As their clients face challenging construction and housing costs, architects around the United States report rising demand for simple homes.
Demand for small custom houses with straightforward detailing, simpler exteriors and fewer materials shot up in 2024, according to a recent survey from the American Institute of Architects, the industry group that monitors business conditions for design firms. That desire for simplicity came with weakening demand for contemporary-style housing, with fewer survey respondents reporting requests for the aesthetic in 2024 than in 2023.
Another type of home clients aren't asking for: the modern farmhouse. The style — which rose to popularity in the 2010s before losing its shine in recent years — dipped into negative demand in 2024, according to the survey.
From the Homes.com blog: The 19 Most Popular Types of Homes and House Styles
But a demand for simplicity offers its own set of architectural possibilities, allowing designers to focus on the details of how materials turn corners and come together.
“I think you have to be really smart about detailing when you’re using fewer materials,” said Marc Manack, co-founding principal at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based architecture studio Silo. “There's less that you can hide, so you have to be creative in how you use one thing in many different ways.”
The aesthetic shift also serves a practical purpose, noted AIA’s Chief Economist Kermit Baker.
“The growing preference for simpler home exteriors offers more than just aesthetic appeal,” Baker told Homes.com over email. “With fewer materials and features like roof lines or eaves, these designs reduce fire risks and make homes easier to maintain — benefits that resonate with both older homeowners and those seeking affordable, manageable living spaces.”
Industry tightens belt
Evolving housing design trends come as U.S. architects face economic uncertainty and cautious clients — factors that prompted firms to tighten their belts in January.
Stable business conditions seemed within arm’s reach for U.S. design firms as 2024 came to a close, with residential architects seeing new project inquiries rise for the first time since 2022, but stubborn financial realities kept the wider industry’s billings on a decline.
Billings, or the invoices that architecture firms send clients, hovered around 50 points last October and November, according to the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index. Scores above 50 points mean improving environments for architecture firms, while scores below 50 represent a contraction in the industry.
Residential design firms in the U.S. Northeast, Midwest and South also saw billings expand above 50 in the fourth quarter of 2024, although residential billings in the West plunged below 40.
By December, that stability was in the rearview mirror: billings plunged to 44.6 points and design contracts remained below 50, falling nearly 3 points to 45.6. The decline eased slightly in February — with billings hitting 45.6 and design contracts 46.2 — but still left firms in a tight spot.
“Architecture firms have been moving to right-size their operations in response to softer market conditions,” Baker said in an AIA statement. “There was a net loss of 1,400 positions at architecture firms nationally in 2024, and firm employment has declined by a total of 4,100 positions since the post-pandemic peak in June 2023.”