big house

So I've been "out in the field" the past couple of days doing assessments. Many of my clients have homes in Sedona, a beautiful place being built up faster than I can type! Sigh... The house I was at yesterday was 5000 square feet with a view to die for. It was a gorgeous house and the people who live there are lovely too, but here's my problem...

5000 SQUARE FEET!!!! This is typical for high-end Sedona homes, most of which cost $1 - 4 million dollars on average.

This particular home is only occupied for approximately 3-4 months out of the year; as they have homes in two other states as well, also typical of high-end Sedona home owners. Two people "live" in the home - again typical.

After doing my assessment, I was talking to my client about green building as he's in the process of building a spec house. I suggested he consider looking at the addition of some green features and making sure the home is energy efficient to give him a selling edge in the current (saturated) market. I also suggested he think about quality over quantity while pondering the size of the home. He's going to think about it... (sigh.)

It is statistically proven that people don't stay as long in these large homes (if I remember correctly the average time is about 2 1/2 years.) There's nothing really "cozy" about 5000 sq. ft. after all, it's a monster to keep clean, not to mention the energy use.

I have some other amazing clients who finally got it - though the road was long. They too had a 5000 sq. ft. monster that had to be gutted almost completely from both the interior and exterior due to construction defects, mold, etc. As we were just getting ready to start putting the house back together, there was an electrical fire and the house burned to the ground. (Which was perhaps, a blessing in disguise.)

The last time we spoke, they were looking for a new site to build a green house half the size, with a strong emphasis on good building science techniques and attention to detail.

I am dreaming of the day when there is a shift among the wealthy to not have a competition over who has the "biggest" house, but instead who has the "greenest" house. Cars would no doubt soon follow suit.

Hopefully it won't take too long...