Are secure rooms the new must-have feature of the modern home?

Once reserved for Hollywood films, safes are becoming an increasingly popular real estate feature, both here and abroad.

According to BorderedVaults or panic rooms are proliferating in New York as the city’s wealthiest residents clamor for protection against rising crime.

According to safe security expert Bill Rigdon, a consultant on the 2002 thriller film Panic Room, starring Jodie Foster, New Yorkers are looking for everything from lockable closets with electrified door handles to capable fortified pantries. to resist nuclear fallout.

“I’ve never been busier,” he says.

It’s not just the United States where safes are on the rise.

The pinnacle of security is also seeping into Australian homes, especially newer builds.

This Saturday, May 11, the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home at 1668 Riverdale Drive in Hope Island will go up for auction, complete with a hidden safe.

Amir Prestige sales agent Marc Keswell said the safe, which measures 5.9m long by 2.4m wide, is behind a concealed door in the master suite.

“It’s in the bathrobe and you wouldn’t know the safe is in there,” he said.

“You have to press a button inside one of the robe doors, and then go through those doors to an actual security door, with a code on it, which you have to open to get into the secure room.

“It’s not an easy and accessible piece. Nobody knows it’s there.

Mr Keswell said the vault had access to 24-hour security at the Hope Island resort and also had its own generator system to power the lights, air conditioning and intercom, if necessary.

“It’s designed to last seven days,” he said.

Mr Keswell said safes were becoming increasingly popular in the premium end of the market.

“I think it’s a bit of a trend right now for some high-end homes,” he said.

“People have valuables they want to keep on the property, rather than in a safe or something off site, but they can also accommodate the whole family there if something goes wrong.”

But it’s not just high-end homes in Queensland’s wealthier suburbs that are springing up.

At the time of publication, 17 properties on realestate.com.au had the keyword “safe” mentioned in the listing description.

One of them is 54 Saltram Circuit, Eglinton, Bathurst.

Raine & Horne Bathurst director Grant Maskill-Dowton said the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home was one of the first new builds he had seen with a bespoke safe.

He explained that the room, which the sellers originally built to safely display their weapons, had reinforced walls, ceiling and door.

The safe, which is located on the lower level of the house next to the game room, is not hidden, but simply looks like a door to another area of ​​the house.

Mr Maskill-Dowton said it was more than enough to accommodate a family if needed.

He said buyers viewing the property weren’t doing so specifically for the safe, but he said they were impressed with the feature when they saw it.

“At first the reaction is, ‘Wow, that’s intense,’ but by saying that, people see merit in it,” he said.

“There are a lot of costs involved in building something like this… but I think it’s something that people understand and is probably going to become more and more common as the world evolves the way it does .”

Tradie market hipages said safe rooms should be built with a single access point and have fortified walls, ceiling, floor and door.

He recommends monitors connected to cameras inside the safe so you can monitor what’s happening outside.

“It is ideal to use a biometric lock at the entrance to the safe to make entry much more difficult for invaders,” he says.

“Your safe room should be lit, and it should also be equipped with a cell or landline phone, water, first aid kits and food, so that you can comfortably wait for the time when it is safe to leave .”