Metatalktail Hour: Dream Homes December 10, 2017 1:18 AM Subscribe
Filling in for Eyebrows, who has been busy with Best Post Contest tagging, I bring you a Metatalktail suggestion from mefite sharp pointy objects, who would love to see members' "links to a home listing of their dream home in their dream city (or area) and [explanation] why this is their dream home/area. I love looking at home listings and would love to see other people's opinions and get to know them better."
To expand this just a bit, descriptions would do as well as links, imaginary places are fun, too, and if you're living your dream, well, that would be absolutely lovely to hear about, as well!
Remember, no politics, but fun thoughts and ideas associated with the topic are fine. As LobsterMitten says, "It's a conversation starter, not a limiter."
To expand this just a bit, descriptions would do as well as links, imaginary places are fun, too, and if you're living your dream, well, that would be absolutely lovely to hear about, as well!
Remember, no politics, but fun thoughts and ideas associated with the topic are fine. As LobsterMitten says, "It's a conversation starter, not a limiter."
I wouldn't say it's a dream home, but I still remember this seriously cool desert house when it was posted here.
More broadly I have always fantasised about having a house with stairs - now my daughter is requesting the same! Stairs were unusual in my rural Australian childhood, but I think it also came from a steady diet of books like The Lives of Christopher Chant and Tom's Midnight Garden, where stairs were a gateway to worlds wondrous and strange. As a sometime sleepwalker, I even remember waking up when I was about 4 years old after walking into the corner of my room, where some stairs had magically appeared (in my sleep).
I have to share a very cute conversation with my daughter's that I just overhead:
Puff (age six, with a stethoscope on her sister's chest): "Why can I hear your heart going ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump?"
Wisp (age three, matter-of-factly): "Because I want to disco."
posted by smoke at 2:05 AM on December 10, 2017 [25 favorites]
More broadly I have always fantasised about having a house with stairs - now my daughter is requesting the same! Stairs were unusual in my rural Australian childhood, but I think it also came from a steady diet of books like The Lives of Christopher Chant and Tom's Midnight Garden, where stairs were a gateway to worlds wondrous and strange. As a sometime sleepwalker, I even remember waking up when I was about 4 years old after walking into the corner of my room, where some stairs had magically appeared (in my sleep).
I have to share a very cute conversation with my daughter's that I just overhead:
Puff (age six, with a stethoscope on her sister's chest): "Why can I hear your heart going ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump?"
Wisp (age three, matter-of-factly): "Because I want to disco."
posted by smoke at 2:05 AM on December 10, 2017 [25 favorites]
This one! It’s an early 1900s rambling maze of rooms described as “dressing room/bedroom 10” and “back kitchen” and “billiard room”. It would be a nightmare to maintain, it doesn’t have central heating and you can almost hear the woodworm in some of those pictures and it’s probably haunted or something, but that just makes it better!
My real house we moved into in the summer is probably also my dream house although it’s on an (ahem) smaller scale, because I finally own it and don’t have to deal with private renting any more EVER AGAIN.
posted by Catseye at 2:22 AM on December 10, 2017 [8 favorites]
My real house we moved into in the summer is probably also my dream house although it’s on an (ahem) smaller scale, because I finally own it and don’t have to deal with private renting any more EVER AGAIN.
posted by Catseye at 2:22 AM on December 10, 2017 [8 favorites]
Our dream home is not for sale; we are building it. (I think I've talked about it here before, so stop me if you've heard this one.) We bought a building in a smaller town that's close and in easy reach to the larger town where we lived, like it and wanted to stay close to; it was mostly empty and contained an office room, a canteen/kitchenette and four separate stalls with a sink, toilet, shower and another toilet. We started sleeping in the office and living in the kitchenette, while storing our things in the pretty large workshop spaces. And we began building it into our dream home.
Now we have built so far:
- a tinkering room for Mr Too-Ticky, which also has created storage space between the room's ceiling and the roof, like an almost-standing height attic
- a new bathroom with underfloor heating, bathtub, separate shower, toilet and sink. It's ready enough for us to take a bath tonight. There are blue fish mosaics on the wall.
- a new guest room which will serve as a temporary living room while we demolish the kitchenette
- a new bedroom which still needs underfloor heating, which is the next big project
We also had the roof to the part where we'll be living replaced and insulated, and lots of solar panels installed on top. Our energy bills will be a lot lower from now on. The house is well situated for solar. We have a bit of overcapacity and maybe we should get an electrical car next, to use it up in a way that makes sense.
We're far from done but we're now starting to reap the rewards (see: bath). Eventually we will have a large living room with a semi-open kitchen at one end. The kitchen will be made from materials from the 1950s, but larger than kitchens used to be back then. We have had three old kitchens stacked on pallets for a while now. It's going to be great.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:35 AM on December 10, 2017 [6 favorites]
Now we have built so far:
- a tinkering room for Mr Too-Ticky, which also has created storage space between the room's ceiling and the roof, like an almost-standing height attic
- a new bathroom with underfloor heating, bathtub, separate shower, toilet and sink. It's ready enough for us to take a bath tonight. There are blue fish mosaics on the wall.
- a new guest room which will serve as a temporary living room while we demolish the kitchenette
- a new bedroom which still needs underfloor heating, which is the next big project
We also had the roof to the part where we'll be living replaced and insulated, and lots of solar panels installed on top. Our energy bills will be a lot lower from now on. The house is well situated for solar. We have a bit of overcapacity and maybe we should get an electrical car next, to use it up in a way that makes sense.
We're far from done but we're now starting to reap the rewards (see: bath). Eventually we will have a large living room with a semi-open kitchen at one end. The kitchen will be made from materials from the 1950s, but larger than kitchens used to be back then. We have had three old kitchens stacked on pallets for a while now. It's going to be great.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:35 AM on December 10, 2017 [6 favorites]
Apparently I've wanted to live in a cabin in the woods my entire life. My mom found some of my old childhood papers, and among everything else there were drawings of cabins in the woods (and I have dim memories of fantasizing about them when I was a kid).
I've wanted to live in Vermont, specifically, ever since I was maybe 14 or so. We used to drive up from Maryland to visit my sister in college there, and my mom found out that one of her childhood friends lived relatively close by. She knew him from when they were both counselors at a nature camp in Massachussetts in the 60s. We went to visit him a lot, and he basically became the model of what I wanted to be like when I grew up: a guy with a gray handlebar mustache who made a living selling pottery in town, who cooked Cuban food and told stories about traveling around the Caribbean.
His house was in the middle of the woods. It was built, I think, in the 1880s, and heated entirely by the wood stove that he cooked his meals on in the winter (in the summer he used a gas range outside). It would get icy cold at night, but he'd always sleep with the window cracked open slightly, a habit I adopted just to copy him, and one I'm still fond of. There was a barn next door for his studio. There was a general store a mile down the road. A mile in the other direction, and the road was no longer paved; he had to go that way to get his firewood from some twins who had lived in the woods their whole lives.
