I think that in order to be young, hip and trendy, there cannot be any conscience effort to be so. I think that one just is or isn't. Pity for those that aren't or weren't or those that so want to be, but can never achieve that kind of "je ne sais quoi". So it should be no surprise that I, personally, was not a member of this group. . .more of the gatherer of the "cool".
If house buying needs to be "cool" then I suppose "Cool-man" should lead the charge. So in order to put the cool and hip back into home building I scoured the upwardly mobile, younger Gen X-ers and Gen Y-ers for a collection of souls willing to let us pick their brains. All professionals. All in their mid 20s to mid 30s. Two married couples, one dating couple, one engaged couple. Who needs couples therapy when all you need are a few style magazines to see how in sync you are with your partner? I digress.In a caffeine induced frenzy of glossy magazines, scissors and glue sticks four couples let us delve into their dreams, style, & tastes. What we found was chic baths, clean
lines, hardwired, and open interiors fit for entertaining & contrasting visual elements. Green/energy efficient living was an assumption, a 
way of life. This lot had grown up green (hadn't everyone?) The needs were fairly straightforward: a 
house to grow into, without much maintenance, with a home office area, that is multifunctional, and functional
Interestingly enough while the interiors were modern, the exteriors were primarily traditional. . .and to our delight. . craftsman, which Coolman has been known to build ("toot, toot") pretty well.
So now we knew what they were looking for. Now the design team and the production team had to figure out how to package that into a product that met their needs and addressed the wants of this hip and trendy and ultra stylish "yuppies" (what is the new slang for that anyway?) at a price that they could afford.
Next time. . .the design, re design, tinkering, and tweaking of a floor plan. . .
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