Builders use pocket and sliding doors to expand spaces

Builders across Las Vegas are extending indoor living spaces outdoors by including sliding or pocket doors, patios and courtyards.

Tracey Lee, Touchstone Living’s vice president of design, said homeowners are using these features to extend their living spaces. They’re attracted to areas that offer the intimacy and semiprivate space of either a front yard loggia, porch with a courtyard and rear patio.

“The evolution of it is the family getting together and being able to go from one room to the other and enjoy the outdoors while still being a part of the structure of the house,” she said.

Guy Melton, Woodside Homes director of sales and marketing, said these areas represent alternative living areas during the hot summer months. He said Woodside Homes offers an entrance into the courtyard off the den or main great room and an open patio covered area in the front and back to carry breezes throughout the whole home.

“People don’t need as large of a backyard because they’re still getting those same uses with indoor/outdoor living,” he said. “Outdoor living areas will continue to be extensions of the home.”

Lee said Touchstone Living incorporates courtyards and patios into all of its homes and lets homeowners have an entire wall vanish with sliding glass doors to bring the outdoors in.

“It’s what people seem to want and we find it important to incorporate indoor and outdoor living so the homes provide much more living areas to enjoy,” Lee said. “Every home we’ve sold had an element of that.”

Mutisliding doors, outdoor living room furniture and opening the indoor space is taking off as a trend, Lee said.

“One of our more popular designs includes corner multisliding doors, that essentially break down the more defined setting of say a dining room and brings the outdoors in,” she said. “These spaces essentially provide for an additional living room or dining area that can be enjoyed easily from interior living areas. With the abundance of good weather here we find a lot of our homebuyers are looking for different options we offer that compliment their needs to enjoy that nice weather with family and friends.”

John Tuvell, sales agent at Blue Heron Homes, said his company aims to create a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living spaces.

“We do a number of pocket doors and it’s something we’re proud to present in a climate like Las Vegas,” he said. “What better place to have living spaces that flow indoors and outdoors?”

“It used to be a hard line and we’ve tried to erase that line as much as we can,” he said. “We love it when someone moves from indoors to outdoors and still feel like they’re still in the home.”

Pardee Southern Nevada Division President Klif Andrews said pocket doors are among the company’s most popular features.

“It’s something buyers like and the Las Vegas climate allows for open doors for many months of the year,” he said. “It also enhances outdoor entertainment and outdoor kitchens while allowing those spaces to flow.”

William Lyons Director of Marketing Kim Chitwood said indoor/outdoor living is important to all ages.

“All generations are now spending so much time at home so we’ve tried to incorporate that feeling of living outside in all of our homes,” she said.

Chitwood said William Lyons offers 12- to 20-foot pocket doors.

“The whole back wall opens to a covered veranda and on those verandas we offer fireplaces, heaters and ceiling fans so it feels like and indoor/outdoor experience,” she said. “We’re going to continue to include it in every price range we have because we think it’s equally important in all of our communities.”

Contact reporter Ann Friedman at afriedman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Follow @AnnFriedmanRJ on Twitter.