Anyway, I don't think I could hack it as a potter, but when I imagine the ideal house, it's basically his house, in the middle of the Vermont woods, old and cold and creaky, with warped boards on the stairs and a beaver pond across the road that floods in heavy rain. I haven't been back in years, but even the memory feels like such a fantasy that I can't believe it's a real place I used to visit.
If I had any idea whatsoever how to make a living in a place like that, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 2:50 AM on December 10, 2017 [9 favorites]
I've wanted to live in Vermont, specifically, ever since I was maybe 14 or so. We used to drive up from Maryland to visit my sister in college there, and my mom found out that one of her childhood friends lived relatively close by. She knew him from when they were both counselors at a nature camp in Massachussetts in the 60s. We went to visit him a lot, and he basically became the model of what I wanted to be like when I grew up: a guy with a gray handlebar mustache who made a living selling pottery in town, who cooked Cuban food and told stories about traveling around the Caribbean.
His house was in the middle of the woods. It was built, I think, in the 1880s, and heated entirely by the wood stove that he cooked his meals on in the winter (in the summer he used a gas range outside). It would get icy cold at night, but he'd always sleep with the window cracked open slightly, a habit I adopted just to copy him, and one I'm still fond of. There was a barn next door for his studio. There was a general store a mile down the road. A mile in the other direction, and the road was no longer paved; he had to go that way to get his firewood from some twins who had lived in the woods their whole lives.
Anyway, I don't think I could hack it as a potter, but when I imagine the ideal house, it's basically his house, in the middle of the Vermont woods, old and cold and creaky, with warped boards on the stairs and a beaver pond across the road that floods in heavy rain. I haven't been back in years, but even the memory feels like such a fantasy that I can't believe it's a real place I used to visit.
If I had any idea whatsoever how to make a living in a place like that, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 2:50 AM on December 10, 2017 [9 favorites]
I have a lot of different dream homes, usually connected with favorite books. Here's my "My Family and Other Animals" much-more-deluxe-yet-still-comfy dream house in Corfu.
Here's a photo gallery with more pics, though, verrrry annoyingly, no kitchen shots. hmph. (if you have trouble with the gallery try this google images link for the site)
Also, if anyone else here shares my desire for a dream home in Three Pines, Quebec (though preferably with slightly less murder), show me your pics! I'm still searching.
posted by taz (staff) at 6:01 AM on December 10, 2017 [7 favorites]
Here's a photo gallery with more pics, though, verrrry annoyingly, no kitchen shots. hmph. (if you have trouble with the gallery try this google images link for the site)
Also, if anyone else here shares my desire for a dream home in Three Pines, Quebec (though preferably with slightly less murder), show me your pics! I'm still searching.
posted by taz (staff) at 6:01 AM on December 10, 2017 [7 favorites]
I fell in love with the Twin Cities when I visited last year - and even before that I applied for half a dozen jobs there when I was still actively job-searching - and sometimes I like to imagine that my thesis novel is going to sell for a lot of money and then I'm going to move there.
I have a very simple but impossible list of demands: I want a smallish, oldish home that doesn't require any extraordinary maintenance or upkeep, that has a nice big kitchen and some charm and personality.
This is it. This is the house.
The cute little front door! The stone around the fireplace! The charming little brick path to the backyard! How it appears to have a cute shed that you could put a vintage typewriter in for when you have writer's block and are feeling very pretentious! (It is also EXTRAORDINARILY CHEAP by the NYC Real Estate standards I'm still used to, though still not exactly what I could afford...)
posted by Jeanne at 6:27 AM on December 10, 2017 [8 favorites]
I have a very simple but impossible list of demands: I want a smallish, oldish home that doesn't require any extraordinary maintenance or upkeep, that has a nice big kitchen and some charm and personality.
This is it. This is the house.
The cute little front door! The stone around the fireplace! The charming little brick path to the backyard! How it appears to have a cute shed that you could put a vintage typewriter in for when you have writer's block and are feeling very pretentious! (It is also EXTRAORDINARILY CHEAP by the NYC Real Estate standards I'm still used to, though still not exactly what I could afford...)
posted by Jeanne at 6:27 AM on December 10, 2017 [8 favorites]
When I lived in Montreal I used to fantasize about living in one of the beautiful stone buildings that look out on St. Louis Square, so let's go with this one as a backup plan if American politics continues being American politics.
(1) Stone
(2) Bay window
(3) Those little architectural details on the roof!
(4) Exposed brick
(5) Fireplace in the master bedroom!!!
(6) Kitchen might need a renovation but the tilework is cute
(7) Balcony that looks out on St. Louis Square.
posted by Jeanne at 6:37 AM on December 10, 2017
(1) Stone
(2) Bay window
(3) Those little architectural details on the roof!
(4) Exposed brick
(5) Fireplace in the master bedroom!!!
(6) Kitchen might need a renovation but the tilework is cute
(7) Balcony that looks out on St. Louis Square.
posted by Jeanne at 6:37 AM on December 10, 2017
I've been coveting this house around the corner from mine for a while and was blown away that it sold for > $400K last year. Pittsburgh's Northside hasn't seen prices that high until the last two or three years. Obviously a bit of a fixer-upper and I think that it's going to be converted into apartments but that's not a given around here. There are a bunch of giant old mansions lived in by single middle-class families because they used to be so cheap to buy. Neighbors of ours own 5,000 sq ft houses that they paid like $40,000 in the 1980s.
posted by octothorpe at 7:28 AM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 7:28 AM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
I didn't know that I wanted to live in a firehouse until Firehouse 8 went up for sale.
I am house hunting right now and this is maybe a possibility. I haven't gone for a viewing yet, but I'm planning on doing that soon. I have no idea what I'd do with the main floor, but I get excited every time I look at it.
posted by minsies at 7:42 AM on December 10, 2017 [7 favorites]
I am house hunting right now and this is maybe a possibility. I haven't gone for a viewing yet, but I'm planning on doing that soon. I have no idea what I'd do with the main floor, but I get excited every time I look at it.
posted by minsies at 7:42 AM on December 10, 2017 [7 favorites]
I wouldn't say it's a dream home, but I still remember this seriously cool desert house when it was posted here.
If we ever build a house, one of my criteria (along with having a courtyard) is going to be "not made out of rectangles." I've spent enough time in oddly shaped houses to know what the downsides are (like getting furniture to work, and increased costs), but I'm ok with the tradeoffs.
And I would totally buy the firestation that was linked above, what a neat building!
posted by Dip Flash at 8:55 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
If we ever build a house, one of my criteria (along with having a courtyard) is going to be "not made out of rectangles." I've spent enough time in oddly shaped houses to know what the downsides are (like getting furniture to work, and increased costs), but I'm ok with the tradeoffs.
And I would totally buy the firestation that was linked above, what a neat building!
posted by Dip Flash at 8:55 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
@Dip Flash I love desert houses but I don't see a link to the one you mention. As to "not rectangles," I've always thought that having separate domes (by function: sleep, bathe, cook/eat, lounge/library) would be nice with breezeways connecting them.
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:19 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:19 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm a simple guy. I want an upgraded version of the Unabomber cabin. In the mountains, where everyone will leave me the fuck alone, and my likely cause of death will be bears. From camping, I learned that electricity and running water aren't terribly important to me.
