Updates in technology for window and door glass have allowed builders to design homes a little bit differently. From floor-to-ceiling windows to retractable glass walls, more of today’s homes are being built to incorporate copious amounts of natural light in all rooms. While these type of designs have been prominent in warmer areas for indoor/outdoor living, Midwest builders, such as Ohio-based Bob Webb Homes, are also now including more glass features.
Bob Webb's latest show home, designed for the 2018 BIA Parade of Homes in Columbus, Ohio, features a retractable glass wall in the living room and a basement workout room that's delineated by sliding glass, barn-style doors. More Midwest builders have begun using the retractable walls, which have long been prominent on the West Coast and Hawaii, because they too have undergone improvements that allow them to be used in colder climates, Shively said.
The see-through doors to the exercise room serve two functions, he said. They help incorporate the workout area into the main room and provide natural light to the whole space. The doors work because the architect also incorporated deep, wide window wells into the basement's design. "It's amazing what those deeper wells can do. It makes a huge difference, and that light bleeds into the rest of the lower level," Shively said.
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