A new trend has been emerging in Perth’s premium suburbs from City Beach to Bicton. New home clients have been choosing to knock down their poorly designed, oversized, energy-hungry homes in favour of more modest and mindful single-storey homes. And if this is any indication, it looks like the ostentatious McMansions that cover every inch of high-value property might be on the way out. But why are some of our clients looking to bust this trend, and are they ahead of the curve? At Leanhaus, we’ve always been in favour of a well-designed single-storey home, here’s why.
For many, the size of the house is much more important than the land it sits on, resulting in homes that take up as much of the property as possible. But, over time, these unnecessarily large homes become more of a liability, and this is becoming even more noticeable as the costs of home ownership continue to rise. The cost of energy usage, home services and maintenance all take away from funds that could instead go towards lifestyle, investments or retirement. We’ve even heard of some clients in large $3 million homes spending over $60 thousand per annum on ownership costs—that’s excluding any loan amounts.
These are big numbers and opting for a smaller home can help significantly reduce them. Besides, as it gets older the actual home depreciates over time. It’s the land that really increases in value. Look at it this way: the larger the home, the larger the economic loss over time. From an investment point of view, over-building and, therefore, over-spending is only increasing your losses. Instead, build only what’s necessary to live a comfortable lifestyle without wasting funds on the extras.
Another factor to consider is the actual cost of the build. A single-storey home can be much smaller than a two-storey home whilst still containing the same number of rooms. Why? Because it removes the need for stairwells, duplicate corridors and unnecessary additional bathrooms. For example, we’ve taken on a brief for a 300sqm two-storey home and, by redesigning it as single-storey, reduced it to 220sqm. The savings in construction costs alone was over $250 thousand, and we cut the construction time in half. On top of the extra time and material needed for these unnecessary rooms, two-storey homes require expensive scaffolding and often need additional steel and structural timber to ensure structural stability.
Single-storey homes are also much quicker to build, often taking only 9-12 months instead of the 18 or more that’s needed for a two-storey home. The extra 6 months on site for a two-storey build comes with the cost of keeping builders on site for longer as well as your own accommodation and loan expenses. And these hidden costs don’t necessarily make for a better-quality home.
Whereas the benefits of more modest, single-storey homes are substantial. In coastal suburbs like City Beach, large block sizes of up to 1200sqm provide the opportunity to build a well-designed, functional single-storey home with plenty of space left for generous gardens. And this option is becoming more and more appealing as people come to an awareness of just how ill-suited their homes are in providing the basics of thermal comfort, functionality and ease of living.
Killarney Haus - a great example of a single-storey home with everything you need and a well-sized garden
The high ceilings possible in single-storey homes create a greater sense of space and luxury. But they also provide more natural lighting, facilitate better air flow and perform very well in warm climates—hot air rises into high ceilings, creating a much cooler environment in the habitable zone.
On a day-to-day basis, the connection between spaces all on one level provides a much more liveable home, which translates into old age too. Single-storey homes are easily adaptable for elderly people and those living with disabilities. This offers the opportunity to age in place, so there’s no need to go through the hassle of moving even one more time.
For parents, as kids become young adults and spend more time out and away from home, the need for such a large home is reduced. Modest homes can be designed to perfectly suit and prioritise their new lifestyle.
In our opinion, it’s about time that unnecessarily large mansions are replaced by more modest homes. They can be much more cost-effective, better quality and designed to suit one’s individual needs. If this sounds like something you’d like to pursue, get in touch and we’ll get back to you shortly.
Written by Ellie Prober with Ben Caine