This is $140k, located in the Colorado front range, rural but not terrible drive from Fort Collins (in the summer anyway; I'm sure it's darn near impassible during a winter storm).
Come see this Great Little Log Cabin on over 2 acres, Incredible Views of the Snow Capped Mummy Range & Much More! Large Kitchen W/Hickory Cabinets & Water Collection System for Dishes. Gas Stove Top and Refridgerator. Great interior lighting. Cozy Living Room with Woodstove & Loft for Extra Sleeping Area. Sleeps 6-7, makes a Wonderful Family Getaway! Has a Private Commode inside and an Upgraded Outhouse W/ Vault. There is also a Custom Outside Hot Water Shower.
This is similar, but in Montana. And Idaho. I'm not really into the log cabin aesthetic but your only choices tend to be that or manufactured ("mobile") home, and out of the two I'll choose the rustic one. But I'd sell my soul to live anywhere in the mountains tbh.
posted by AFABulous at 9:20 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is $140k, located in the Colorado front range, rural but not terrible drive from Fort Collins (in the summer anyway; I'm sure it's darn near impassible during a winter storm).
Come see this Great Little Log Cabin on over 2 acres, Incredible Views of the Snow Capped Mummy Range & Much More! Large Kitchen W/Hickory Cabinets & Water Collection System for Dishes. Gas Stove Top and Refridgerator. Great interior lighting. Cozy Living Room with Woodstove & Loft for Extra Sleeping Area. Sleeps 6-7, makes a Wonderful Family Getaway! Has a Private Commode inside and an Upgraded Outhouse W/ Vault. There is also a Custom Outside Hot Water Shower.
This is similar, but in Montana. And Idaho. I'm not really into the log cabin aesthetic but your only choices tend to be that or manufactured ("mobile") home, and out of the two I'll choose the rustic one. But I'd sell my soul to live anywhere in the mountains tbh.
posted by AFABulous at 9:20 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Jeanne, if you're not completely married to the tudor exterior, there are tons of houses like that in the Milwaukee area for about half the price. I picked some in a safe, walkable area that were at least as big as the one you linked.
$240k
$220k (4 br! Look at that kitchen omg)
$205k (slightly sketchier neighborhood, obviously flipped but lots of original woodwork)
posted by AFABulous at 9:40 AM on December 10, 2017
$240k
$220k (4 br! Look at that kitchen omg)
$205k (slightly sketchier neighborhood, obviously flipped but lots of original woodwork)
posted by AFABulous at 9:40 AM on December 10, 2017
I don't dream of a home. I need a reading chair with good natural lighting, a desk and chair, shelves for books, a firm bed built for two, a working toilet and shower, and a small kitchen.
My dream homes would be several homes like that, some in great cities, others in quiet places within bicycling distance of a train station. Put them all on coasts or great rivers. I want to travel by sea, not by air.
posted by pracowity at 10:01 AM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
My dream homes would be several homes like that, some in great cities, others in quiet places within bicycling distance of a train station. Put them all on coasts or great rivers. I want to travel by sea, not by air.
posted by pracowity at 10:01 AM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
At this point my dream house is one that doesn't have a lot of upkeep, or the money to do that is included in the dream. That's the first priority.
In the desert, preferably Sonoran. Far enough out that everyone leaves me alone. Close enough that I can still get to things. I would love to be near the ocean. And the mountains. Good internet and electricity.
Is that so much to ask?
posted by bongo_x at 11:43 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
In the desert, preferably Sonoran. Far enough out that everyone leaves me alone. Close enough that I can still get to things. I would love to be near the ocean. And the mountains. Good internet and electricity.
Is that so much to ask?
posted by bongo_x at 11:43 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've been reading the book Reservoir 13 which I'm not entirely sure is not about Wordshore's actual life. It is making me want to live in a village in north England in a stone cottage where I have foxes mating in my allotment and I can moodily wander through the heather.
posted by tofu_crouton at 12:01 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by tofu_crouton at 12:01 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
I a little embarrassed to admit that I live in my dream home. It's one block from easy public transit to everywhere in town and more restaurants than I can visit in a year, has great views, a well-appointed kitchen, awesome and surprisingly diverse neighbors, and interesting internal and external architecture. And it includes all the benefits of an incredibly efficient and cheap multi-unit building. (We switched our thermostat from AC to heating this week after several days in a row below 30F outside caused our equilibrium temperature to dip into the mid 60s. Occasionally the heater actually kicks on.) It'd be slightly better with a small balcony, a fireplace, and a stove fume hood that vents to the outdoors. . . but none of those are worth moving over.
And, it's a short bus ride from my dream job and located in one of the most interesting cities in the world. Now, if I could magically transport it to a dream city with the local culture of early 2000s San Francisco, the density and infrastructure of modern New York, the architecture and food culture of mid-century Paris, and the art and intellectual scene of contemporary Mexico City, I'd be in heaven. But, as real cities go, mine's pretty good.
The log-cabin demographic evident here and in the previous, similar question is fascinating. As someone who grew up in a tiny pine-wood home in a national forest, I can't imagine ever choosing to live in such a place given any other option. But, they're awesome to visit, so I'm happy to learn that so many current and future friends are planning to live there.
posted by eotvos at 12:24 PM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
And, it's a short bus ride from my dream job and located in one of the most interesting cities in the world. Now, if I could magically transport it to a dream city with the local culture of early 2000s San Francisco, the density and infrastructure of modern New York, the architecture and food culture of mid-century Paris, and the art and intellectual scene of contemporary Mexico City, I'd be in heaven. But, as real cities go, mine's pretty good.
The log-cabin demographic evident here and in the previous, similar question is fascinating. As someone who grew up in a tiny pine-wood home in a national forest, I can't imagine ever choosing to live in such a place given any other option. But, they're awesome to visit, so I'm happy to learn that so many current and future friends are planning to live there.
posted by eotvos at 12:24 PM on December 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
I want this so bad it makes my eye teeth itch. All I want is a little house. I want a three bedroom ranch with an attached garage and driveway. One room for me, one room for my son. I'd turn the third bedroom into a sensory room for him. I'd park in the driveway and turn the garage into my very own art/craft studio. The backyard is fenced for a service dog. The front yard has just enough space for whatever holiday inflatable my son wants. If I have a little extra money, a Florida room would be nice. Enough of a porch for two rocking chairs.
There's a full bathroom with a walk in shower and double vanity sinks. There's a powder room so guests don't snope in our medicine cabinet. Also, there's enough separation between the kitchen and the rest of the house so I don't walk in and immediately feel bad when I see dirty dishes in the sink all the way from the front door. But I want a dishwasher too. Also one of those iceboxes with the freezer on the bottom. And a ceiling fan because my son loves those.
I think that's everything.
Oh and everything light and bright so the house never feels like a cave, but not all white.
Now that everything.
Oh and somewhere with good disability services, near to public transportation, and somewhere where you get snow but not too much.
