Three industry leaders, including marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki of tst ink, consumer strategist Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance, and architect Nancy Keenan, president and CEO of Dahlin Group Architecture Planning, have collaborated with builder Garman Homes to design and build a concept home that reflected the findings from the two waves of their America at Home Study.
After only 60 days, the team has unveiled The America at Home Study Concept Home: Barnaby.
Located in Chatham Park in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Barnaby is a "literal representation of the changes Americans desire and are willing to pay for, and serves both as a model of human desires in a post-pandemic world as well as an inspiration to home builders and architects as they design and build future homes."
“After spending significant time in their homes during the pandemic, many Americans leaned into greater wellness and comfort as well as stronger reflections of personal taste including layout changes, dedicated office space, and more storage,” says Alaina Money-Garman, CEO and co-founder of Garman Homes. “By constructing a home that spotlights key findings from the study, we are able to bring to life collected data and transform it from consumer insights to an actual physical home that can be experienced by all.”
The 2,600-square-foot, two-story home contains four bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths and was designed for a hypothetical family with two working parents, one who works from home and the other outside the home.
Design considerations were driven by how the concept home can support safety, comfort, and wellness. As a result, the house includes separate homeowner and guest entries, two dedicated office spaces, flex spaces, a guest suite with outdoor access, a larger family bathroom, multiple covered outdoor spaces, improved kitchen functionality, flexible storage, drop zones for package deliveries, and more.
“Many industries were negatively impacted by the pandemic; but missing from the daily conversation was how COVID-19 and ‘life from home’ revealed deep dissatisfaction with our individual home environments as they became ‘catchall’ destinations for multiple family members for work, school, play, and rest,” says Slavik-Tsuyuki. “Our shared concern and perspective was the catalyst for the creation of the America at Home Study and, ultimately, the decision to bring the findings to life in an actual concept home.”
For those interested in a virtual tour of Barnaby, customer experience property technology firm Cecilian Partners created a modern digital community and home shopping experience that can be easily accessed from any digital device. In addition, the interactive tour encourages real-time feedback, which itself will serve as another layer of research and development.
Barnaby will be open to the public and will serve as a model home for visitors to tour in person for the next nine months, after which Garman Homes plans to list the property for sale in concert with further development of the Chatham Park community.
