Porch.com (literally the porch), is a American website that connects homeowners with remodeling professionals. The site also features advice articles, buying guides with pricing, and online bookings for more than 160 home renovation, maintenance, and repair projects. Porch.com recently surveyed more than 600 Americans and Europeans about their idea of the ideal home, from location to size, materials to building components, all without investment constraints. What emerged was an exemplary portrait of the differences between Americans and Europeans starting from a fundamental observation: for Americans the house must be enormous while for Europeans "large" means a house decidedly less extensive than the American one….. While the the ideal house size for Europeans is almost 1.590 square meters, for Americans the ideal house is three times as large. How many rooms? Americans are demanding: houses with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms are ideal, while for Europeans 3 and 2 respectively.
First of all by the sea and not in the city
In common, on both sides of the ocean, a primary requirement is that the position of one's home is more important than its appearance or size. And another need common to more than half of Americans and Europeans is also common: preferably new.
For nearly 45% of Americans and 52% of Europeans, the choice was clear: waterfront, beachfront, or sea view anyway. Because facing the sea or facing the lake, the view of the water relaxes and fascinates everyone. And suburban and rural areas are much more popular than urban ones: living in the countryside attracts as many as 31 per cent of overseas inhabitants and 28,5 per cent of Europeans. According to Americans and Europeans, the ranch-style, i.e. rustic, is the best; generally a single-storey villa is preferred, with the garage on the same level and with a large porch, an essential condition especially for Americans.
Ranch style for Americans
Going into some detail, for Americans the most attractive houses look - from the descriptions - more like bungalows and farmhouses while Europeans opt for cottage-style and Mediterranean-style houses. The Mediterranean look, which comes from countries such as Greece and Spain, is interpreted in a bizarre way by Americans who see it as characterized by colored tiles and strong texturing…
As for roofing materials, more than 29 percent of Americans prefer variegated shingles, followed by tile, slate, and concrete. Composite shingles, also called "asphalt shingles," tend to be popular due to their low cost and ease of installation. While composition shingles typically don't last as long as some other roofing solutions, they come in a variety of colors that make them customizable. And it is precisely the personalization that the Americans really like.
The wood loved by all
Nearly 1 in 4 Europeans prefer a wooden roof instead, and while Americans choose a brick facade, Europeans opt for stone-clad walls. And the kitchen? What are your favorite materials? Americans and Europeans broadly agree that granite and marble countertops are the most coveted materials (over 70 percent of Americans, 48,6 percent for Europeans), tastes differ for floors. About 30 percent of Americans would choose tile in their kitchen, and nearly 16 percent prefer wood instead. Europeans are very fond of marble or stone floors with a percentage of almost 42 percent. And by the way they name a wide variety of materials. Even in terms of lighting, the two samples differ: for the former, the choice almost always falls on diffused lighting, while the Europeans increasingly choose accent lighting, under the wall units for example. As for the furnishings, in addition to the fact that the kitchen American is very large, everything tends to be larger than the European ones; nearly double fridges, double cookers and ovens, and the furniture itself has modules that are wider than standard European ones. Simply because - write the authors of the investigation - in Europe it is possible to shop frequently thanks to the presence of many nearby shops.
Swimming pool and sauna ideal for Europeans
As for the rest of the house, both the samples consulted agree on wooden flooring as an almost exclusive choice, but a substantial part of Americans are inclined to resort to carpeting, which is now tending to disappear in Europe. The “personalization” factor is always very strong. As for comfort, Americans are more interested in having centralized air conditioning (78,8 percent) while Europeans would like to be able to install solar panels and an anti-waste control for 64,2 percent (Americans: 60 percent), the swimming pool is loved by 58,2 per cent of Europeans against 47,5 per cent of Americans who have a very heartfelt need: 66,6 per cent must be able to count on a laundry room, which interests only 25 per cent of Europeans who, however, wish to have a local study-library in 54,3 percent (Americans are decidedly less interested). Both categories are interested in the fireplace in the living room, an undoubted and ever-present symbol of priceless comfort and domestic atmosphere.
From the blog Paula's house.
