Residential elevators have been around since the late 1800s. The novelist Edith Wharton had an elevator in her Massachusetts home that could whisk guests and their luggage up to the third floor. Many of the great, lavish mansions of New York and Chicago had home elevators as well — some that could take guests directly to ballrooms on the upper floors.

Today, residential elevators are growing in popularity for more practical reasons of convenience, mobility and style. They are particularly useful in providing a safer option than the stairs, especially for elderly residents or those with mobility issues. Statistics from the National Safety Council show that falls account for one-third of nonfatal injuries in the United States. Fortunately, it’s easy to avoid becoming one of those statistics by installing a safe and convenient home elevator.

Why should you add a home elevator to your home? Whether it’s to promote safety, help you get around more efficiently or to give your home a dash of elegance and style, a residential elevator is a valuable asset. Some of the top benefits of a home elevator are:

1. A HOME ELEVATOR CAN HELP YOU AGE IN PLACE

Why do we need home elevators? As you grow older, a residential elevator can help you remain in your home by providing:

• Convenience: One of the primary reasons to add a home elevator is for extra convenience. As you get older, you may find you have less enthusiasm for climbing stairs, especially while carrying heavy boxes, groceries, laundry or luggage. The convenience of a home elevator makes routine domestic activity much easier and more pleasant. Since a home elevator has a sleek, unobtrusive design, it won’t take up too much space in your home.

• Comfort: Even if you don’t mind the stairs, the activity of climbing and descending puts strain on your muscles, ligaments and cardiovascular system, especially after repeated trips. But, riding an elegantly designed home elevator is another story entirely. Being able to stand and glide effortlessly upward or downward is a comfortable, relaxing experience. You may even find that you make extra trips to the upper and lower floors, just to get to ride in your beautiful elevator again.

• Independence: Another reason to add a residential elevator is to maintain your independence. If you have medical issues that limit your mobility, you may find your independence decreasing over time. Even a single trip or fall can lead to injuries that make the upper floor of your home inaccessible to you, either temporarily or permanently. A home elevator helps restore that independence so you can feel like yourself again, able to go wherever you wish in your own home. With a home elevator, you can glide up and down the levels of your home freely.

• Keeping your own schedule: This benefit goes hand-in-hand with regained independence. If you need help to navigate the stairs, you’re often at the mercy of someone else’s schedule. If you want to go downstairs to make coffee, but your husband is in the shower, you either have to wait until he’s finished or risk a fall and injury. With a home elevator, you can move around your home whenever you want, without having to depend on anyone else’s timetable.

2. ADDED CONVENIENCE AND LUXURY

There are several reasons to add a residential elevator. One is to increase your home’s convenience factor and luxury. Along with that, you can expect:

QUALITY

With home elevator construction, you get what you pay for. With Residential Elevators, you get quality craftsmanship and sturdy, reliable materials that will last and work safely for years. Because the safety and well-being of you and your guests are at stake, you want an elevator constructed of solid, quality materials that will function sturdily and effectively for years.

STYLE

With a home elevator from Residential Elevators, you’ll get a stunning, full-sized elevator made from materials like aluminum, stainless steel and cut glass, adding beauty to your architecture and decor. Our “fish tank” elevator, for example, is an exquisitely crafted piece that would enhance the look of any home. If you have a beachfront property or a home in the mountains, the custom craftsmanship of a glass-walled elevator can help you enjoy the beautiful view and natural light. Our customizable options include several elegant designs and a suite of attractive features, such as glass observation panels, decorative mirrors, scissor or accordion gates, LED light fixtures, accenting handrails and a variety of appealing woods and rich stains.

SAVING SPACE

Stairwells take up an enormous amount of real estate in a home because people can’t travel straight up and down — at least not without ropes and carabiners. But, because they can move entirely vertically, home elevators are sleek and slender. Their compact shape — usually with a footprint of about 15 square feet, or the size of a closet — helps you keep open space in your home.

ENJOYMENT

Riding in a home elevator is fun, and you may start looking forward to it. The smooth, gliding motion and a fun decor can make a merry adventure of something as mundane as going up or down between floors. Custom home elevators come in a variety of designs, so there’s sure to be a style you’ll enjoy riding in for many years to come.

ENTERTAINING

If you like to throw fun, elaborate house parties, a home elevator can be an enormous asset. A home elevator makes it so caterers can easily move from one floor to the next without having to carry heavy trays or carts up and down the stairs. And, if your guests enjoy themselves a little too much, a home elevator can help everyone travel between different floors comfortably and safely.

CARING FOR GRANDCHILDREN

If you are a caretaker for young grandchildren, or even if you occasionally babysit, a home elevator can be a huge help. Many little ones find navigating stairs to be daunting. Even tiny kids can be surprisingly heavy, so if you try to carry them up or downstairs, you could injure yourself by lifting too much weight. You might also increase your risk of slipping and falling, which could injure you both. With a home elevator, helping kids move between upper and lower floors is a breeze. And, the little ones will love the thrill of riding in the elevator.

