With couples deciding that a good night’s sleep is more important than togetherness on a nightly basis, builders are seeing a trend where dual master bedrooms are being requested in custom and semi-custom homes. Some are even taking things so far as to eliminate the word "master" from their vocabulary so as to not offend their female buyers.
The antidote to a snoring spouse, or one who either stays up late or gets up early, used to be that one person moved into either the guestroom or the bonus room. Now we’re seeing separate bedrooms created with the intent of each having equal appeal, rather than having one spouse relegated to a less attractive secondary room.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that American marriages are in trouble, but it does show that they are seeking alternatives to sleepless nights. Many of these couples do share a bed on the weekends, or at least have a "cuddle space" that they use before going to their separate bedrooms for the night.
One older couple I heard about recently had decided not to marry, instead keeping their separate houses where they could visit each other frequently since they only lived a few doors apart from each other. While this is a bit extreme, it does show that people are craving more "alone time" these days to help cope with their hectic schedules. Some say that this helps keep the relationship alive, since they need to schedule a "date" to have some together time.
Paul Rosenblatt, a professor at the University of Minnesota, recently wrote Two in a Bed: The Social System of Couple Bed Sharing on the challenges and benefits of sharing a bed. He says that most of this separate-bedroom phenomenon has to do with aging, where couples split into separate bedrooms when the kids move out.
Will we be seeing dual master bedrooms in Santa Clarita any time soon? Hard to say, but it will likely show up in the more extravagant homes first!
March 16, 2007
Santa Clarita Real Estate