Create Shared Memories with a Luxury Legacy Home

It’s the lake where you taught all your kids how to fish. It’s the games of Scrabble that last well into the night. It’s the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls–and your grandmother’s recipe–that gets everyone out of bed. 

If you want to create shared experiences that bring your family together, you need a space that provides openness and privacy, sustainability as well as flexibility. You need a legacy home.

Whether it’s a family retreat where everyone gathers a few times a year or your personal home that welcomes family for long stays, design your luxury generational home to create cherished memories for years to come.

What Is a Legacy Home?

A legacy home is meant to be passed down to future generations and can be a vacation home or a personal property. It might be a space you use seasonally, such as a mountain escape during the summer months in Arizona or a quiet golf getaway when you need a break from the big city. Or, it could be your sanctuary for extended stays tucked away in the beauty of Park City, Utah.

Because it is a home you want your family to enjoy for many years, make sure your legacy home design will work for multiple needs. A space for you and your kids will look different than the needs of your children and their spouses, and then a house full of grandchildren. 

Here are three considerations to keep in mind when planning for and designing your luxury generational home.

Common Spaces for Shared Experiences

There are probably a lot of activities your family enjoys doing together, like baking and playing games. Provide multiple ways for your loved ones to connect, play, and grow together in your legacy home.

Use an open floor plan for your living spaces so you can be flexible with your seating options based on who is around. A kitchen that opens up into the great room allows everyone to be involved in the preparation leading up to a big meal, but can also provide more intimate seating options when there are only a handful of people there. Similarly, create a large dining area for big family gatherings as well as smaller breakfast nooks and island space for more casual meals.

Keep in mind how your kitchen might need to adapt when feeding–and cleaning up after–a dozen or more people at a time. Consider adding two ovens or two dishwashers to ensure seamless entertaining and effortless cleanup when hosting large gatherings. If there are young people in your family, create a kid-friendly section of your pantry to encourage independence and healthy eating. Include a mini-fridge for their beverages and a microwave that they can reach. 

Outside of food, games and movies are often the center of a good family get-together. Plan your game room so everyone can participate, whether they enjoy video games, pool, or a competitive round of Spades. 

Make sure to include space for shared hobbies. Perhaps several of your family members enjoy gardening. Have a courtyard with local plants or a container garden that can be updated and added to each season. Or if you have several people who enjoy woodworking, include a workshop for a shared project.

Private Spaces for Work and Relaxation

While it’s fun to have your family around, everyone needs a quiet space to catch a Zoom call or recharge. It’s important to preserve independence and boundaries. Make sure to include areas that allow people privacy, both individually and with their spouses and children.

Whether you have separate casitas or wings of the home available for everyone, provide exterior entrances so people can come and go without bothering everyone else. Consider providing a kitchenette with a small refrigerator and microwave in these spaces.

Extended vacations make it so you may have multiple people working remotely for part of the time. Establish two or more office spaces where people can take work calls or knock out important tasks between family adventures.

The family will likely embark on hikes, rounds of golf, or the annual pickleball tournament. But also provide opportunities for individuals to work out the way that recharges them. In addition to your cardio and Pilates equipment and lap pool, include a quiet space for yoga or meditation. Be sure to incorporate ample opportunities to enjoy the ambiance of a fire, with fireplaces thoughtfully placed both indoors and outdoors, perfectly framing the beauty of your legacy property.

Sustainable Materials Built for the Long-Term

The goal of the home is to be a sanctuary for your family for years to come, so focus on high-quality materials and timeless interior design to minimize maintenance. Focus on natural finishes, exposed wood, and traditional decor that won’t go out of style.

While sustainability and energy efficiency will always be a goal, understand that technology will change quickly. For example, the solar panels you install with the build may need to be upgraded by the time the next generation takes the helm. Smart technology needs to be updated almost as often as your smartphone. Work with your builder so that these changes can be done without too much hassle.

In addition to technology changes, assume the needs of the family will change over time. New hobbies at different ages, people with different accessibility requirements. Consider flexible spaces to adjust room sizes. Use modular storage options that you can add to if needed and without a major construction project.

Create a Team of Advisors to Help Build Your Luxury Legacy Home

In addition to a design team who can guide you on the layout and placement of your home, you need solid estate planning help to make sure you understand the best way to pass down property. You can dictate how much of your trust will be allocated for the upkeep of the property after you are gone, and the expectations for your heirs for keeping the property in the family. Under what conditions would they be able to sell the home? Bringing your estate planning attorney into the conversation can be helpful.

Ready to build your luxury legacy home? Reach out to UDA Ltd., the luxury home architect in Arizona that takes the time to learn what matters most to you. Tell us about your project today!