The convenience is built in

• A liquid soap dispenser built into the countertop, so it takes up less room and won't get knocked over.

• A ventilation fan that has some sort of an automatic shutoff. Now, people walk away and forget to turn off the fan, causing premature burnout.

• A hidden laundry hamper, placed inside a cabinet. Possibly a rollaway of some kind, or a frame for mounting a cloth bag.

• A deep medicine cabinet that contains a lazy susan and possibly has an electrical outlet in the back.

• A bathtub faucet on a hose, similar to the portable shower heads many bathrooms now have.

• An intercom connecting the bathroom to the front door and other areas of the house.

• A towel-warming device. Options might include a bolt-to-the-wall rack with its own on-off switch or ceiling heat lamps angled to strike hanging towels.

• Luxury touches for the bathroom, such as a breakfast bar, with microwave oven, coffee pot, and small refrigerator, or a mirror with a built-in TV screen, for watching or listening to the news in the morning while getting dressed.

Built-in conveniences are certainly nothing new. Thomas Jefferson had a dumbwaiter in Monticello more than 200 years ago. In more recent times, laundry chutes were incorporated into many homes.

Such features, however, largely disappeared from the average home after World War II, when production building replaced more customized construction.

However, when homeowners are presented with options that really enhance their lives, they get excited, Abrahamson says.

"The uniqueness of any given convenience built-in is definitely in the eyes of the beholder," she adds. "Very little is new to everyone, except, of course, brand-new technological innovations. What one person has seen in numerous houses is often a brand new 'gee-whiz' idea to another person."

One simple idea that appeals to Abrahamson is a curbside drop-off/pickup box, mounted above or below a mailbox, to hold packages.

"This is particularly useful if you have a dog that 'announces' visitors, a difficult-to-navigate driveway, or if you prefer to minimize doorbell interruptions," she explains.

By installing a weight sensor in the box that turns on a light in the house, occupants are alerted to the presence of packages.

She's also partial to drawers with nylon-mesh bottom in laundry room s, so knit clothes can dry flat, and a walk-in ironing closet with a board always ready for pressing clothes.

With people spending more time at home, Abrahamson expects a variety of built-in conveniences to grow in popularity. They can add resale value and livability, she notes, regardless of a home's price, size, decor, or style.

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