fantasy dream house

I think I would take just about anything done by Sarah Susanka (http://www.notsobighouse.com/) or most of the homes featured in Inspired House.

My wish list would be to have 4 bedrooms plus a space that is a comfortable guest area. I love my kitchen and would do something similar but with about 1.5 or 2 times the storage space. And I would want to get as close in to the city as I can while still having a nice yard for kids, garden, and the bees and chickens. Oh, and a small but bright and cheerful laundry area -- no more basement or garage laundry "rooms"!

Nellie, I have seen two subdivisions with the New Urbanism take, one in Richmond, VA called Oak Pak and the other here in Middleton called Middleton Hills.

They are basically mostly Arts and Crafts style, but the former veers towards country and Queen Anne, the latter towards Prarie. They have sidewalks and in the case of MH, incorporated new retail areas into the plan.

There are condos being built above retail spaces on Madison's East Side, too.

*sigh* I love Madison. Too bad it's so dang cold in the winter.

I really like the New Urbanism movement. My preference would still be for a home that is at least 50 or 60 years old but in the unlikely event that we bought a new home or had one built, it would be in that style. I think my dream would be to buy an older home and have Sarah Susanka remodel it.

[Amiens]

For the most part I am living in my dream home, well our house has serious potential to become our dream home. I started off just liking our home, but as I see the things that I can do to it, I am starting to fall in love with it.

Our house is 3700 sq ft on 1/3 acre lot. The exterior has a wrap-around porch. There are 5 bedrooms, 4 bonus rooms, 3 full baths, 1-half-bath, and 1-3/4 bath located in the garage, formal dining area, family room, and breakfast nook. Huge laundry room, and there is lots of closet space. 4 car garage with a 80 gallon water heater and drive thru bay. There is hardwood in the kitchen and entry way, and carpet through the rest of the house. Nice high ceilings throughout the house. Lots of sunlight, quiet neighborhood. The backyard has a sandbox, and horse shoe pits.

Here are the changes we want to make-

-rip up the carpet in the entry hallway, formal dining room, family room, and breakfast nook, and replace with hardwood. Hoping do to that next spring
-case the windows- put trim around them
- install granite countertops in the kitchen
- it would be nice, but we don't have to- replace the kitchen appliances with stainless steel
- finish the fence, only needs to be done on one side
- replace the plastic blinds with different ones
- put glass doors in the master shower
- paint
- plant a couple of trees in our backyard
- plant a small garden

The house we are in we got it for $327,000.

Crystal

The house we are in we got it for $327,000.

Go Boise!! Your house sounds wonderful. You'll have to post pictures (when you have time, of course) and those changes sound like good investments as well as being very enjoyable.

[mommax3]

Well, I spent WAY longer than I should have writing about my dream home, and wouldn't you know that my computer froze JUST when I got to the end, and I had to re-start.....I lost the whole description. I will try again.....

The house would be all brick, on a lot that is about 1 acre....no bigger than 1.25 acres. There is a covered front porch with a porch swing on one side of the door and two chairs with a small table in between them on the other side. The entry way is tiled and has a good sized coat closet immediately adjacent. The entry leads to a formal living room, with hardwood floors,which houses some nice furniture and a baby grand piano, (DH's dream) with built in wooden cabinetry to hold all of the music we have (my dream). There is also a powder room off of this room on the right. There is a two-sided gas log fireplace, too, at the back of the room. Off of this room, to the left, is the kitchen, which has tiled floors, double wall ovens, a gas cooktop, a side-by-side fridge w/freezer on the bottom, and a dishwasher with two separate compartments. There will be a small flat screen tv somewhere in the kitchen. The countertops are custom built for tall people. There are also two sinks....one in an island that is set diagonally towards the back of the kitchen. The island also has bi-level countertops with a breakfast bar on one side and lots of built-in storage, and overlooks the great room, which runs along the back of the house and contains the other side of the two sided fireplace from the formal living room. The kitchen contains a windowed breakfast nook with a built in table and bench seating with storage underneath the benches. Off of the kitchen is a combination laundry/mud room, with one long wall lined with a countertop for folding clothes and cabinets below, along with an area to hang clothes. There is a deep sink, and built in areas for each family member to keep their "stuff"....backpacks, coats, boots, etc. One wall will have a giant bulletin board to keep track of schedules, calendars, notes from school, etc. The side load three car garage (with storage bay) will open into this room. The great room runs the width of the house, across the back. It has hardwood floors. The island in the kitchen overlooks this room, and close to the island will be a large pedestal table that will expand (or not) according to our needs. Beside that will be a seating group arranged towards the fireplace (and the front of the house). There will also be another seating arrangement for watching tv, probably a flat screen that can be hidden away when not in use. There will be a screened in porch with an overhead fan off the back of the house on the same side as the kitchen, which will lead to a trellis covered deck that runs the width of the house and has another swing, and a hot tub under a gazebo. The backyard is fenced and landscaped with low maintenance plants that will provide year round color as much as possible, with trees across the back perimeter. (Roots in our sewer line at our old house has tempered my enthusiasm for big trees surrounding the house!) Finishing out the main floor of the house, off of the entryway to the right, there is a short carpeted hallway that leads to a guest suite with its own bath, which may be handicapped accessible. Turning towards the back of the house is the master suite, which is big enough for a king size bed, two dressers, an armoire for the tv & sound system, and a seating area that looks towards the outside. The master bath has a wide double vanity, two walk in closets, a garden jacuzzi tub with room for two, and a completely tiled in shower with multiple jets for both water and steam, and a seat. The toilet will have its own compartment. The master suite will also have access to the back deck, and the gazebo/hot tub will be closest to the master suite.

