problem for the community's perimeter lots, which opened onto greenbelts. But the internal lots at the core of the site plan needed to provide an alternative means of experiencing nature.
The solution, conceived by architects at Weber + Thompson, was to tuck an outdoor “garden room” into the lap of each floor plan—an idea frequently seen on the other side of the Pacific. “The Japanese have become masters at building small spaces on very small lots because of their population density and land being in short supply,” notes Paul Glosniak, president of Bennett Homes. “The concept of a backyard is foreign to them, so you often find spaces carved out in the middle of the building footprint to create these intimate outdoor rooms. Since all of the homes [in Dahlia Park] are alley-loaded, we didn't have the backyard option either.”
Garden rooms in plans ranging from 1,600 square feet to 2,300 square feet proved to have considerable allure, and nearly a quarter of the homes sold to single women. The intimate courtyards offer a place to entertain, read the paper, or rejuvenate, with the added benefit of channeling more natural light to the interiors.
Standard garden rooms in the neighborhood (which is now sold out) came landscaped with patios and shrubs, but the spaces could also be upgraded with pavers, potting tables, fountains, and flowering plants. Nature-loving female buyers were also drawn to the community's ample walking trails, shared green spaces, and an adjacent “Bark Park” for dogs (a common form of companionship and security for women who live alone).
All of the homes at Dahlia Park feature master down floor plans (with the option for a second master on the second level), and are Built Green and Energy Star rated, “which translates into lower utility bills and less home maintenance,” says Glosniak. “As we watch the boomer generation entering retirement, we are mindful of older single women who may not want to take care of a 3,500-square-foot house anymore and certainly don't need that much space.”
Project: The Harmony Collection at Dahlia Park, Issaquah, Wash.; Project size: 18 acres; Price: $600,000s; Unit size: 1,600 to 2,300 square feet; Builder: Bennett Homes, Bellevue, Wash.; Architect: Weber + Thompson, Seattle
Personal Touch
MY SPACE: Benssons Homes maintains a big picture focus on uniformity, but encourages personalization in the details. “The front doors are built from the ground up, so if buyers want to design something with, say, colored glass, they can do that,” says designer Sarah-Jayne Smith.
Credit: Benssons Homes
Benssons Homes made its debut in the Houston suburb of Houston Heights back in 2004. Its first infill venture was a picturesque hamlet of 1,200-square-foot Victorian and Craftsman cottages, nearly all of which sold like hotcakes to single professional women. The local boutique builder has since cultivated something rather remarkable in the marketplace: a dedicated following of move-up single women buyers.
“Most of our earlier cottage sales were to young executive ladies,” observes president Steve Anderson, who owns and operates the business in partnership with his wife, Lynda, along with designer Sarah-Jayne Smith. “Now we are doing 1,902-square-foot carriage homes with bigger yards, but 60 percent of our sales are still to single women. The ones who are buying these larger homes are older—in their 50s. Generally all of our houses are sold before we get to drywall.”
The builder's design strategy may have something to do with its popularity with the ladies. The floor plans of its infill homes are simple and generally identical (often mirror images of each other), so the construction process is streamlined. It's when accessorizing begins that home buyers are encouraged to express their own personal style with semi-custom trim packages, built-ins, and interior finishes. And they don't have to haggle over upgrades to get what they want.
“One lady came with a chandelier her grandmother had given her, and we ended up speccing all of the interior detailing to fit with that heirloom,” Anderson recalls. “Once she figured out what kind of furniture would go in the dining room with the chandelier, we put in the wainscot, picked the wall, trim, and built-in cabinet colors [the tops were stained and the bottoms were painted], and then added hardwood floors to accent everything. Now, when you walk into the house, this antique light becomes your focal point.”
Recognizing that single women relish freedom from home maintenance, Benssons also goes the extra mile to minimize upkeep for its buyers. “All of our exteriors are Hardiplank, so we don't have a bunch of rotting wood for them to maintain,” says Anderson. “And although the manufacturer claims you no longer need to prime, we do it anyway because the primer extends the life of the exterior paint to seven or eight years, whereas otherwise you are repainting after three or four years.”
Project: Prince Street Carriage Homes, Houston; Project size: 20 homes on scattered infill lots in a three-by-six block area; Price: $298,800; Unit size: 1,902 square feet; Builder/Designer: Benssons Homes, Houston
Safe Haven
BEACH SCENE: Located just four miles from the California coast, Mystic Point is part of Calavera Hills, a 900-acre master planned community in Carlsbad, Calif. A bonus for single moms: Legoland is close by.
Credit: Eric Figge
When Brookfield Homes first laid the groundwork for Mystic Point, a suburban village of 252 attached homes just around the bend from the acclaimed white sand beaches of Carlsbad, Calif., the plan was to target small, first-time buyer families. But when 23 percent of the homes were snapped up by single women (including a handful of single moms), the builder knew it was on to something. Security was a big deal for this buyer group, and one of the features that proved most pivotal was that every three-story unit enjoyed direct access from a two-car garage, “specifically from garage to kitchen,” notes Steve Doyle, president of Brookfield Homes' San Diego division.
Buyers' safety and security fears were also assuaged by the site plan layout,” notes sales agent Kira Heramb. The neighborhood's assorted three-, six- and nineplex buildings are organized in two clusters, one of which wraps around a cul-de-sac, meaning there is only one way in and one way out.
“The second cluster of homes sits along a canyon with mountain and lake views, so there's nobody looking in on you,” Heramb says. “Plus, the whole neighborhood has been designed so it's convenient to get around. If you are walking to the pool, for example, you don't feel susceptible. Shortcuts and walkways get you there as quickly as possible.” With their ample windows and balconies, the three-story units are designed to ensure there are plenty of eyes on neighborhood streets and sidewalks.
Interior features that resonated with women buyers included walk-in closets, expanded utility and laundry areas, and upgraded finishes such as granite slab counters, stainless steel sinks, full-height kitchen back-splashes, and decorator paint colors. “I think women are a lot more concerned with aesthetics,” Heramb observes.
Single mom buyers were most likely to choose Plan 3, which offered a small yard out front, a large kitchen with an eat-in bar, and an upstairs laundry room close to the bedrooms. Meanwhile, the most popular plan among single women without kids was Plan 1, a configuration offering dual master suites, two baths, and a home office—suggesting that increasing numbers of unmarried women are taking on roommates or entering “mortgage marriages” with friends or family members to make housing costs more manageable without missing out on the opportunity to build equity.
Project: Mystic Point, Carlsbad, Calif.; Project size: 25 acres; Price: $400,000s; Unit size: 1,363 to 1,535 square feet; Builder: Brookfield Homes, San Diego; Architect: Starck Architecture + Planning, San Diego; Interior designer: Design Line Interiors, San Diego; Landscape designer: Howard Associates, San Diego