Empty Nesters Pay More Per Square Foot. Here's What They Get for It.

Across Keel's base plans, a home with the primary suite on the main floor costs about $207 per square foot to build. A plan with the primary suite upstairs averages about $174. That $33 gap is the price of sleeping on the same floor as your kitchen, and for buyers past 55 building for the next 30 years rather than the next five, it belongs at the top of the budget, not the bottom.

Here is where the difference comes from, what it buys, and how Virginia can pay some of it back.

Why a main-floor primary suite costs more per square foot

Our base plans average about $190 per square foot to build, excluding land, and typically run $170 to $220. Where a plan falls in that range depends heavily on one decision: which floor the primary suite is on.

The reason is geometry. Put 2,400 square feet on two floors and the house sits on roughly 1,200 square feet of foundation under roughly 1,200 square feet of roof. Put the same 2,400 square feet on one floor and both roughly double. Those are two of the most expensive parts of any house: in the National Association of Home Builders' 2024 construction cost survey, framing including roofing (11.6%) and excavation, foundation, concrete, retaining walls and backfill (10.0%) were the two largest shares of construction cost.

A plan with the primary suite downstairs and guest rooms upstairs sits in between. The footprint grows by the size of the suite, not the size of the whole house.

Why buyers past 55 pay it anyway

Because they are not planning to move again. The National Association of Realtors' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers put the median repeat buyer at 62 years old, with a median expected stay of 15 years and 28% of buyers calling their purchase a "forever home." In NAR's 2026 Generational Trends report, younger Boomers expected to own their homes for 20 years.

They also want to stay put as they age. AARP's 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey found that 75% of adults 50 and older wish to remain in their current homes as they age.

Most existing homes are not built for that. Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies found that as of 2019, only 47% of adults aged 65 to 79 lived in homes with basic single-floor living and a no-step entry. And the need is growing here: the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center projects that by 2030, one in five Virginians will be over 65.

Building those features in from the start is the one chance to get them without opening up finished walls later.

What the extra dollars per square foot buy

A primary suite you never climb stairs to reach

This is the feature that moves the price, and the one everything else depends on. The Hatteras and the Camden put everything on one level. Both use a split-bedroom layout that keeps the primary suite on its own side of the house, away from guest rooms.

The Minorca, the Castlewood and the Bonaire keep a second floor for visiting family while the rooms you use every day stay downstairs. The Minorca's first-floor primary bath has dual sinks, a walk-in shower and a soaking tub, with laundry on the same floor. The Castlewood adds a second bedroom and full bath on the main level, useful for a guest, a caregiver or an office.

A zero-step entrance

A step at the front door is easy to overlook until it isn't. Virginia's Department of Housing and Community Development defines a zero-step entrance as one approached by an accessible route on a firm surface no steeper than 1:12. Whether your lot can deliver that at the front door, from the garage or at the back comes down to how the ground falls, which is one of the things we look at on a free lot walk.

Doors and halls wide enough for later

The standard to design to is doors with at least 32 inches of clear width and hallways of at least 36 inches, the same thresholds Virginia's tax credit uses. The 2010 ADA Standards set the same 32-inch clear opening. Wider doors are a small change on a plan and a hard one after the drywall is up.

A bathroom planned around the most common injury

According to the CDC, falls are the leading cause of injury for adults 65 and older, and one in four older adults report falling every year. The bathroom is the room to plan for it. Among adults 50+ who expect to need home modifications, AARP found 72% named grab bars. Worth raising in design: a low- or no-threshold shower, a built-in bench, and blocking inside the walls so grab bars can go up in minutes later instead of after a renovation.

Space for what you will actually do

Building for the next 30 years means planning for how you will spend them. One couple past 55 who built with us asked for a studio: one of them works in music and film and needed a room for both practice and editing. The design gave it windows and glass doors, so turning around from the desk means looking out at the trees. A workshop, a craft room or a quiet office earns its square footage the same way.

A porch you will use, and less house to keep up

The same couple started from the Sanibel because of its big front porch, then asked for it to wrap around the house with French doors opening onto it. When the budget tightened during design, they kept the porch and we rearranged rooms inside the house instead.

NAHB's 2025 buyer research suggests it is a common trade: it found Boomers looking to downsize to an average of 1,869 square feet, with 70% willing to accept a smaller home if it is higher quality. Fewer, better square feet is exactly what a higher per-square-foot price describes. The Hatteras has a covered porch across the full front of the house; the Camden has porches front and back.

Technology that keeps you independent

AARP found 64% of adults 50+ expect to need a medical alert system and 44% say they need smart security features to keep living safely and independently. The wiring for lighting, sensors, cameras and alert systems is simplest to run while the walls are open.

Virginia can pay some of it back

Virginia's Livable Home Tax Credit offers up to $6,500 for the purchase or construction of a new accessible residence. To qualify, a new home must include the three features of universal visitability, or at least three accessibility features that meet an existing standard. DHCD's three visitability features are:

• At least one zero-step entrance, approached by an accessible route on a firm surface no steeper than 1:12
• An accessible bathroom, which can be a half bath, on the same floor as that entrance
• Doors at least 32 inches wide and halls at least 36 inches wide leading to that bathroom and the eating area

Applications are due to DHCD by January 31 of the year after your home is completed. The state caps the program, so credits can be pro-rated in a heavy year, and unused credit can be carried forward for up to seven years. The details are in DHCD's program guidelines. Talk to your tax advisor, and tell us at the start of design so the features are drawn in rather than added.

Where to start

Six of our plans put the primary suite on the main floor, and each is a starting point we can adjust around the way you plan to live. Browse them on our home plans page, then use the cost calculator for a ballpark budget. If you already have land, a free lot walk tells you early whether a zero-step entrance is straightforward or will take some grading. And if you are planning space for a parent as well, our guide to designing a home with an in-law suite covers privacy and accessibility in more depth.

Sources

• Keel base plan pricing: Keel Custom Homes, average per-square-foot cost across base plans, September 2026
• NAHB, Cost of Constructing a Home–2024 (January 2025)
• NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (November 2025)
• NAR, 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends (April 2026)
• AARP, 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey (December 2024)
• Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Housing America's Older Adults 2023
• UVA Weldon Cooper Center, Virginia Population Projections 2030–2050 (September 2023)
• CDC, Older Adult Falls Data
• U.S. Access Board, 2010 ADA Standards, 404.2.3
• NAHB, Buyers' Interest in Smaller, More Personalized Homes (February 2025)
• Virginia DHCD, Livable Home Tax Credit Program Guidelines, Tax Year 2026