According to an article featured by an organization I am a member of, the Institute of Luxury Home Marketing, panic rooms are becoming increasingly popular with affluent home buyers. That begs the question are we ready or in need of such a household amenity here in Canada?
There is no question that in many parts of the world, celebrities, politicians, senior executives and others are at risk from terrorists, or just run of the mill burglars and kidnappers looking to make a quick buck. We've all seen movies attesting to this and Jodi Foster in the movie Panic Room is probably the best example. Canada has always been regarded as a safe haven but how long will it be until we start to see our fair share of lunatics such as the gunman in Ottawa a couple of years back. We are also seeing a greater influx of offshore buyers for Canadian real estate. Many of these buyers are coming from parts of the world where crime is more prevalent so security may be more of priority with them when it comes to their place of residence.
Today panic rooms may be nothing more than something to brag about at cocktail parties but I am sure they will become more prevalent in larger Canadian cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver in the years ahead. Unfortunately the age of innocence as depicted in television shows such Leave It To Beaver (I am dating myself) is over. Even in the southern Georgina Bay regions we are seeing more and more homes with elaborate alarm systems and web based camera monitoring both inside and out.
Read the full article on panic rooms as featured in Architectural Digest magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment