With temperatures rarely dipping into the chilly zone, South Florida homes have an opportunity to let the outdoors in?or the indoors out. Luxury homes capitalize on that and have become an oasis to entertain friends and family year-round. With homes offering outdoor kitchens, coffee islands and a living room on the back patio, modern-day conveniences can be found outside.
?We?re in an era of networking, gathering around with friends and co-workers,? said Anita Lamberti, Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, LLC, in Plantation. ?Our homes are our own type of social media. We?re bringing our community home.?
One of Lamberti?s more unique listings, a courtyard home in Hawks Landing, offers a large area to enjoy the outdoors with all of the conveniences found inside the house. ?It?s like a giant living room but not inside the house,? Lamberti said. Because the house sits on a peninsula, water surrounds three-quarters of the property. The outside living room is comprised of a large brick patio, pool, cabana, outdoor kitchen and even outdoor bathrooms. ?once you?re out there, you don?t need to come in.?
?We live in an area that we can go out in September and entertain, we can go out in December and entertain, we can go out in March and entertain. We?re lucky we live in this area. That?s a luxury that we have. We don?t have to be outside for only three months and then go back in like the bears.?
Open floor plans, clean lines, modern yet warm?this is what Realtor Susan Rindley is seeing these days. Buyers ?want the inside-to-outside feel,? said Rindley, real estate consultant with ONE Sotheby?s International Realty in Fort Lauderdale. ?They want big, open kitchens to the outdoor area, so they can live inside or outside. The backyard is more clean. They?re doing the summer kitchens and they?re doing gazebos, but with clean lines.?
As far as design goes, homes with a Mediterranean look are out, and those with a chich, modern Bali style are in, Rindley said. ?I think the trend in real estate right now is pople are getting away from the Mediterranean. They want modern. They want new, they want fresh. They want more warm modern. They?re adding stone to warm things up. They?ll pay over the market for something like this.?
And we like to spend time cooking, dining and entertaining outdoors. ?The outdoor kitchens are huge?the bigger the better,? said Rose Sklar, a Realtor with The Sklar Team and Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Weston. A recent $1.6 million listing of hers hosts a sophisticated outdoor kitchen complete with a huge gas grill, refrigerator, gas burners, sinks, icemaker, flat screen TVs, wine cellar and granite countertops. ?It?s a second kitchen,? she said.
Those buyers looking at high-end homes also want a home movie room, Sklar finds. ?They want these things, definitely high-end, they want it. People want everything,? including in the kitchen, a double dishwasher and double oven. ?The gadgetier, the better,? and buyers are willing to pay for it.
?People like to spend time in their homes. They want their home to be their oasis,? Sklar said. ?People like to entertain in their homes. There?s no reason to leave. They want to make their home comfortable for their family and to keep their kids home.?
And many folks want to watch television and movies in large-scale comfort. ?In the more luxury markets from Palm Beach to Miami Beach, I?ve seen a lot of the homes having media rooms,? said Adele Pick, Realtor with Pick and Partners Real Estate Team and Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Weston. Many new constructions have home theaters built right in. One recent listing of hers, in Weston, had an added home theater. ?This is probably one of the most beautiful home theaters I?ve seen, and I?ve seen a lot.? In addition to the expected details of a high-end sound system, retractable screen and soundproof walls, this home theater also has its own popcorn maker, a small kitchen, a bar and a dining area. ?I?m seeing more sophisticated home theaters. People aren?t going to the movies anymore. It?s gone from the days of having a large TV screen,? Pick said. ?People want it. They want a home theater.?
Complete outdoor kitchens are another trend in the luxury market. Pick calls these summer kitchens, where meals are prepared outside to keep the inside of the house cooler during the summer. Many homes these days have an outdoor grill, high-end appliances and even wood-burning brick pizza ovens next to the pool and the view of the South Florida water, whether it be the ocean, the Intracoastal, or a canal or river. One of Pick?s recent Coral Springs homes included a wood-burning pizzas oven flown in from France. Interior kitchens aren?t exactly slumming it, either. Many interior kitchens sport double ovens, and walk-in wine cellars mere steps away. One wine cellar in a Pick listing is hurrican proof and so much concrete envelops it, that it can be used as a safe room. That wine cellar holds 1,500 bottles of vino.
That?s something else we?re seeing a lot of in high-end homes is wine cellars,? Pick said. ?People are making their homes so that they never need to leave home to be entertained. People are creating mini fortresses with gadgets for comfort. We have an opportunity to see a lot of ultra luxury homes from Palm Beach to Miami Beach,? she said, and the newer homes are state-of-theart, right down to toilet seats that warm up.
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