Mastering the metropolis through research and thought leadership.
Working Papers

Design Innovation and the Single-Family House

Working paper #460
Witold Rybczynski

Although American homebuyers are generally conservative when it comes to house design, being concerned that houses may be perceived as dated or unusual when it comes time to resell, the last 50 years have seen a number of design innovations in production housing. The 1950s and 1960s saw the introduction of ranch houses, split levels, bi-levels, breeze-ways, and picture windows. Most of these innovations have subsequently been supplanted. A number of CEOs of national homebuilding firms are interviewed. The predominant new design features in housing today include two-story houses, open first floors, and traditional features on the exterior. Homebuyers have consistently demanded larger houses, despite the fact that family size has not increased. There is a general tendency toward greater informality in house plans, more openness, and family rooms rather than formal living rooms.

Download full paper · 1MB PDF


In This Section
Explore Topics

1010 Affordable Housing Amazon Amenitization Architecture Artificial Intelligence Asia Australia automation Autonomous Vehicles bonds Borrowing Constraints Brexit California Canada Capital Business China Co-Working Environment coastal markets cold storage Colombia Commercial Brokerage Commercial Real Estate commissions Congestion consumer bias covid-19 CRE credit card market Credit Default Swaps Credit Insurance Credit Risk Transfers Culture Data Analytics data centers Data Collection Technology Debt Market Demand Demographics Density Development Discrete Choice disruption Diversity drones e-Commerce Economic Corridors economic policy economics education election studies Equity Funds Equity Market Ethnic Factors Europe Fannie Mae financial asset management Foreclosures Foreign Policy France Freddie Mac general equilibrium Global global economy Global Financial Crisis Globalization great depression Great Recession healthy buildings Hedonic hospitality Housing & Residential housing boom Housing Disease housing prices Housing Supply Identity Income Inequality India inflation Inter-generational mobility interest rates Investing jobs labor market Lagging Regions land use regulation Language life sciences Macroeconomics malls Market Pricing megacities Microeconomics Migration Minimum Payments Mixed-Use Mobility moral hazard mortgage insurance mortgage market Mortgage Rates Mortgages Multi-family Nation Building Non-Traditional Mortgages Office Market office sector pension funds Placed Based Policies Political Risk Price Discovery Private Equity Business public health public policy Public Schools real estate brokerage Real Estate Investment Real Estate Investment Trusts Recession Rental Retail Retirement reverse mortgages Risk Adjustment risk management risk-shifting robotics single family housing Slums Sorting South America Spatial Regions spillover effect stimulus package Sub-Prime Mortgages Supply Chains Sustainability Technology telecommunications trade transportation unemployment United States Urban Urbanization Warehouse welfare work from home

arrow_drop_up