If you hardly ever use your living room but you would like a larger dining area for parties or those big family gatherings, you're not alone.

The National Association of Home Builders surveyed homebuyers last year to find out what they wanted in new homes. According to their survey, “more than a third of prospective homebuyers were willing to buy a home without a living room in order to have more space for other rooms.”

However, when it came to dining rooms, “nearly four-fifths of respondents in NAHB’s survey rated dining rooms as desirable or essential features in new homes.” In the NAHB’s words, dining rooms “appear to be making a comeback.”

Dave Bradstreet, Director of Architecture for Pulte Homes‘ Midwest region, says, “for the most part, dining rooms never went away -- especially with bread and butter plans.” However, Bradstreet says people are viewing them differently these days. He finds that in the smaller square footage plans, “dining rooms have become kind of a flex space.” Bradstreet notes that buyers are using the designated dining room space not only for dining, but also as a parlor or library.

In higher-end series homes, Bradstreet says dining rooms are being decked out with some extra detail. They may be trimmed with crown molding or chair rails, or be distinguished by columns at the entrance way.

At Winchester Homes, dining rooms never really went away either, but homebuyers are focusing on them more and more. Jim Polhaus, Design Manager of the “Your Home Your Way Team,” sees the trend as a lifestyle change. Polhaus says that as the square footage of new homes continues to grow, “people are spending a lot of money on their house...they’re more inclined to have dinner parties and show their house off.” According to Polhaus, the 90’s brought on people willing to showcase their homes, and that meant a need for more space for entertaining.

The Winchester program allows homebuyers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to choose from a variety of floor plans, then have their home customized to their tastes. He says many homebuyers are looking for spaces larger than the typical 16x12 dining area and want to add several feet to the dimensions. He says that since they’re making the dining area a focal point, it needs to be larger, and there is a desire to add features to make it special.

Polhaus says that instead of one chandelier, some buyers are asking for two. “The reason for that is the sense of creating two party round tables.” Other custom touches include “adding built-ins,“ such as cabinets that look like finished furniture to store China. In addition, “butler pantries are really huge adjacent to dining rooms.”

What will the additional space and embellishments cost when closing time comes? Of course, a lot depends on where you live and just how fancy you plan on getting, but the National Association of Realtors can provide a ballpark number. It projects the national median existing-home price in 2001 to be $144, 800. That’s an increase of 4.2 percent over last year. As for those new homes, the NAR expects the typical home to cost $173,600 -- an increase of 4.5 percent from 2000.

Carol Ochs is a Washington-based reporter who covers new home trends.

Published: April 10, 2001

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