Responsive Homes: Beautiful Design Meets Sustainable Living

January 25, 2016 by Arianne Bellizaire

Bobby Berk is fun, hip and cool, but don’t let his East Coast/West Coast swagger fool you. The guy is at the top of his game!

Bobby has been dubbed as a Celebrity designer and over the past nine years he has built an impressive lifestyle brand and retail line.

Because Bobby is a “millennial” who is known for his unique approach to modern design with his signature minimalist-meets-urban-sophistic aesthetic, he was tapped to lead the creative efforts for the the 2016 Responsive Homes.

I am so happy that I was able to tour the homes in person during my Modenus BlogTourKBIS trip to Las Vegas!

What is a Millenial?

The U.S. Census Bureau defines “Millennials” as those between the ages of 25- to 34-year-old age, and you might be surprised the know that this segment of the population represents the biggest share of new-home buyers in the U.S.!

However, increased anxiety about the high unemployment rate, staggering student loan debt, and higher credit card debt are some of the challenges that make this demographic shy to enter the buyers market.

What is a responsive home?

Bobby Berk describes a responsive home as one that interacts with its owners. It’s a home that rises up and responds to whatever stage of life the homeowner is in.

For example, the homes offer additional flex space at the front of the home that converts the porch to a play room for kids, a home office or a fitness room, and the second floor loft can be converted to an extra bedroom.

These homes are also designed to work well as short- or long-term rentals which means a higher value proposition for young buyers.

Key features include:

• Adaptable floor plan options that give owners space for what they need now and flexibility for their future needs
• Smart technology that features enabled automation and energy performance
• Bold design finishes that provide a sophisticated look and feel for the young professional
• Powerful indoor-outdoor flow to maximize entertaining and living space
• Unique Design informed by key insights from the market

Click here to see a video tour:

Beautiful Design

The 2016 Responsive Homes are located in the picturesque Pardee Homes Bella Verdi neighborhood in the Inspirada master-planned community.

Both Responsive Home floor plans, the Contemporary Farmhouse and the Contemporary Transitional, blend livability with modern function.

What makes the design of these homes so cool is that they allow the homeowner to transition from indoor to outdoor living effortlessly with features like retractable doors that open the living room to the backyard, creating the ultimate home entertaining space!

The homes offer highly customized, evolution-over-time floor plans designed to transform as a homeowner’s needs change, and in a day and age where Uber and Airbnb have become staples for a growing millennial population, this home design option makes sense.

The Contemporary Farmhouse

The Contemporary Farmhouse is just over 2100 square feet and features three to four bedrooms with three and a half to four and a half bathrooms (depending on the options that the homeowner chooses), an optional 384-square-foot flat over the garage, AND a downstairs bedroom suite with a full bath, kitchenette, and an outside entrance—perfect for the college-aged sibling or live-in mother-in-law.

The Contemporary Transitional

The Contemporary Transitional is a bit larger at just over 3,000 square feet and offers four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms. It also has a smaller, more private living space behind the garage that includes a covered private patio, small kitchen, full bath and optional adjoining fitness room!

All professional photos courtesy of Pardee Homes and Builder Magazine

Sustainable Living

Even more important to millennials than beautiful design is the incorporation of sustainable living elements like solar panels, LED lighting, and low-to-no-electric power bill!

Each garage features an electric car charger, and the roofs have smart sensors that detect recent rain and communicate to the garden irrigation system to conserve water.

The Key Players

The success of the design and build of the two Responsive Homes relied heavily on the effective partnership between several industry leaders: Pardee Homes, BUILDER Magazine Bassenian Lagoni, AndersonBaron, Western Window Systems, Broan-Nutone, Carrier, Daltile, DuPont Building Innovations, Eldorado Stone, Gerber, GoTour™ Interactive Video Home Tours by Avid Ratings, International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), James Hardie, Kichler Lighting, Jeld-Wen, LiftMaster, Pavestone, Rinnai, Savant, Schlage, Schneider Electric/Square D, Sherwin-Williams, SolarCity, Timberlake Cabinetry, Uponor, Weyerhaeuser, Whirlpool and, of course,celebrity designer Bobby Berk.

My Photos from the Grand Opening event:

It can be really hard to get good pictures of a show house because people are always milling around, and it’s hard to get a clear shot.
Here are a few photos to give you a feel of the vibe of the event and some other angles of the homes that aren’t reflected in the professional photography.







Special thanks to Bobby and his crew for the wonderful hospitality at the event. Looking forward to seeing more from him and more examples of this design concept!