What’s your ideal home look like to you? As a society, what we look for in a home has changed over the years and continues to evolve in ways that reflect how we live, work, and play.
What people consider appealing in a property drives the property market as features that are in demand can stimulate more interest in a property and command a higher price.
Over the decades, Australian homes have undergone quite the transformation. From echoing European grandeur – building ornate Victorian terraces and Federation homes, to more modern homes that embrace our unique climate and lifestyle. The way Australians live in their homes has changed dramatically over the decades.
Homes that suit the Australian climate
Australian homes in the colonial days looked a lot like the ones the early settlers had left behind – dark and small, with tiny windows and high ceilings.
As homes started to evolve to suit a vastly different climate, the verandah became popular as a great way to keep the house cool. Then the introduction of the ‘Queenslander’ took this to another level, raising the house up on stilts to allow airflow and cross ventilation, helping keep the interior cool.
Quarter acre blocks and the dream of space
Fast forward to the 1950s, and the quarter-acre block was born. A massive backyard for the kids to play in, with a veggie garden, hills hoist, and enough space to park the car. Homes were still pretty modest by today’s standards – but oh the luxury of a big block of land. This was the dream that drove suburban sprawl across Australia’s cities.
Mid-Century homes: light and space, please
By the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, the ideal Australian home was starting to look a bit more like the modern homes of today. Enter homes that embraced more light-filled spaces and the introduction of open-plan layouts. These houses were designed to bring the outdoors inside, with large windows and sliding glass doors that led to the garden. The ‘open plan’ layout became the hallmark of the modern home – reflecting a shift in attitudes – enabling families to interact and socialise in a much more relaxed and informal way. Gone were the days of closed-off rooms and compartmentalised living.
The 80s and 90s: bigger, bolder, and with more room for everything
By the 1980s and ‘90s, things got a little… bigger. Australians were building homes with more rooms, larger kitchens, and expansive living areas. But perhaps the most noticeable trend was the rise of the McMansion – those huge homes that took up every inch of a big suburban block and were the subject of both admiration and ridicule. These homes were all about excess – massive lounges and TVs, two bathrooms, double garages, and a kitchen large enough to feed an army. It was a time when more was more, and bigger was definitely better.
The McMansion era marked the peak of the “bigger is better” mentality, but as with all things, times change. The quest for more square footage gave way to a new set of priorities.
The changing face of Australian homes today
Fast forward to the 2020s, and the ideal Australian home is starting to look a bit different. In fact, it’s getting smaller. CommSec’s Home Size Trends data shows that our average new home sizes are now at their smallest size in 20 years.i Smaller backyards are now the norm (sorry, quarter-acre dream), and people are looking for homes that require less time and energy to maintain, with lawns giving way to low-maintenance gardens.
Many Australians are also rejecting a garden altogether in favour of apartment living. Being central to desired neighbourhoods and amenities is becoming more important and homebuyers are increasingly turning to more affordable options. Over the past 30 years, the number of occupied apartments across the country has more than doubled.ii
Another shift in the way we live is the move to more flexible work arrangements and the need for dedicated workspaces within the home to accommodate this. Forget the days when the dining room table doubled as a home office. Today, people are looking for quiet spaces with a little more privacy within the home.
As the way we live shifts, so too will the homes we build. And, while the quarter-acre block might be a thing of the past, the Australian ideal home will always be about one thing: comfort, practicality, and a space to call our own.
