86% of home buyers list a patio as essential or desirable, per NAHB’s 2024 What Home Buyers Really Want study. In Southeast Michigan, that preference has a seasonal edge. Outdoor time runs roughly from April through October, and a lot of that gets cut short by rain, bugs, or too much sun. A covered lanai with electronic roll-down screens addresses all three. At Terra in Novi and other communities, Cambridge Homes can add lanais to any home.
What Makes a Lanai Different From a Regular Patio
The roof is the thing. Most outdoor spaces ask you to work around the weather. A lanai does not, because it was built with shelter as part of the original plan rather than added later. The result is closer to a room than a patio, with fresh air in place of walls.
At Cambridge Homes, custom ranch homes at Terra are available with covered lanais featuring electronic roll-down screens, so homeowners have real control over when and how the space gets used.
The Case for Electronic Roll-Down Screens
Press a button, and the screens come down. Press it again, and they disappear. That range of control is what extends the lanai’s useful season past what a standard open patio can offer:
- Mosquito-free evenings. Michigan summer nights are genuinely pleasant. The insects are less so. Screens handle that.
- Weather flexibility. Spring showers in Michigan come fast. Drop the screens, and the afternoon keeps going.
- Privacy on demand. Neighboring yards stay visible from a distance, but screens soften the line without killing the light or the breeze.
- A longer outdoor season. Pair a screened lanai with an outdoor heater, and October stops feeling like the end of something. The space stays usable well past what a traditional open patio allows.
Designing a Lanai That Feels Like Home
Most covered patios that look out of place were designed last. By the time someone thought about the outdoor space, the rest of the house was already set, so the lanai ended up with mismatched materials and proportions that give it away as an afterthought.
Cambridge Homes builds from modern prairie-style architecture, drawing on the horizontal line work Frank Lloyd Wright established. Outdoor spaces get considered in that same pass, not later. A lanai planned alongside the main structure reads as part of it.
Flooring
For flooring, stone tile, wood-look porcelain, and stamped concrete are proven choices. They hold up in Michigan weather and look like they belong rather than like something picked from a big-box patio section.
Lighting
Lighting is easy to underplan. Recessed ceiling fixtures, wall sconces, and step lighting should go in during construction; retrofitting them later is harder and more expensive than most people expect.
Connection to the Kitchen
Kitchen adjacency is what makes a lanai work for a gathering. Terra’s custom ranch homes come with gourmet kitchens and Thermador appliances, and placing the lanai next to that space lets people move in and out without the party stopping. Buyers still working through layout priorities will find choosing the right floor plan for your family useful before locking anything in.
Comfortable Seating
Deep-seating outdoor furniture, an area rug, and ceiling fans are the details that make people stay out there rather than drift back inside. The space earns its square footage when it actually gets used.
The Terra Advantage: Nature as Your Backdrop
A lanai facing a parking area or a fence is a different product than one facing trees. That distinction matters more than most buyers account for before choosing a community.
300 acres of protected woodlands surround Terra in Novi, with 4.6 miles of trail access for walking, jogging, and biking. Maybury State Park is nearby, and the result is a level of quiet that most new developments cannot offer. Terra is one of Cambridge Homes’ private gated communities designed to put that kind of setting within reach for Novi homebuyers.
In spring, budding maples and wildflowers fill in the view from week to week. A covered lanai at Terra puts you right in the middle of that natural setting, without trading away any of the comforts of a well-built custom home.
See a Terra Lanai in Person
There is a real difference between reading about a lanai and walking through one. The scale, the screen operation, and the way the space connects to the kitchen are things that make more sense in person than on a page.
Contact Cambridge Homes to schedule a tour of Terra in Novi. Our team covers available floor plans, homesites, and the full custom home building process from the first meeting to the day you get the keys. Come see it.
Frequently Asked Questions
A lanai is a covered outdoor space with a permanent roof, attached to the home and designed as part of the original floor plan. It can be open-air or screened, depending on what the homeowner prefers.
A button or remote lowers or retracts the motorized panels. Closed, they block bugs and weather. Open, air, and light come through freely.
Yes. Cambridge Homes offers covered lanais with electronic roll-down screens in custom ranch homes at Terra.
Yes. The design process at Cambridge Homes pairs you directly with architects and interior designers to work through your floor plan, finishes, and features from scratch.