Okay, I'm done. That's my dream house.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 12:49 PM on December 10, 2017 [10 favorites]
There's a full bathroom with a walk in shower and double vanity sinks. There's a powder room so guests don't snope in our medicine cabinet. Also, there's enough separation between the kitchen and the rest of the house so I don't walk in and immediately feel bad when I see dirty dishes in the sink all the way from the front door. But I want a dishwasher too. Also one of those iceboxes with the freezer on the bottom. And a ceiling fan because my son loves those.
I think that's everything.
Oh and everything light and bright so the house never feels like a cave, but not all white.
Now that everything.
Oh and somewhere with good disability services, near to public transportation, and somewhere where you get snow but not too much.
Okay, I'm done. That's my dream house.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 12:49 PM on December 10, 2017 [10 favorites]
Jeanne, I believe two of my childhood friends lived in that house on Wellesley! St. Paul is a really nice place to live if you don't need a lot of excitement in your life.
posted by mai at 1:56 PM on December 10, 2017
posted by mai at 1:56 PM on December 10, 2017
I would love to live in this house it is reconstructed Roman home, at Carnuntum. Everytime we visit Carnuntum i feel like home.
posted by 15L06 at 2:21 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by 15L06 at 2:21 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
My tastes are pretty much encapsulated by the Stahl House.
posted by rhizome at 2:24 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 2:24 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I have such a complicated relationship with dream homes! Since 1997 I've always lived in more than one place at a time.
I lived in Seattle and was looking for a change. I bought a house, sort of a rural built-from-a-barn house with a lot of land in Vermont about 20 years ago. It was a dream house in that it had a big barn and sort of launched my "I want to live in Vermont" thing, but it was sort of a nightmare of shoddy construction, remote-and-yet-on-a-highway location, lots of contractors telling me how to live my life, etc. I would earn money in Seattle and come to VT and spend it keeping the house and barn. It was stressful.
After a while I felt like I was living everyone else's dream but mine. People would come by "You know what you should do with this place...?" I met a guy, he started going to a nearby law school, we started renting a room in a larger house closer to his school and my work. We split up and I started renting a dream apartment closer to my job. It's still where I live and I LOVE IT. My landlady is 93. Something about that makes it feel more precious since it's not mine forever.
Meanwhile my father died in 2011, sort of suddenly, my sister and I inherited his house along with some money for upkeep (you'd THINK that would be a dream but it only sort of is). It's more of a dream-house style house. Fancy. Big. Location, etc. But not a place I want to live, just a place I like to visit. Once that happened I sold my first dream house and found it was totally okay to not be an "I live here" homeowner. I spend summers at my dad's. I am a person with a summer place. I feel like Cinderella when I am there, neverending chores, the house is my stepmother.
Also my mom died (it's been a rough decade) this summer and my sister and I now also own HER house, the house we grew up in, an 1850s farmhouse. It's FULL of stuff, some neat stuff, a lot of junk, and a lot of actual garbage. We call it the Magic Castle. My mom's house is also the house we lived in with both parents, for a while. My dad's house is the one he retired to, we hung out with him there, but don't have personal memories of being a family there. We have some choices to make in the next year or two. I don't mean to sound like I am complaning but this is all quite weird for me.
I sometimes feel like my dream house is an 800 square foot funky cabin with a bed, a couch, wifi, and a woodstove (but I tried that once and DIDN'T LIKE IT). My dream house is whatever future time we've sorted this all out. My dream house is a future where I've made some choices and they've turned out okay. I'm usually happy most places and the less I try to overdetermine things, the happier I tend to be.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 3:35 PM on December 10, 2017 [13 favorites]
I lived in Seattle and was looking for a change. I bought a house, sort of a rural built-from-a-barn house with a lot of land in Vermont about 20 years ago. It was a dream house in that it had a big barn and sort of launched my "I want to live in Vermont" thing, but it was sort of a nightmare of shoddy construction, remote-and-yet-on-a-highway location, lots of contractors telling me how to live my life, etc. I would earn money in Seattle and come to VT and spend it keeping the house and barn. It was stressful.
After a while I felt like I was living everyone else's dream but mine. People would come by "You know what you should do with this place...?" I met a guy, he started going to a nearby law school, we started renting a room in a larger house closer to his school and my work. We split up and I started renting a dream apartment closer to my job. It's still where I live and I LOVE IT. My landlady is 93. Something about that makes it feel more precious since it's not mine forever.
Meanwhile my father died in 2011, sort of suddenly, my sister and I inherited his house along with some money for upkeep (you'd THINK that would be a dream but it only sort of is). It's more of a dream-house style house. Fancy. Big. Location, etc. But not a place I want to live, just a place I like to visit. Once that happened I sold my first dream house and found it was totally okay to not be an "I live here" homeowner. I spend summers at my dad's. I am a person with a summer place. I feel like Cinderella when I am there, neverending chores, the house is my stepmother.
Also my mom died (it's been a rough decade) this summer and my sister and I now also own HER house, the house we grew up in, an 1850s farmhouse. It's FULL of stuff, some neat stuff, a lot of junk, and a lot of actual garbage. We call it the Magic Castle. My mom's house is also the house we lived in with both parents, for a while. My dad's house is the one he retired to, we hung out with him there, but don't have personal memories of being a family there. We have some choices to make in the next year or two. I don't mean to sound like I am complaning but this is all quite weird for me.
I sometimes feel like my dream house is an 800 square foot funky cabin with a bed, a couch, wifi, and a woodstove (but I tried that once and DIDN'T LIKE IT). My dream house is whatever future time we've sorted this all out. My dream house is a future where I've made some choices and they've turned out okay. I'm usually happy most places and the less I try to overdetermine things, the happier I tend to be.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 3:35 PM on December 10, 2017 [13 favorites]
[when I rented my current apartment, I had just met my landlady at the computer class that I taught and she mentioned she had a mother-in-law space at her house. I said I needed a place that was dark, cheap, quiet, and had a good bathtub, she said "well it's not cheap..." which is only because she was 83 at the time and thinks everything should cost $2.50. My rent hasn't gone up in ten years. I live in Vermont and heat is included in my rent. It's pretty dreamy.]
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 3:37 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 3:37 PM on December 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
I really like our Berkeley bungalow. But wouldn‘t mind this for a 2nd home:
‚The Island of Molokai, central to the main Hawaiian Islands, has for generations been an oasis for Hawaiian royalty, tycoons and naturalists alike. Comprising approximately 55,575 acres and 35% of the island, Molokai Ranch is the most significant offering in the state of Hawaii. The successful new owner will be among the top five private landowners in the state.
The extensive lands of Molokai Ranch offer a remarkable combination of towering sea cliffs, secluded beaches, prime pastureland and tropical rainforests. In addition to the ranching operations, this extraordinary property consists of agricultural lands, nature preserves, and commercial, residential, golf course, oceanfront resort hotel, and upcountry lodge properties spanning over 300 parcels.‘
Of course I‘d use the Hotel grounds for a twice-yearly MetaFilter retreat ;-)
posted by The Toad at 4:07 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
‚The Island of Molokai, central to the main Hawaiian Islands, has for generations been an oasis for Hawaiian royalty, tycoons and naturalists alike. Comprising approximately 55,575 acres and 35% of the island, Molokai Ranch is the most significant offering in the state of Hawaii. The successful new owner will be among the top five private landowners in the state.