The upstairs will have three bedrooms, each with small walk-in closets. Two bedrooms will share a bathroom (jack and jill type) and the third bedroom will have its own bath. There will also be a small common area upstairs with LOTS of built in bookshelves and areas to study. The entire upstairs is carpeted, except for the bathrooms which are tiled.

The basement will have an exercise room with a ceiling mounted tv, an office, a full bath, and a big room with a home theatre type area, along with a mini-kitchen/bar. This area will be for the kids and their friends, and all video game paraphenelia. Ideally, this will be a walk out basement, too. The stairway leading down to the basement will be wider than standard, and well-lit, so it doesn't make you feel like you are climbing down into a cave. (Saw this in a house we looked at and LOVED it!)

This house would probably run about 4500 sq. ft, but I would ideally like it to be about 4000. There would be wireless internet access available from anywhere in the house, all the computers would be networked, and we would have the capability to play music throughout the main floor of the house.

Of course, it goes without saying that I would have a cleaning service and a lawn/landscaping service!!!! The house we currently have is 3100 sq. ft. and we are on a .70 acre lot. We envision a major remodel in the future, because we are at the back of a cul-de-sac in one of the smallest houses in the neighborhood.....and we have a GREAT interest rate on our mortgage that I don't want to lose! So, my dream is based on the house we already have. I also love Sarah Susanka, but really don't see us going that route. Our six year old house cost just under 300K, and many houses in the neighborhood are closer to 450K, so we could do quite a bit of improvement and not price ourselves out of this neighborhood.

Well, I think I am going to succeed in posting this! It is fun to dream, especially on a gloomy afternoon with tornado warnings galore, like today!

Sally

Sally,
I used to babysit for a tall family that was lucky to buy a house from a tall family that remodeled the kitchen with that in mind. I got used to the countertops being that high and actually prefer it. I wish I had done our cabinets/counters an inch or two higher.

You should really think about this some more to flesh out your ideas.


I would add to my dreamhouse -- brick floors with radiant heat.

[mommax3]

You should really think about this some more to flesh out your ideas.

I guess that's what happens when you have to type it twice!
I have done a lot of thinking about it in the context of thinking about how to make this house my dream home by remodeling, because I never want to move again!!!!!

Sally

[spotty_dog]

My husband read my dream house description and pointed out that I forgot the hot tub, the small greenhouse, the vineyard and the manageable number of wool-bearing sheep. Ye gods, I love this man.

(This dream house and the lifestyle to go with it are something we've been building together for a while now. )

[DCJenn]

You all will note that my dream home did NOT fall anywhere close to the realm of the stated price range... My current 1800sq 2br, 1ba home falls in the stated price range.

Sally- I'll come stay at your house, OK?

Jenn

PS- when you all come to visit me, I'll put everyone up in some chi-chi hotel. This is a dream, right? I'll be on a first name basis with the hotel people and everyone will be hooked up.

[Meenah]

I think I am in my dream house, just don't have the $$$ to update it. I would fence in the yard, refinish all of the wood floors and install all new appliances.
Luanne

[SuzySunshine]

Wow, we too are YEARS away from this so I don't have all that much detail but we've been cutting kitchens and pictures out of magazines for years!

Our house will CENTER around our kitchen area. We both love to cook and entertain so it must have a huge kitchen with a dining area, as well as a seperate formal dining area.

At least 5 bedrooms plus an in-law unit, either attached or a small cottage. At least 3 full bathrooms and a few 1/2 baths throughout the house.

My DH's dream theatre would have to be included, all the latest and greatest in technology so we would never have to go to a movie again. Complete with the popcorn machine.

A wine cellar or extensive wine cabinet and the collection to go with it.

A LARGE yard with a partially screened in deck and partially open deck. Maintenance free landscaping, of course we could probably pay someone else to do it.

Laundry room on the same floor as all the used bedrooms, probably up.

I could go on an on but that's a start!

[PrincessFiona]

My dream house is the one that we own now.....a home that my husband and I chose together and dreamed of living in...one that we made happen together as a couple. It's not a 'perfect' house...and probably doesn't seem too stunning from the street.....but we found it, we really loved it...and we were able to have some changes made to it to fit our needs...like the addition of a small wall with french doors, a fence, a dock, a deck with a play area underneath it, etc.......

But at the end of the day, bells and whistles aside....(I mean...the only bell/whistle that would really turn me on would be if the house were self-cleaning!) it's something that we embarked on together.

kris

[Flynn]

Touche' Kris!!!

Well said.

[Meenah]

Me too, me too.
Luanne