Glamorous Garages and Beautiful Barns: The New Must-Have Amenities
4 min
Luxury homes with decked-out family rooms, kitchens, primary bedrooms and bathrooms are standard today and practically a given. The latest mania, however, has owners glamming up their often overlooked garages and barns.
Called “toy barns,” “barndominiums” and “toy garages” in real estate circles and by the amenity-obsessed set, these functional spaces are being repurposed into gleaming showrooms filled with pricey outdoor gear—think ATVs, snowmobiles, electric bikes, boats and more.
Sitting areas, bars and diversions such as pool tables also figure in and turn barns and garages into entertainment venues that become a hub for owners to socialise with family and friends.
Take Jeff Collins, founder of Glennwood Custom Builders in Charlevoix, Michigan, for example. His lakefront home features a 2,500-square-foot barn with a lounging space, sleds, dirt bikes, a card table and a basketball hoop. The back doors open into a yard with a shooting range. “My friends come over a lot, and we hang the whole time in the barn,” Collins said. “We drink beers, play around with the equipment and shoot hoops. I can’t remember the last time we actually went into the house.”
Courtesy Whitetail Club
Barndominiums like his are the craze in his town, according to Collins.
“They’re what everyone wants,” he said. “I’m building two for homes in my neighborhood and have inquiries for more.”
An Amenity That’s Gaining Popularity
Real estate agents and brokers who focus on upscale homes also report an increasing interest in toy barns and say that a property that offers one can attract more buyers than a listing with typical amenities such as swimming pools and wine cellars.
Timothy Di Prizito, the CEO of The Di Prizito Group & DPG Estates at Christie’s International Real Estate/AKG in Los Angeles, for instance, said that showpiece barns and garages are becoming a more popular feature in luxury homes, particularly in new construction properties.
“Wealthy owners are investing in turning their homes into resorts. It started with building commercial-sized gyms and onsite spa facilities,” he said. “Today, it’s all about having onsite entertainment annexes and auto galleries. They give a property a distinct edge.”
Di Prizito is currently selling a property called Bella Vista in Montecito for $70 million that features an estimated 32-car collection garage. Originally designed as a helicopter hangar, the space has vaulted ceilings, epoxy flooring and a second level with two studio apartments.
Patrick Nesbitt, the CEO and chairman of the real estate development company Windsor Capital Group, owns the estate with his wife, Ursula, and said his family regularly uses the space. “We’ll have friends over for dinner there and loan it to charities to host events. We even had my son’s wedding party in the garage and transformed it into a beautiful reception ballroom,” he said.
Courtesy Aspen Valley Ranch
Nesbitt is selling Bella Vista, he said, because his children have moved out, and he wants to downsize.
Another home with a toy space is currently for sale in Honokaa, Hawaii, asking $7.4 million. Its 3,300-square-foot freestanding barn is solar-powered and is where owners Matthew and Susan Russell display their stash of luxury gear such as life-size model airplanes, ATVs and motorcycles.
“We had many happy memories in the barn spending time with our grandchildren and friends,” Matthew said. The couple is selling the home, he said, to settle full-time in Sedona.
A Perk Not Reserved For Houses
Eye-candy barns and garages are also becoming more common in upscale residential developments.
Martis Camp, set on 2,177 acres in Truckee, California, in North Lake Tahoe, has several homes with what Brian Hull, president and broker at Martis Camp Realty, refers to as “activity garages.” They typically house snowmobiles, ATVs, motorcycles, boats and ski equipment. “Our community has access to a 26-mile trail network through national forest land and the mountains, so owners amass a lot of gear,” Hull said.
More developments are highlighting their toy storage areas as an amenity for all residents to enjoy, in the same vein as a fitness center or clubhouse.
Tributary, a private club community in Teton Valley, Idaho, offers a recreation barn stocked with gear like paddleboards, fishing gear, rafts and snowshoes. And in McCall, Idaho, the still-in-construction Legacy Ranch, set within the existing Whitetail Club, hopes to entice potential buyers by giving them the option and the designs to build homes with toy barns.
“The lots at Whitetail Club are less than two acres, and owners don’t have space on their properties to store all their outdoor equipment, which they are asking for more and more,” said Whitetail Club’s head of development Dan Scott. “Several have told me that they want to upgrade to Legacy Club for the sole purpose of having a toy barn.”
Then there’s Aspen Valley Ranch in Aspen, Colorado, a development with homes starting at $15 million. According to vice president Simon Chen, the 5,000-square-foot two-story toy barn is the heart of the community’s action.
The equipment in the building changes seasonally. During warmer months, that means top-of-the-line dirt bikes, four-wheelers and a fleet of regular and e-mountain bikes. Come winter, the barn is stocked with six snowmobiles, four-wheelers with tracks to navigate through snow, snowshoes and sleds.