The extensive lands of Molokai Ranch offer a remarkable combination of towering sea cliffs, secluded beaches, prime pastureland and tropical rainforests. In addition to the ranching operations, this extraordinary property consists of agricultural lands, nature preserves, and commercial, residential, golf course, oceanfront resort hotel, and upcountry lodge properties spanning over 300 parcels.‘
Of course I‘d use the Hotel grounds for a twice-yearly MetaFilter retreat ;-)
posted by The Toad at 4:07 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm in the practical phase of dreamhoming, where my dreams involve "walking distance to the train" and "3 bedrooms" and "no more than four times the cost of my prior home for less square footage," but I have a pinterest board where I pin all the tiny houses I like, not because I want to live in one per se, but because the organization and triple-duty of everything pleases my secret inner self that feels all my problems can be solved at the Container Store.
And yeah, I just flat forgot it was Saturday, my whole week was a little off-kilter with kids having activities on weird days and stuff, and I was busy tagging stuff, and I just plain forgot it was Saturday and time for metatalktails!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 7:31 PM on December 10, 2017
And yeah, I just flat forgot it was Saturday, my whole week was a little off-kilter with kids having activities on weird days and stuff, and I was busy tagging stuff, and I just plain forgot it was Saturday and time for metatalktails!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 7:31 PM on December 10, 2017
20 years ago we became the 28th owners of a small, beat-up, simple 1873 house with a great private backyard in a quiet village. For the first time this past summer we had the means to work on it, so it now has new electricals, a new roof, siding, doors, windows and exterior steps. Next summer we’ll do driveway and fencing. It is not a fancy place, but it has lots of windows for the cats, good neighbors and an awesome location with everything a short walk away and bus service nearby. The house was once a two-family so has full baths up and down and in fact the ground floor can function as a complete apartment. We intend to spend the rest of our lives here so this arrangement is reassuring (and was a huge help during recent surgeries).
Bottom line: we are grateful to be able to make our current home our dream home. Good thing, too: I hate moving.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:57 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Bottom line: we are grateful to be able to make our current home our dream home. Good thing, too: I hate moving.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:57 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
In true Millennial fashion, I’m highly unlikely to ever own a home so this was very much dreaming.
And in Houston the real estate market’s a little dreary right now: homes either firmly assert their flood free status (but who can say about the next one?) or quietly show the pictures of studs and concrete with a listing of ‘as-is.’
But! I found this amazing listing that has a natatorium and a stunning grotto ravine thing, and a truly ridiculous number of entertainment for extrovert options like a full bar with recliners for seats.
An indoor pool is basically my number one requirement of my lottery house. How perfect is a natatorium for lap swimmers? None of this stormy weather or neighborhood kids shenanigans.
posted by librarylis at 8:37 PM on December 10, 2017
And in Houston the real estate market’s a little dreary right now: homes either firmly assert their flood free status (but who can say about the next one?) or quietly show the pictures of studs and concrete with a listing of ‘as-is.’
But! I found this amazing listing that has a natatorium and a stunning grotto ravine thing, and a truly ridiculous number of entertainment for extrovert options like a full bar with recliners for seats.
An indoor pool is basically my number one requirement of my lottery house. How perfect is a natatorium for lap swimmers? None of this stormy weather or neighborhood kids shenanigans.
posted by librarylis at 8:37 PM on December 10, 2017
My tastes are pretty much encapsulated by the Stahl House.
I must satisfy the thread requirements: a good example, which I'd prefer to have a view in that price range and in that neighborhood, but these boxes are out there.
The more it looks like an insurance office, the more I like it. I'm not sure why that is, but I do know I think man-made things should look as man-made as possible. A house like this is gonna blow my curtain budget for sure, though.
posted by rhizome at 8:45 PM on December 10, 2017
I must satisfy the thread requirements: a good example, which I'd prefer to have a view in that price range and in that neighborhood, but these boxes are out there.
The more it looks like an insurance office, the more I like it. I'm not sure why that is, but I do know I think man-made things should look as man-made as possible. A house like this is gonna blow my curtain budget for sure, though.
posted by rhizome at 8:45 PM on December 10, 2017
Something like this is basically my dream house, like some cross between a big-porched Southern bungalow, a New England Victorian, a Craftsman, and a midcentury ranch house. So essentially a big floofy turreted house like this, à la Missouri, à la Mark Twain, only never yellow, but rather in a beautiful slate green, with a red star under the eaves like a house I once saw down a lane in North Jersey, or like so many houses in the Twin Cities, with 2 or 3 floors, a finished or finishable basement, and an attic you can actually walk around in. Some brick or stonework would be cool too. Very Talley's Folly (a gazebo would also be great).
Missouri might be as good a place as any for it, given climate-change projections, or maybe Minnesota will become more tolerable. The first place I clicked on up there was basically the kind of house I'm imagining, and I recall their being a bit abundant. Per previous discussion, it must have a turret; must have secret passages or room for them; should have lots of wood moldings and built-in bookshelves and cabinets; ideally has an attic or loft hangout space filled with pillows, blankets, treasure chests, plants, etc.; has a big porch swing; perhaps has a window-seat bed; is in the midst of beautiful mature trees, with room for katsura and ginkgo trees and a garden with walking-stick kale and purple and blue potatoes and a koi pond and an archery range and hammocks... As previously mentioned, if it happened to have a solarium with an enclosed pool and lots of plants, that would be rad. I would also have a cat, or cats.
I think reading Gus Was a Friendly Ghost and imprinting on the house in there early on, along with the bungalow in Nancy Drew, not to mention a whole lot of other ghost-story books, really did a number on my imagination. But I know I wasn't the only one; a friend of mine who lives in Vermont and whose favorite holiday is Halloween, just like mine, got the chance to buy his dream house in recent years, and it's exactly this sort of house, with a turret and everything.
I see houses that are somewhat like that in my area every so often, but I kept an eye out for years before finally getting the chance to buy my current house (a midcentury ranch house that is perfectly nice and big enough but not quite my dream house, not quite yet). I guess what I basically want is a painted-lady Victorian with modernized plumbing and electric, which I really don't see around here (there are some down in Webster Groves and Kirkwood, like this—though it has no turret—but then I'd have to live in an area that's known for being very white and a bit racist, where a lot of people moved when the area we grew up in changed its racial composition and they became uncomfortable, which no thank you). This house in my area was for sale a few years ago but was for sale by owner and has some obvious parking issues; it seemed too tight for my tastes. I'm looking for a good river house, or a good shore house—like a house down around Cape May, New Jersey, or up around Mackinac Island, Michigan.
posted by limeonaire at 9:17 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Missouri might be as good a place as any for it, given climate-change projections, or maybe Minnesota will become more tolerable. The first place I clicked on up there was basically the kind of house I'm imagining, and I recall their being a bit abundant. Per previous discussion, it must have a turret; must have secret passages or room for them; should have lots of wood moldings and built-in bookshelves and cabinets; ideally has an attic or loft hangout space filled with pillows, blankets, treasure chests, plants, etc.; has a big porch swing; perhaps has a window-seat bed; is in the midst of beautiful mature trees, with room for katsura and ginkgo trees and a garden with walking-stick kale and purple and blue potatoes and a koi pond and an archery range and hammocks... As previously mentioned, if it happened to have a solarium with an enclosed pool and lots of plants, that would be rad. I would also have a cat, or cats.
