By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR(R) Magazine
Get ready for Justin Bieber posters lining the walls and video-game arcades. The “teen lounge” is the new space entering homes.
Designers and architects say they’re fielding more requests lately to make-over areas in the home that are designated for older kids. These spaces are becoming teen lounges, hangout areas, sleepover spaces, or offices for doing homework (even outfitted with security cameras so parents can make sure they’re really working!), The Wall Street Journal reports.
“Parents say teen and tween rooms not only encourage kids to spend more time at home—they can also help maintain peace throughout the grown-up areas of the house,” The Wall Street Journal reports about the trend.
Some teen lounges are getting high-dollar make-overs.For example, Chris Pollack with Pollack + Partners, a design and construction firm based in New York, told The Wall Street Journal that he recently spent $750,000 renovating a Manhattan townhouse with a 1,000-square-foot teen suite. The suite featured a ping-pong and billiards table, a recording studio, kitchen, and a theatre for movies and video games.
Some home owners are looking to transform other housing spaces into teen lounges, such as turning a pool house into a teen lounge.
But will the teen lounge become a selling point in homes? Probably not, say some real estate professionals. In fact, some agents say that it’s important that home owners design teen spaces into their homes make sure the spaces can be converted back into adult space when it’s time to sell. The teen lounge is “a non-neutral amenity that doesn’t add value,” appraiser Jonathan Miller told The Wall Street Journal.
Jef Hyland, president of Hilton & Hyland, a brokerage based in Beverly Hills, Calif., said that when he markets homes with upscale teen lounges, he’ll tell buyers that these spaces often can also become in-law suites, which may have wider appeal.
