home + garden

One model on the spring Parade of Homes boasts wide-plank, hand-scraped cherry flooring, a turret and 5,500 square feet of space. But its builder may try to sell you a plan for a home with oak floors and 10-foot ceilings that measures right around 3,000 square feet.

"Buyers don't have unlimited budgets like in the past," said David Bieker, president of Denali Homes in Deephaven. "We have to rethink what we're doing and give the same exciting upscale look but at a lower price point."

So while Denali Homes is showcasing a $1.9 million Minnetrista lake home on this year's parade, it's hoping to interest buyers in smaller, less showy homes that sell for less than half that.

Since the double whammy of a shaky economy and tighter financing hit the market, some Twin Cities builders have been adapting by retooling designs, downsizing floor plans and offering lower-cost materials inside and out.

"We're going back to basics and smarter design to keep costs in check," said Rich Riemersma, co-owner of Imperial Homes in Shoreview.

Builders also are paying close attention to what buyers really want.

Amenities such as expansive master bathrooms, formal dining rooms, Venetian plaster finishes on the walls and luxe lower levels are no longer must-haves.

But builders say not every up-grade is on the chopping block. Buyers, it seems, still are willing to dole out dollars for three-car garages, granite kitchen counters and mud rooms.

However, builders agree they're seeing a dramatic shift in what buyers are willing -- and able -- to pay for. And some say that's not all bad.

"It's no longer bigger is better and the latest and greatest," said Carole Griffith, director of sales and marketing for McDonald Construction in Apple Valley, which has six models on the Parade, only one with a formal dining room. "It's Sarah Susanka's 'not so big' house concept. More consumers are following her philosophy of quality not quantity."

Lynn Underwood • 612-673-7619