I think reading Gus Was a Friendly Ghost and imprinting on the house in there early on, along with the bungalow in Nancy Drew, not to mention a whole lot of other ghost-story books, really did a number on my imagination. But I know I wasn't the only one; a friend of mine who lives in Vermont and whose favorite holiday is Halloween, just like mine, got the chance to buy his dream house in recent years, and it's exactly this sort of house, with a turret and everything.
I see houses that are somewhat like that in my area every so often, but I kept an eye out for years before finally getting the chance to buy my current house (a midcentury ranch house that is perfectly nice and big enough but not quite my dream house, not quite yet). I guess what I basically want is a painted-lady Victorian with modernized plumbing and electric, which I really don't see around here (there are some down in Webster Groves and Kirkwood, like this—though it has no turret—but then I'd have to live in an area that's known for being very white and a bit racist, where a lot of people moved when the area we grew up in changed its racial composition and they became uncomfortable, which no thank you). This house in my area was for sale a few years ago but was for sale by owner and has some obvious parking issues; it seemed too tight for my tastes. I'm looking for a good river house, or a good shore house—like a house down around Cape May, New Jersey, or up around Mackinac Island, Michigan.
posted by limeonaire at 9:17 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is what I mean when I say Mark Twain house, by the way. It's like a transported piece of Missouri, done up all New England–style. Which...Hartford, Connecticut, would actually be a kind of great location in a lot of ways.
posted by limeonaire at 9:43 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by limeonaire at 9:43 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
If I lived in Hartford, I would want a house somewhere along Wallace Stevens's walk to work to see if I could catch his ghost working things out.
posted by pracowity at 11:28 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by pracowity at 11:28 PM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
My dream home is the house I grew up in, on this one lake in Quebec. It was big and drafty (we closed off a couple rooms every winter) and had a big lawn (that flooded every spring) and was across the street from a big forest. A turret, two staircases, a couple almost-secret passageways. A field-stone fireplace.
Lately, though, I've been looking at (guiltily looking at - indulging in rabid fantasies while fawning over) boats: like this or maybe something like this or maybe this.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:39 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Lately, though, I've been looking at (guiltily looking at - indulging in rabid fantasies while fawning over) boats: like this or maybe something like this or maybe this.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:39 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
"not made out of rectangles." I've spent enough time in oddly shaped houses to know what the downsides are (like getting furniture to work, and increased costs), but I'm ok with the tradeoffs.
I dream of rectangles, and right angles and any square edge anywhere whatsoever.
I'm renovating a boat.
I have so few actual flat walls, and literally no canonical reference point. The floor is a different angle when it's floating vs when it isn't. The walls curve in every direction a thing can curve in.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:36 AM on December 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
I dream of rectangles, and right angles and any square edge anywhere whatsoever.
I'm renovating a boat.
I have so few actual flat walls, and literally no canonical reference point. The floor is a different angle when it's floating vs when it isn't. The walls curve in every direction a thing can curve in.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:36 AM on December 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
I always wanted to live in a lighthouse on the coast of Maine with a used bookstore adjoining and a company of cats to help me manage things.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:53 AM on December 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 4:53 AM on December 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
This sent me down quite a rabbit hole searching for "dream" houses near where I live now, in Palm Beach County, FL. Thought maybe a nice beach house would be the thing. After looking at tons of listings for multi-million-dollar monstrosities, I decided that part of my dream is to not live in Palm Beach County. I found this midcentury modern gem in Asheville, NC with amazing mountain views and an indoor pool - I'm sold!
My dream house
posted by Daily Alice at 5:19 AM on December 11, 2017
My dream house
posted by Daily Alice at 5:19 AM on December 11, 2017
I don't ever actually want to live in some enormous mansion. But real talk: I toured this house with my parents when I was about...6? or 7? years old, and it has stuck with me in my mind ever since as just the most ridiculous, amazing thing ever.
The only dream house I'd actually ever want is the one my favorite aunt has lived in for all of my life. It's tiny -- two bedrooms, one of which is tiny even by my urban apartment-dweller standards-- and old, and just perfect, and not ever for sale.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:22 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
The only dream house I'd actually ever want is the one my favorite aunt has lived in for all of my life. It's tiny -- two bedrooms, one of which is tiny even by my urban apartment-dweller standards-- and old, and just perfect, and not ever for sale.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:22 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh rats, that is the wrong link, and I've missed the edit window. But that house is extremely similar.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:45 AM on December 11, 2017
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:45 AM on December 11, 2017
My dream house is a craftsman in the Pacific Northwest. It's in a woodsy area near a lake or a creek. It's got a big, but not giant kitchen full of stainless steel appliances. Every room has beautiful wood beams. It's got a second story with 2 master bedrooms and each have bathrooms en suite, my bathroom has a sunken tub. There is enough room for a garden, some chickens and some bees. It has at least one stone fireplace and a patio with an outdoor kitchen. It is about 5 miles from the nearest grocery and bookstore.
posted by Sophie1 at 9:11 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Sophie1 at 9:11 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
A penthouse in the historic district in Rome. But it would also be the Rome of my student days, when I spoke some Italian, was having a fling with an archaeologist, and while poor, did not have to participate in the Italian (or really any) economy. A character in a Margaret Drabble novel said, "As an economic unit, I simply don't exist." That was me. So I could actually dream of living in one of those penthouses without the imagined cost bringing me down in a split second.
posted by BibiRose at 9:26 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by BibiRose at 9:26 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
So I could actually dream of living in one of those penthouses without the imagined cost bringing me down in a split second.
That's a crucial element of the dream house.
posted by rhizome at 9:30 AM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
That's a crucial element of the dream house.
posted by rhizome at 9:30 AM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
It’s actually easier for me to fantasize about cheap places than it is to imagine that I’ll be able to live somewhere expensive without having to worry about the cost. I still have a weird attachment to the kind of house we lived in when I was a kid in the country: cheap wood panels, baseboard heat, an unfinished basement. What the hell does that say about me if that’s kind of my dream house? I mean, there’s the 19th century house in Vermont, sure, but I’d be pretty happy with a nondescript house, too. I’m not sure if I should be happy that I have low standards, or sad that I’ll still probably be never be able to afford something like that.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 9:43 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 9:43 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
If I had truly ridiculous amounts of money on hand, I'd be tempted to buy this nerdtastic mansion and make it into the Official Metafilter Bed & Breakfast. (Click through for truly ridiculous pictures, including a media room that looks like the bridge of the Enterprise-D.)
posted by Daily Alice at 9:47 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Daily Alice at 9:47 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
my dream home is the cambodian rubber plantation in apocalypse now except without the war and colonialism.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:44 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:44 AM on December 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
This place.
