There's much to be said for creative architecture, impeccable millwork, scrumptious building materials, and all-around stellar craftsmanship. But those things are hard to appreciate when they are eclipsed by piles of paperwork, fields of free-range electronic devices, and bulk toilet paper purchases with nowhere to hide. It's these kinds of conundrums that make homeowners crazy—the dirty little (or big) secrets you don't see in model homes.
“People have lots of stuff, and they need places to store it,” says Nagle. “This is particularly the case with multi-generational households where a parent is likely to move from another home with all of his or her treasures. We found people living in new homes and still paying $250 to $340 a month for off-site storage. Translate that into a house payment, and it makes a lot of sense to buy a bigger house.”
The Reality House takes storage to the extreme, offering a bonanza of places to stash those pesky necessities of our daily existence. A second-floor bonus room above the garage with 640 square feet of raw space can be configured to serve any number of functions, from playroom to guest room to storage repository. Meanwhile, the heavy-duty utility room at ground level, decked out with floor-to-ceiling Timberlake cabinetry, recasts the old laundry room concept as a multipurpose facility with a pet shower and a back door leading to a pet yard out back. In the event that dog-phobic visitors come calling, the utility room is even outfitted with a Masonite Dutch door so Fido can be “stored” but still see out into the hallway.
Nooks, crannies, and built-in cubbies abound in every room of the house. “There are tons of little spaces we captured to make the most efficient use of the plan,” says LRK's Haley. “These are areas that make the plan work without you realizing that it's working.”