9 & 10 Foot Ceilings Becoming the New Standard

The New York Times reports that 9 and 10-foot ceilings are becoming the new standard. Developers and architects used to include the high ceilings to make their properties stand out from the crowd. Now the higher ceiling is expected.

In the 1990’s, J. S. Hovnanian & Sons, a home builder in the Philadelphia area, made nine-foot ceilings standard in its houses. The goal was to distinguish itself from the competition, said Garo Hovnanian, the company’s marketing manager. “And for a time it worked.”

But now, Mr. Hovnanian said, “everyone is doing nine-foot ceilings.” So last year the company began offering “sunken” kitchens and family rooms. Lowering the floors gives those rooms a height of 10 feet.

The story says that the most common ceiling height for single-story houses and the first floors of multistory houses moved from eight to nine feet sometime between 1995 and 2004.

Adding height is relatively affordable and costs less than adding breadth since it does not require more foundation or more roofing. The higher ceilings do increase cost since they require more materials and special features such as extra-tall doors and oversized windows to help take advantage of the extra height. Higher ceilings can also mean higher heating bills.

Chad Oppenheim, a Miami architect who is working on about 20 condominium projects, said he rarely designs a building with ceilings lower than 10 feet.

Part of the reason, he said, is that with rooms getting bigger and more open, low ceilings seem too confining. “You need the higher ceilings to maintain the right proportions,” Mr. Oppenheim said.