It is a half block up the street from me and I have wanted it ever since I moved onto this block. It would put me even closer to Best Bar In The World and I would take proper care of the pear tree they have in the front yard.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:46 AM on December 11, 2017
It is a half block up the street from me and I have wanted it ever since I moved onto this block. It would put me even closer to Best Bar In The World and I would take proper care of the pear tree they have in the front yard.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:46 AM on December 11, 2017
When I was a kid they had us draw our dream houses and mine was a boat that had a place to meet with my trained talking dolphins friends on the lower decks (this was *highly* Seaquest DSV inspired) and a basketball court on the top level.
We just bought our first house and the honeymoon phase with it is still going strong, although this time of year part of me wishes it had a fireplace (this fantasy also involves a glass of port and a nice armchair and not "hurriedly eating dinner after cleaning up the pile of books our toddler left in the corner.") My dream house is probably the one where this fantasy makes the most sense, basically the cozier settings for M.R. James stories with or without ghosts.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:05 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
We just bought our first house and the honeymoon phase with it is still going strong, although this time of year part of me wishes it had a fireplace (this fantasy also involves a glass of port and a nice armchair and not "hurriedly eating dinner after cleaning up the pile of books our toddler left in the corner.") My dream house is probably the one where this fantasy makes the most sense, basically the cozier settings for M.R. James stories with or without ghosts.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:05 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
My partner and I are under contract for the condo we've lived in for years and it's terrifying, since we hadn't really intended to buy a place to live anytime soon and are worried we've made really poor decisions about the mortgage what with being rushed. Still, it's familiar and I like living there, and while I know it's not perfect, I'm clearly OK with its unavoidable imperfections. (And the inspector I hired had no bad news for me about things I wouldn't have noticed, hurrah.)
Plus now I can think about fixing all the annoyances I've been living with all this time. Very slowly. I got an armful of library books about home renovation this weekend so I can think about possibilities without also spending time on websites trying to sell me stuff Right Now. It's exciting to think about how we can make our existing home into our dream home, or at least as much as we can given that our money, time, and interest are all limited resources.
Also, it's gonna be an enormous hassle to scrape off those horrible popcorn ceilings.
posted by asperity at 11:27 AM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
Plus now I can think about fixing all the annoyances I've been living with all this time. Very slowly. I got an armful of library books about home renovation this weekend so I can think about possibilities without also spending time on websites trying to sell me stuff Right Now. It's exciting to think about how we can make our existing home into our dream home, or at least as much as we can given that our money, time, and interest are all limited resources.
Also, it's gonna be an enormous hassle to scrape off those horrible popcorn ceilings.
posted by asperity at 11:27 AM on December 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
My dream house is probably the one where this fantasy makes the most sense, basically the cozier settings for M.R. James stories with or without ghosts.
Ooh, that sounds nice! Just, you know, if someone tells you not to sleep in the room by the old ash tree, you should listen to them.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:31 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ooh, that sounds nice! Just, you know, if someone tells you not to sleep in the room by the old ash tree, you should listen to them.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:31 AM on December 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
Long ago I used to buy books of floorplans and spend hours looking at them and imagining. They used to sell them with the magazines at the grocery store in the 80s and 90s.
My dream house would fully enclose a central courtyard that somehow gets enough sun to grow jasmine everywhere while being utterly private and cat-secure. I think it is all based on a bed and breakfast place we went to when I was a kid for a family reunion, it was sort of like an apartment complex with little suites all opening into the courtyard and oh so lovely.
The cats could go outside without risking danger, and it could be safely clothing optional. My room would feel very small and private and hidden even though it opens onto the courtyard so I can sleep surrounded by jasmine. I could open any room up as indoor-outdoor or close it off and be totally weather proofed.
There would be a big room with the kitchen and living room combined, a sewing studio and a guest bedroom and bathroom. My suite would have a small bedroom that's pretty much all bed, a big dressing room with laundry machines (no more carrying clothes back and forth) and a fully accessible bathroom for my ever worsening mobility issues.
And as a crazy cat lady I would install runways and catwalks and climbing trees everywhere. And a cat bathroom that can hold a couple of litterboxes, has a good exhaust system, an easy clean floor, and multiple cat entrances.
For years I have suggested to my roommate that we build this as soon as one of us wins the lottery we never enter. Her wing would give more rooms to surround the courtyard but her presence negates the clothing optional aspect because she actually has this whole body modesty thing I seem to have been born without. She would add a two story library, roses and fairy lights in the courtyard, and stained glass everywhere feasible.
posted by buildmyworld at 4:58 PM on December 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
My dream house would fully enclose a central courtyard that somehow gets enough sun to grow jasmine everywhere while being utterly private and cat-secure. I think it is all based on a bed and breakfast place we went to when I was a kid for a family reunion, it was sort of like an apartment complex with little suites all opening into the courtyard and oh so lovely.
The cats could go outside without risking danger, and it could be safely clothing optional. My room would feel very small and private and hidden even though it opens onto the courtyard so I can sleep surrounded by jasmine. I could open any room up as indoor-outdoor or close it off and be totally weather proofed.
There would be a big room with the kitchen and living room combined, a sewing studio and a guest bedroom and bathroom. My suite would have a small bedroom that's pretty much all bed, a big dressing room with laundry machines (no more carrying clothes back and forth) and a fully accessible bathroom for my ever worsening mobility issues.
And as a crazy cat lady I would install runways and catwalks and climbing trees everywhere. And a cat bathroom that can hold a couple of litterboxes, has a good exhaust system, an easy clean floor, and multiple cat entrances.
For years I have suggested to my roommate that we build this as soon as one of us wins the lottery we never enter. Her wing would give more rooms to surround the courtyard but her presence negates the clothing optional aspect because she actually has this whole body modesty thing I seem to have been born without. She would add a two story library, roses and fairy lights in the courtyard, and stained glass everywhere feasible.
posted by buildmyworld at 4:58 PM on December 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
My dream house is a large urban high school built in approximately the 1880 to 1930 time frame, recent enough to have central heating, but before the modernists started doing school architecture. Alternatively, large urban post offices of the same vintage. (Plus, of course, the multi-million dollar endowment required to generate the funds to heat, cool, and maintain such a building.)
posted by Bruce H. at 6:52 PM on December 12, 2017
posted by Bruce H. at 6:52 PM on December 12, 2017
My dream house is a large urban high school ... (Plus, of course, the multi-million dollar endowment required to generate the funds to heat, cool, and maintain such a building.)
