"DGDevin" wrote in message
m...

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...

What amenities, features and the like do you find in your own area of the
country, such as the above?

What some people call "amenities" often look like "fads" to my wife and I.
We've looked at some new homes and remodeled homes where we both saw
features we predicted would look hopelessly dated in not too many years.
And frankly some currently popular features don't appeal to us even if
they're still fashionable, e.g. granite countertops. To each his own of
course, but fashion is a fickle mistress.

Very true. Today, appliances are SS, where 15 years ago, the best kitchens
had the built-in look, where refrigerators and dishwashers, for instance,
had a panel to match the kitchen cabinets. The color of wood changes, also.
I saw one home that hit me as obviously '70-90's. The flooring was natural
laid oak, as were the cabinets. Even things like built-ins have decreased
in today's taste. Our first home had a built-in set of doors and drawers
between two closets in the master bedroom and also for linen in the hallway.
You don't see that anymore.

What I see in today's market are natural materials more than man-made. One
person commented that Corian and Silestone were "cheap substitutes" for the
"better" Granite and marble on counter tops. Likewise, Travertine is a very
popular flooring in upper end homes, with large tile being a close second.
It then spirals downward into the man-made things like laminates, vinyls and
even carpet is not as popular here as it once was.

OTOH, things like skylights and sky tubes are increasingly popular, and
they're something that will probably remain in fashion for a long while.

Nonny