Courtesy Aspen Valley Ranch
Residents can also avail of the barn’s second floor, featuring a games area with ping-pong and pool tables and classic arcade games such as Pac-Man and Skee-Ball. The adjoining bar, lined with premium wine, and spirits such as Macallan 18-year scotch and Clase Azul Ultra tequila, retailing for close to $2,000 a bottle, is a big attraction for residents, Chen said. “Our owners are welcome to enjoy the alcohol for no charge,” he said. “Our development has a gorgeous swimming pool and spa and a massive gym, but the barn is where they most want to be.”
This article originally appeared on Mansion Global .
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Australia’s housing market was flat in May as falling values in Sydney and Melbourne offset continued growth in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.
3 min
Australia’s housing market has lost momentum, with Cotality’s latest Home Value Index revealing national dwelling values were flat in May as affordability constraints, higher borrowing costs and weakening buyer sentiment continue to weigh on demand.
The national result masks increasingly divergent conditions across the country.
Sydney and Melbourne led the decline, with dwelling values falling 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively over the month.
Sydney values are now 2.1 per cent below their November 2025 peak, while Melbourne values sit 3.2 per cent below their March 2022 high.
In contrast, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide continued to record growth, although even the stronger-performing markets are beginning to show signs of slowing.
Perth again led the capitals, recording monthly growth of 1.5 per cent and annual growth of 25.8 per cent. Brisbane values increased 0.9 per cent in May and are now 19.1 per cent higher than a year ago, while Adelaide recorded a 0.5 per cent monthly rise and annua growth of 12.3 per cent.
Cotality Research Director Tim Lawless said Australia’s housing market continues to operate at vastly different speeds depending on location.
“We are continuing to see multi-speed conditions across Australia’s housing sector, with Perth and Melbourne at opposite ends of the spectrum,” Lawless said.
“The past five years have seen these cities diverge sharply, with Perth values up a stunning 91.4 per cent while Melbourne home values are only 3.3 per cent higher since May 2021.”
Lawless said while the pace of value growth remains highly varied between cities, a common trend is emerging.
“While the speed of value change remains very different from city to city, the direction is becoming more consistent, with most markets losing momentum as demand-side headwinds intensify.”
The slowdown is becoming increasingly evident in transaction activity.
National home sales over the past three months were estimated to be 2.2 per cent lower than a year ago and 4.1 per cent below the five-year average.
Sydney and Melbourne recorded the sharpest declines in sales activity, down 17.0 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively compared to the same period last year.
Lawless said higher listing volumes are shifting negotiating power back towards buyers.
“These are also the cities where advertised supply has risen to above average levels, providing more choice and better leverage for buyers,” he said.
The softer conditions come despite ongoing supply constraints across much of the country. Construction costs remain elevated and feasibility challenges continue to limit new housing delivery, even as governments in NSW and Victoria continue to implement planning reforms designed to accelerate approvals and increase apartment supply.
For the new apartment sector, the data highlights an increasingly important divide between established housing markets and the off-the-plan market.
While detached housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne continue to soften, the supply of new apartments remains well below the levels required to meet population growth and federal housing targets.
This imbalance is likely to continue supporting demand for new apartment stock, particularly in major urban centres where affordability pressures are forcing more buyers towards higher-density housing options.
The latest rental figures also reinforce the underlying strength of housing demand.
National rents increased another 0.6 per cent in May, taking annual rental growth to 5.9 per cent. Vacancy rates remain at just 1.5 per cent nationally, matching the record lows experienced during the post-pandemic migration surge.
Lawless said renters are increasingly reaching affordability limits.
“With renters dedicating around a third of their pre-tax income to rental payments, it’s uncertain how much longer this upswing in rents can last,” he said.
The housing slowdown is unfolding against a backdrop of improving inflation data and growing confidence that interest rates will remain on hold when the Reserve Bank meets in June.
Australia’s monthly inflation indicator has continued to trend lower in recent months, reinforcing market expectations that the RBA is unlikely to lift the cash rate again in the near term.
Financial markets and economists have increasingly shifted their focus towards the timing of future rate cuts rather than the prospect of further tightening.
While the RBA remains cautious about services inflation and housing-related costs, recent inflation outcomes have largely eased concerns that another rate rise would be required.
That is providing some support to housing sentiment, although affordability and borrowing capacity remain significant constraints.
For now, Cotality’s data suggests the housing market is entering a more subdued phase rather than facing a sharp correction.
Affordability pressures, weaker confidence and slower sales activity are weighing on demand, while population growth, tight rental markets and constrained housing supply continue to provide a floor underneath values.
The result is a housing market that remains highly fragmented, with Sydney and Melbourne continuing to cool, while Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide remain in growth mode, albeit at a slower pace than seen over the past two years.
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