Rich Miamians Are Designing Entire Rooms for Online Shopping Packages

Tales of unusual rooms in wealthy homeowners' mansions are aplenty, with elaborate in-house bowling alleys, aromatherapy dens, movie theaters, and an occasional wine mine popping up in the homes of the richest of the rich.

In the online shopping age, a new testament to extravagance has surfaced.

Enter the "Amazon Room."

In late 2020, months after COVID-19 began to spread across the nation, a trend reportedly emerged of mega-rich Californians building entire spaces in their homes to store and sanitize online delivery packages. High-end homebuyers in Hollywood were said to be explicitly seeking the room out while shopping for a new property.

It was only a matter of time until the fad made its way to Miami, the mecca of all things extra. According to one local interior designer, as e-commerce remains popular post-pandemic, wealthy Miami homebuyers have increasingly sought to build the amenity in their homes. Though the rooms' sanitizing function may have fallen by the wayside, some residents apparently feel they need a dedicated spot to stack their never-ending stream of online purchases.

"Over the past few years, more and more people have requested this room," Stephanie Halfen, a Miami architect and interior designer, tells New Times. "I have created this room for dozens of clients."

Halfen is the founder of SDH Studio Architecture and Design, a high-end interior design firm based in North Miami Beach. In recent years, she says her clients have requested the rooms for the storage of not only Amazon packages but also boxes from online grocery or designer clothing purchases.

She believes the trend has become more popular as people turn steadily more to online shopping. According to Federal Reserve data, e-commerce as a percentage of total retail sales in the U.S. has climbed from roughly six percent in 2014 to more than 15 percent in 2023.

"I typically work with high-end clients, building and designing their luxury dream home," Halfen says. "They see these rooms as part of modern life."

Halfen describes the rooms as often being a bit larger than a closet or roughly the size of a storage room or coat room.

"You can walk into them," she says.

It goes without saying that having a room dedicated solely to piles of cardboard boxes is far from the norm — especially in Miami, which remains the least affordable housing market in the country.

Since 2019, rental prices have increased more in Miami than in nearly any other major metro area, according to Zillow. One recent study found that the average renter in Miami must make a six-figure salary to avoid being classified as rent-burdened (i.e., someone who spends more than 30% of their annual income on rent).