Making sure there is no place like home

Homeowners who come into money, either by inheritance or property appreciation, are less shy about indulging themselves, the realty firm Royal LePage has found.

Royal LePage canvassed some of its so-called carriage-trade realtors to come up with a top-10 list of must-have luxury additions to the home.

For wine lovers, that could mean spending up to $150,000 on a wine cellar and tasting room. For movie lovers, spending $50,000 or more on surround sound and luxury seating.

It could mean spending $50,000 or more on a personal gym and spa.

"I think people like to be at home," Toronto-based Royal LePage agent Elli Davis said in an interview. She added that in compiling the luxury must-have list, one of her colleagues brought up futurist Faith Popcorn's theory of cocooning.

"We're all busy and stressed out, so by the time we get home, we just like to stay there."

Instead of going out to a gym, the homeowner wants a fitness room where they can bring in a trainer, and a spa area to have a masseuse stop by.

Or instead of going out for dinner and a nice bottle of wine, Davis said the homeowner will have it at home, and perhaps have space in the cellar to show off their wine collections.

Davis added that she and her colleagues don't always know exactly where their clients are making their money, but does know that many baby boomers have inherited money in the last 10 years and many have also made money through the appreciation of their own real estate.

"The million-dollar home is no longer the exclusive domain of the rich," Davis said.

In Vancouver, luxury builder Gordon Wilson, of G. Wilson Construction Co. Ltd., agreed that many deluxe items are becoming more common, whether it is in-home elevators, complex computerized controls and security systems or heated driveways.

"I can't think of a client who has not had a heated driveway in recent years," Wilson said.

He added that, more and more, such comforts aren't being looked at as luxury items for a lot of higher-end buyers, but as givens if they are building new homes.

"We will always present clients with options, and sometimes [on projects] the options column is getting smaller than our standard-features column," Wilson said.

He added that some features are less common in the average luxury home such as the walk-in refrigerator. He said the walk-in refrigeration he has installed has been in larger homes where the owner will regularly entertain large groups.

Home gyms, however, with a mirrored wall, maple floor and exercise equipment, is becoming fairly standard. Additional spa features, such as a sauna or massage room are usually added on as homes become larger.

Wilson also finds that elevators are more common, particularly among upper-middle-class boomers who expect to stay in their houses as long as possible.

Structured wiring and security systems, which allow clients to control lighting, heating and other home controls from a central location, are also fairly standard. Less expensive homes will have a few central rooms on the system, larger homes will have all rooms wired right to the closets.

"It's a system I wish I had when my children were young," Wilson added, saying that would have avoided debates over when to turn lights out.

(prepared by Derrick Penner/Vancouver Sun)