Three Bedrooms, A Fireplace, Two or More Baths: 2011 Cost, $272,900

Jim Blandings as played by Cary Grant: “It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. The minute you start they put you on the all-American sucker list. You start out to build a home and wind up in the poorhouse. And if it can happen to me, what about the guys who aren’t making $15,000 a year? The ones who want a home of their own. It’s a conspiracy, I tell you — against every boy and girl who were ever in love.” — A quote from IMDb, the 1948 film version of the novel, *Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

Highlights of Annual 2011 Characteristics of New Housing by the Census Bureau

In 2011:. The single-family statistics include fully detached, semidetached (semiattached, side-by-side), row houses, and townhouses. In the case of attached units, each must be separated from the adjacent unit by a ground-to-roof wall in order to be classified as a single-family structure. Also, these units must not share heating/air-conditioning systems or utilities, such as water supply, power supply, or sewage disposal lines.

• The average single-family house completed was 2,480 square feet. In 2010, the average single-family house was 2,392 square feet.
• 33% of the new single-family homes sold in the US had vinyl siding as the principal type of exterior wall material. For attached single-family homes sold, it was 41% and for detached single-family homes sold, it was 32%.
• 88% of all single-family homes completed had air-conditioning. By region, the proportions were 81% in the Northeast, 91% in the Midwest, 99% in the South, and 62% in the West.
• 39% of single-family homes completed had 4 or more bedrooms. 48% of them had 3 bedrooms.
• Of the single-family homes completed with 4 or more bedrooms, 57% had 3 or more bathrooms.
• 19% of new single-family homes sold had a garage that could hold 3 or more cars.
• 30% of single-family homes completed had a full or partial basement, 53% had a slab or other type of foundation, and 17% had a crawl space.
• 54% of single-family homes completed had 2 or more stories.
• 48% of new single-family homes sold had 1 fireplace and 5% had 2 or more fireplaces.