Every so often I'll see an article about a couple (always a couple) who have bought an old school or motel and turned it into a residence. While I'm always envious of all that space, all I can think of is what will they do when it needs a new roof?
posted by Dip Flash at 8:33 PM on December 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Every so often I'll see an article about a couple (always a couple) who have bought an old school or motel and turned it into a residence. While I'm always envious of all that space, all I can think of is what will they do when it needs a new roof?
posted by Dip Flash at 8:33 PM on December 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Vermont is littered with those sorts of buildings and it's interesting to watch. Some fall apart. Some get spruced up. The people who can make it work usually have some sort of independent income that they can just toss at the project. You have to be really committed to the funkiness of your home.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 7:07 AM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 7:07 AM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
My neighbors live in an old flashlight factory that they've built their residence in along with offices for their business, an event space and an AirBnB apartment. They rent out space to movie/tv studios a lot too.
posted by octothorpe at 7:48 AM on December 13, 2017
posted by octothorpe at 7:48 AM on December 13, 2017
(Semi-)Realistically: I want a nice little house on Block Island that I can live in all winter (with a telecommuting job so I don't have to worry about leaving the island, obviously) and rent out during the summers while I'm living on my sailboat. (Unless I decide to sail down south for the winter, which is an option I'd like to have available but not be mandatory.)
Significantly less realistically: I want the money to buy and properly maintain Clingstone. For purposes of this fantasy I also need global warming to not raise the sea level any significant amount, for obvious reasons.
posted by mstokes650 at 8:27 PM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Significantly less realistically: I want the money to buy and properly maintain Clingstone. For purposes of this fantasy I also need global warming to not raise the sea level any significant amount, for obvious reasons.
posted by mstokes650 at 8:27 PM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Holy goose, the Roman house that 15LO6 links is apparently one of my dream houses.
In my dreams, I am not only rich, I am tidy.
posted by clew at 5:18 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
In my dreams, I am not only rich, I am tidy.
posted by clew at 5:18 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
I rented my dream house for six months once. It was, in actual fact, a cabin in rural Vermont. Not an old one, built in the 1980s I think, but it had wood heat and salvaged hand-hewn beams and plank floors, and the chimney went up the middle of the building so the heat was retained well, it had open shelving in the kitchen and a baby grand piano and a barn with chickens, a huge garden out front, and woods with a stream in back. The driveway was so long that after it snowed I just parked my car at the bottom of the hill and snowshoed up to the house instead of paying to have it plowed out.
It will never be mine, that specific house, but at least now I know what to look for. Of course, now part of the dream is to have a performance art company, so the house and garden are going to have to be a bit bigger.
posted by All hands bury the dead at 4:28 PM on December 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
It will never be mine, that specific house, but at least now I know what to look for. Of course, now part of the dream is to have a performance art company, so the house and garden are going to have to be a bit bigger.
posted by All hands bury the dead at 4:28 PM on December 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
That reminded me of a house we visited - an old one room schoolhouse on a lake in Vermont. Quite perfect in many ways.
posted by theora55 at 7:30 AM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:30 AM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
My dream home is a house that is not especially large but somehow has lots of bedrooms or other small spaces where we and our four kids can have privacy, or where we can house people in need of a place to stay for awhile (we've done this here at our house, but all we have is a semi-finished basement that has no bathroom and that partially floods in heavy rains, and since we adopted Kid #4, our oldest, they live down there so we have no extra space at all). A few years ago, something very like my dream house was for sale for a not-unreasonable amount of money. It had started life as a one-bedroom cabin with a back porch the width of the whole place, overlooking a river. Two friends of mine had turned it into a retreat center, converting the garage into a large meeting space, and the lower level into a collection of small bedrooms for two people, each with a dividing wall between two beds, and with a large shared bath. The lower level also had a deck, as the house was built on a steep hill.
When they retired from the retreat center business, they put the property on the market. It was, IIRC, about $250k, which would have been a stretch for us, but not impossible, if we'd really wanted to do it. Unfortunately, it was 45 minutes from everywhere, and had an endless driveway in need of winter plowing and a vast ill-kempt grassy area in need of summer mowing, and my partner and I really wanted to be in a place where we didn't have to drive endlessly to get to things, and in a relatively low-maintenance place after some years of owning a big old house that never needed a repair under $5,000. Our sturdily-built midcentury 3br ranch is in a location we've never complained about in the 14 years we've lived here. At our old house, when we called a plumber for a clogged drain we ended up having to redo all the plumbing. Here, when we call a plumber for a clogged drain, they unclog it and go on their way. We are also very fortunate in our neighbors.
So, in some ways, my dream house is the one I live in but with an addition containing, say, two additional modest bedrooms, a second bathroom (six people! one bathroom!), and first floor laundry, since I can no longer climb stairs.
Alternately, I want the heirs of the elderly woman next door who died a couple of years ago to get their act together and put her empty house on the market. It's also a 3BR 1B. If we bought it in addition to the house we own, we'd have six bedrooms, two bathrooms (with a bonus kitchen and living room) for less of a total investment than the McMansions that make up most of our suburban community. So that's my other fantasy.
Also, in this dream house, my partner of nearly 25 years magically becomes a tidy person. I mean, if we're dreaming, we might as well dream big, right?
posted by Orlop at 7:25 PM on December 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
When they retired from the retreat center business, they put the property on the market. It was, IIRC, about $250k, which would have been a stretch for us, but not impossible, if we'd really wanted to do it. Unfortunately, it was 45 minutes from everywhere, and had an endless driveway in need of winter plowing and a vast ill-kempt grassy area in need of summer mowing, and my partner and I really wanted to be in a place where we didn't have to drive endlessly to get to things, and in a relatively low-maintenance place after some years of owning a big old house that never needed a repair under $5,000. Our sturdily-built midcentury 3br ranch is in a location we've never complained about in the 14 years we've lived here. At our old house, when we called a plumber for a clogged drain we ended up having to redo all the plumbing. Here, when we call a plumber for a clogged drain, they unclog it and go on their way. We are also very fortunate in our neighbors.
So, in some ways, my dream house is the one I live in but with an addition containing, say, two additional modest bedrooms, a second bathroom (six people! one bathroom!), and first floor laundry, since I can no longer climb stairs.
Alternately, I want the heirs of the elderly woman next door who died a couple of years ago to get their act together and put her empty house on the market. It's also a 3BR 1B. If we bought it in addition to the house we own, we'd have six bedrooms, two bathrooms (with a bonus kitchen and living room) for less of a total investment than the McMansions that make up most of our suburban community. So that's my other fantasy.
Also, in this dream house, my partner of nearly 25 years magically becomes a tidy person. I mean, if we're dreaming, we might as well dream big, right?
posted by Orlop at 7:25 PM on December 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think this art house (sorry, video) in the hill I saw on Grand Design RIBA special clip might be my dream house. I love the studios with natural light, the eco-friendliness of it, the multiple courtyards, big glass windows onto a view. Of course I want to live in a city, so I'm not sure how that will work. But I love the idea of a live/work space for multiple people where we can live together separately, even have our own courtyards reflecting our personalities but then come together to watch the sunset in the big common room.
posted by Bunglegirl at 8:32 PM on December 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Bunglegirl at 8:32 PM on December 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
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A year before that I bought my dream apartment in the gritty streets of Bupyeong. Even though I am closer to work and the environment is better for my kids, I hate it here. It is desolate, and inconvenient, and everything is so spread out.
Unfortunately, I think we are going to sell my dream apartment in the next year or so because my wife doesn't think it is a great place to raise kids (she is probably right), and we will probably buy another place that will hopefully split the difference between here and there.
posted by Literaryhero at 1:31 AM on December 10, 2017 [1 favorite]