Desire for Space and Changing Lifestyles Are Transforming Bathrooms
Real estate brokers and designers used to agree that having a bathtub increased home sale value, but some homeowners are getting rid of their tubs for lavish, high-end showers.
Katherine Salyi, a broker at Sotheby’s, says “for a studio or one-bedroom, removing the tub is not going to have a great impact on sales value ... but for a two-bedroom or two-bathroom apartment, it would have a negative impact.” James Mansfield of West Village General Contracting disagrees, telling The New York Times, “The broker will say, ‘If you ever want to sell, you want to have a tub to wash children,’ and I think that’s absolute nonsense."
For New Yorkers, and millennials in particular, a tub-to-shower conversion is “the chance to make the bathroom appear more open,” said Michelle Landau, director of design and a principal of Tristate Sustainable, a general contractor in Manhattan. The lavish shower fixtures that some apartment owners are splurging on are ones they will actually use and enjoy.