Luxury Hôm
Hotel-style suite with a seating vignette by tall windows
Unique Features

Rare Amenities

Car galleries, indoor pools, panic rooms and the amenities that appear in a handful of houses per market.

New rare amenities coverage is publishing shortly. In the meantime, here is the rest of Unique Features.

Black Steinway & Sons grand piano with its lid raised and a tufted leather bench, beside a floating black staircase in a bright white room
Unique Features·Estate Care

Winter Humidity in Luxury Homes: Protecting Wood Floors, Pianos, and Art

Once the heat comes on, indoor air dries out fast, and the wide-plank oak, the grand piano, and the antique sideboard all feel it. Here's the range to aim for, how to humidify a big house without fogging the windows, and what to check this week.

Grey outdoor mechanical unit on a gravel bed beside a white modern house, screened by young evergreen shrubs near the front door
Unique Features·Estate Care

Standby Generators for Luxury Homes: Backup Power Before Winter

Mid-October is the window to size, site, and service whole-home standby power before winter storms. Here's how luxury homes should think about load studies, hybrid backup, and carbon monoxide clearances.

Living room at dusk with linen shades partly lowered over tall windows, warm table and floor lamps, soft cove light along the ceiling, a cream sofa and a travertine coffee table on a wool rug
Unique Features·Smart Home Tech

Smart Home Features Luxury Home Buyers Expect in 2026

Buyers touring luxury homes no longer look for gadgets. They look for a house that runs quietly: reliable Wi-Fi, lighting scenes, motorized shades, easy entry, and sound, all working as one calm system.

Stone-and-shingle estate at dusk on the night of the first hard freeze, every window lit warm, frost on the lawn and clipped boxwood, bare autumn maples behind
Unique Features·Estate Care

Pre-Winter Systems Check for Luxury Homes

Before the first hard freeze, a luxury home needs a proper systems check: heating, filtration, moisture, leak detection and backup power, so it performs in winter as well as it looks in fall.

Symmetrical estate with a formal lawn and a reflecting drive
Unique Features·Security & Privacy

Security as a Luxury Home Amenity: Privacy, Cameras and Backup Power

Buyers now treat privacy and protection as part of how a luxury home works, starting with screening and a discreet arrival and running through cameras, access control and backup power.

Private wellness suite with a glass-fronted hemlock sauna beside a stone cold-plunge tub on a heated limestone floor
Unique Features·Wellness Spaces

The Private Wellness Retreat: Transforming an Underused Room Before Winter

A well-designed wellness room turns a good intention into a daily habit. Here's how to convert an underused room into a private retreat for movement, recovery and rest.

Panelled lounge with a low travertine table and curved sofa
Unique Features·Wine Cellars

9 Wine Cellar Design Ideas Only Found in Serious Homes

From glass-walled cabinets in the living room to underground tasting vaults, these are the cellar ideas our features editor is specifying this year.

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