CARING FOR AGING PARENTS

Likewise, if you have elderly parents living with you, you may find that stairs are hard for them to navigate. Nowadays, more and more senior adults are moving in with their adult children. According to some research, 14% of adults living in someone else’s household are a parent of the household’s head — a much larger percentage than a generation ago. If your elderly parents live with you, you can make their lives — and yours — much simpler and easier by installing a home elevator. With a home elevator, you’ll have peace of mind, knowing your parents can navigate your home comfortably and safely without the risk of slips or falls on the stairs.

HELPING AN AGING PET

Of course, it’s not just humans who grow older and become less adept at navigating steep stairs. If you have older dogs who need to go out often but can’t manage the stairs as well as they once could, a home elevator can be helpful. Associating the elevator with praise and tasty treats is a great way to help your senior dogs get accustomed to the new ride if they have any fears about it.

3. DISABILITY AND MOBILITY REASONS

If you or a member of your household has mobility limitations because of illness, injury or disability, a residential elevator can help make life easier in several ways:

• Accessibility: One of the most significant benefits of a residential elevator is the renewed access it provides. If mobility limitations constrain your movement around your home, a residential elevator is an incredibly freeing tool. If you fall or otherwise have your mobility limited — maybe you twist an ankle ice skating or sprain your knee while skiing — you may find yourself confined to the ground floor because walking up the stairs has become too difficult. A home elevator can give you the freedom to roam about your entire abode once more.

• Functionality: Even if you can navigate the stairs, they may become difficult while carrying heavy boxes, bags of groceries, sports gear or a mountain of laundry. What once were easy, manageable household tasks, may now become tiresome chores. A home elevator helps restore some of that old functionality, helping you carry belongings and perform household chores with ease. Our residential elevators can carry up to 950 pounds, so you can load it up with gear, and it will still take you up and down your home safely and efficiently.

• Security: It’s also possible that you’re able to navigate the stairs but are afraid of falling and injuring yourself. Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injury in all age groups, and they are the leading cause of preventable, injury-related death among Americans aged 65 and up. Even minor mobility issues can lead to unsteadiness while walking or climbing stairs, especially when pets are underfoot or children’s toys are lying around. A home elevator helps eliminate these concerns. In the cozy security of the elevator chamber, you can stand and let the ride take you safely where you need to go. All our residential elevators feature a smooth, quiet lifting action, so you can ride securely without worry about jolting or shaking.

4. ADDING VALUE TO YOUR HOME

Does an elevator add value to your home? Absolutely. Home elevators can increase your home’s worth and asking price in a couple of different ways:

• Accessibility value: If you’re in the market for a home elevator for health or mobility reasons, you’re not alone. Many people in similar situations may be wishing they had the convenience and luxury of a home elevator as well. If you decide to sell your home, many buyers will view a home elevator as a valuable asset. Potential homebuyers would likely be willing to pay significantly more for this feature.

• Retirement value: Even if homebuyers do not need an elevator right now, they may be glad to have one in case they need accessibility features in the future. The population of Baby Boomers in the United States is large and aging — currently hovering at about 70 million people, the youngest of whom are over 50, and the oldest of whom are almost 75. Many of those people are potentially looking for stately homes to retire in, and a home elevator might be the thing that impels them to buy. It might even attract more buyers to your home than initially would have been interested.

• Design value: Homebuyers may love the convenience and elegance of a quality home elevator, even if they don’t need one for mobility reasons. A quality home elevator that’s well integrated into your home’s architecture and design is an attractive, functional feature, like a well-crafted deck or luxurious pool. It’s one many buyers would happily pay extra for.

Installing a home elevator doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. If you want to add some value to your home, but are wary of disrupting your space or schedule, a home elevator is the perfect solution. Unlike a kitchen or bathroom remodel, where you must rip out enormous swaths of your living space, often for weeks on end, home elevators are easy and pain-free to install. They can be added unobtrusively to existing walls and take up minimal space, so most of your home would remain free and open as usual.

Residential elevators are also versatile. Their custom design allows them to work in a variety of homes. Do you have a sprawling, stately home where an elevator would help you navigate the space? A residential elevator is an excellent solution. Or, do you have a cozy townhome but want a sleek, easy way to get between the two floors? A home elevator can help there as well.

It doesn’t matter when your elevator is installed — it adds value to your home no matter what. In our internal surveys, we’ve asked people with home elevators whether they believed the elevator was a good investment. At least 92% said yes, whether they had had the elevator built into the original house or installed it years after the completion of the house.

GET YOUR CUSTOM HOME ELEVATOR FROM RESIDENTIAL ELEVATORS

At Residential Elevators, we offer a full array of services — we manufacture, ship, install and service all our elevators. We also use state-of-the-art technology and higher-quality materials than many of our competitors.

We have been family-owned and operated for three decades. With us, there are no middlemen or subcontractors who may add extra fees. Everyone who touches one of our elevators is an employee of Residential Elevators, and this personalized touch means we are conscientious and precise with every elevator we create. Our products are beautiful, functional and reliable. They can provide convenience and security, along with enhancing the look and value of your home over its entire lifespan.

Don’t give up on your dream home because it’s too difficult to get around. Check out our online gallery, or play around with our online design tool to get a feel for the types of elevators you like best. Then, contact us online, or call 800.832.2004 to learn more about installing a custom residential elevator.