I don't understand the premise, because I have always hated Single Page Apps.
- SPAs make sense for "applications". Google docs, Gmail, Trello, Slack, web-based music video creators, etc. Things that need high levels of interactivity. - SPAs don't make sense for "websites". Blogs, forums, search engines, news sites, etc.
Of course, many things exist somewhere on the continuum between "website" and "application", and then the tradeoffs get messier.
Gmail arguably doesn't need a high level of interactivity - that's why they also have the basic HTML version.