Valley home builders might not be building a record number of houses lately, but they’re not sitting around idly.
A prime example is Shea Homes, a privately held San Diego company with a sizable footprint in the
Vowing to “bring back the excitement of buying a home,” Shea revealed seven new designs with a modular, utilitarian look and feel.
The energy-efficient houses are available in the
Selling under the IKEA-esque brand name SPACES, the homes are offered at prices from $190,000 to $230,000.
Their modern, streamlined look is a departure from typical tract-home design. But what’s far more revolutionary is the SPACES marketing collateral, which reads like an indictment of boom-era, bigger-is-better consumer values.
“Gone are useless walls, hallways and rarely used formal rooms,” one Shea news release says, explaining the homes’ open design of the floor plans.
Another passage touts “smart, sleek, energy-efficient designs, without antiquated features wasting resources and space.”
Kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms - which the new homes do have - are referred to as eat spaces, splash spaces and dream spaces.
Meanwhile, rooms not included in SPACES homes are referred to by their Victorian-mansion equivalents (the family room becomes the parlor, etc.).
Shea said it conducted extensive market research before crafting the new approach.
For more on the new SPACES homes, visit www.sheaspaces.com.
