Key Trends to Incorporate in 2025 for Your Custom Mountain Home

From conceptualization to reality, building a custom home is undoubtedly a challenging endeavor involving significant work. It requires identifying a suitable homesite, completing paperwork, clearing the land, conducting a walkthrough with your architect, and developing detailed blueprints, among other tasks. You get the gist.

Our real estate broker, Dan Scott, noted in a recent Forbes article that “Turnkey products are highly sought after. Buyers don’t want to spend their time working with an architect, navigating the complexities of local government for project approval, and managing a builder until project completion. They want to step in and enjoy their new home, leaving the legwork to trusted professionals who can get it done quickly and correctly.”

However, it is all about perspective. While building a home from scratch can be daunting, it also presents unique advantages, such as creating a truly customizable space for your needs and preferences. With the arrival of Zillow’s 2025 Home Trends, get inspiration for what you can achieve when you build at Whitetail Club.

A spa-inspired wet room has become a home’s most desirable feature, appearing in Zillow listings an impressive 19% more frequently than before. And we totally get the appeal. With a rise in creating a more coveted space for your wellness and physical health, building a wet room inspired by a 5-star spa where you can pamper yourself without needing an appointment enhances your daily routine and overall well-being.

Visualize constructing an elevated wet room in your mountain home. An open layout fosters a free-flowing environment. Surrounded by breathtaking mountain vistas, sweeping meadows, or tranquil lake views, the untamed terrain of McCall is the base camp for you to integrate many natural materials into your design. Consider oak wooden cabinets paired with marble countertops and heated floors to keep you warm on those brisk winter days. Or the integration of a freestanding soaking tub made from regional stone, offering that earthy touch. And while you soak, enjoy rugged nature at its finest with a floor-to-ceiling window and a privacy film to enjoy the views without compromising your privacy. With these elements, your wet room can become your oasis.

While spa-inspired wet rooms are gaining popularity, electric features are experiencing even more significant growth, as highlighted by Zillow’s 2024 observations and 2025 predictions. With a staggering 62% increase in mentions of whole-home batteries and an 18% increase in solar panels, along with keywords like “sustainable” and “green,” it’s clear that today’s home buyers want to align their living spaces with greater efficiency.

Rather than searching endlessly to find a home with all the electrical features you desire, build it. Conversations with your home builder, contractor, and architect will help ensure you’re well-informed about the feasibility of these installations based on your home’s design and budget. Here are some of our top recommendations that you should consider:

• Whole-home Battery System – Store excess energy from solar panels for backup power, utilize cleaner energy, and save costs savings.
• Solar Panels – Harness the abundant sunlight in McCall (especially during the summers) to help lower your energy bills.
• Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger – Power up your Rivian for a weekend excursion through McCall’s famed backcountry.
• Induction Cooktop – Achieve the modern, streamlined kitchen look while enjoying fast heating, rapid cooling, and efficiency comparable to traditional cooktops.

While planning for your induction cooktop, make sure you add two of those to your cart. One for your primary kitchen and one for your secondary kitchen. Incorporating a second or back kitchen is rising, appearing in 8% more listings than a year ago. Instead of demolishing a pre-built home to add this space, why not incorporate it into your blueprint? With homesites ranging from 5 to 21 acres at Legacy Ranch, there’s more than enough space to build the second kitchen you’re seeking.

If you enjoy hosting gatherings, this is an ideal feature to discuss with your architect. Whether for Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, or any other special event, adding a back kitchen allows you to host in the central kitchen or great room. At the same time, all the preparations and food serving occurs behind the scenes. Because, unlike a mullet, we’re partying in the front while the business is happening in the back. Besides, this way, all of grandma’s cherished recipes are kept safe, with no interruptions and tidy presentations. A back kitchen also provides organized additional storage for all kitchen appliances, ensuring your countertops remain clutter-free.

Trends aside, a home is more than a structural building with practical features. It should resonate within you. Discover if this feeling ignites when you book a Discovery Tour and browse our available homesites so you can start building your mountain home in our private club. Contact our Real Estate Team at 877.634.1725 or realestate@whitetailclub.com to book a personalized Discovery Tour tailored to your interests.