Martha's Vineyard Real Estate : Construction and remodeling
By Susan L. Silk
Published: June 23, 2011
Kitchens and bathrooms - the areas of a home that usual host the highest traffic - are also the rooms where, when price is no object, the possibilities are limitless.
For example, Clancy Construction (Oak Bluffs) recently installed carved onyx bathroom sinks in a client's new bathroom ($3,500), as well as a steam unit in the shower ($3,500). "For most showers, people are going with frameless glass showers," says Laurence Clancy. For homeowners unconcerned with cost, $1,500 faucet handles are also available.
According to Mr. Clancy, in kitchens many homeowners are asking for two dishwashers so there is ample capacity for parties or in case one breaks down. The $2,000 Miele is often the request, because the unit runs silently. The Subzero refrigerators are still what customers are asking for at $6,000. When it comes to countertops, granite, marble and DuPont's Corian are still popular, ranging from $100 to $150 a square foot installed. However, people are starting to request custom colored concrete as well, at $100 a square foot installed.
At the Vineyard Home Center (Tisbury), Merric Carreiro has just installed the first built-in espresso machine in a new kitchen. And "integrated appliances" - wooden panels to cover the exterior of appliances - are requested more often. In addition to dual dishwashers, one of Mrs. Carrerior's clients also requested two sets of clothes washers and dryers (upstairs and down).
"You could have the same small kitchen space, and depending on the cabinets and appliances you select, that room can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $60, 000," according to Mrs. Carreiro. The cost rises as the customer moves from semi-custom cabinets to fully custom designed cabinets and beyond to even custom paint colors.
Mrs. Carreiro's clients are asking for a lot of natural stone in showers, and porcelain everywhere. However, a new glass tile from Spain (made from recycled car windshields) is gaining popularity. It is a green product and actually costs far less than the comparable mosaic glass used in bathroom floors ($15 a square foot vs. $40-60 a square foot).
Granite is no longer the must have that it was a couple of years ago. Instead, Islanders are doing quartz stone or "engineered stone", for its warm, soft tones. And it feels like concrete, Mrs. Carreiro said.
"The car wash washer" with 12 nozzles is a new must have, because it "has you waiting for the buffer and a shot of wax," John Jones, Jones Construction Co. (Vineyard Haven) jokingly reports. Customers are converting a walk-in closet into a shower big enough to accommodate four bathers.
For the homeowners looking for kitchen flooring that has both "durability and is different" reclaimed lumber is a new look Mr. Jones is installing. Reclaimed lumber "costs top of the line" and easily four times the cost of even the new, higher-end vinyl tile flooring.
Other kitchen flooring options include bamboo and reclaimed pavers from France. According to Suzanne Wesley, whose firm, Wesley Wyeth Etelier (Edgartown), specializes in architectural specifications and interior design, both reclaimed lumber and bamboo are becoming far more reasonably priced. The reclaimed pavers from old buildings in France are "very, very expensive" at $32 a square foot (porcelain tiles by comparison run $4.50-$5.50 a square foot).
In bathrooms, beach stone is being used now on bathroom showers and flooring. Compared to a porcelain tile ($4.50-$5 a square foot), beach stone runs $25-$38 a square foot." And people are using tile on their bathroom walls instead of beadboard, because it looks like beadboard but can be cleaned like tile," Ms. Wesley said
There are specialty stone mosaics being used on Martha's Vineyard ranging from $38-$300 a square foot and "a lot of local tile artists on Martha's Vineyard who will do custom painted tiles. I had a tiny mural done for a client for $1,200 and another that has been the most expensive so far at $4,800," she added.
And in bathrooms, a new feature clients are selecting, according to Ms. Wesley, is electric heat mats installed under the floor tile and with a programmable timer so that, with a fifteen minute head start, you are ensured warm walking on the bathroom tile floor. This newer version of radiant heating technology can also be installed on a shower seat "so if you are shaving, you are comfortably warm," she explained. In a small bathroom, this will cost about $650 installed and for a large bathroom about $1,800.
When it comes to kitchens, Ms. Wesley says that if price is no consideration, customers are selecting the LaCornu cooker from France at $12,000 (or a similar product made in England). A gas or oil cooker, the LaCornu technology involved a central core unit that is always heated and warms the entire stove. Made from cast iron, the cooker retains heat and so once heated thoroughly, the cooker requires a small amount of additional energy. "It takes eight guys to get it into the house, and they have to shore up the flooring to hold it."
Wine coolers have become pretty standard items in kitchens, but there are wine coolers and then there are wine coolers - the units built in under a counter can run $1,500, a unit on the counter top $150 by comparison. Customers are also selecting "dish drawers" (the size and cost of two small high end dish washers) that allow you to do smaller loads of dishes more efficiently. "If a customer is only using the house on weekends, a smaller load makes sense," Ms. Wesley said.
