The city's older neighborhoods were built for smaller households. Land Park's first residential area, the College Tract, began construction in 1927, and most of its houses went up in the 1930s; Curtis Park is known for Tudor Revival and Mediterranean homes from roughly 1920 to 1935. Bedrooms in homes of that era are rarely large, so a bed that folds into the wall gives back the floor for a desk or a reading chair. North Natomas, by contrast, is made up almost entirely of newer homes in master-planned communities, and new Elk Grove plans run to three to five bedrooms. Then there are backyard units: state laws such as SB 13, AB 68 and AB 881 eased the way for ADUs, and a small cottage that serves as guest quarters, office or studio is exactly where a fold-away bed earns its place.
- Queen with bookshelves: the bed flanked by shelving, so the wall looks like a library when the bed is up.
- Fold-down desk: a work surface on the face of the bed, so the office stays set up.
- Side-tilt beds: for narrow rooms where a vertical bed would not fit.
- Your own mattress: the bed takes a standard mattress, and sizes run from twin to king.