What's your comfortable dream home?

[Spot's Meow]

A Queen Anne with a lovely bay window or two in the front and detailed wooden carvings on the front banisters, that sort of home. It would be painted shades of purple, blue, and turquoise and be located in a relatively remote location near a forest in Northern California. Each room would have a different theme based around a color scheme (I'm thinking a dark maroon and wood room, a sunburst yellow and orange room, a blue and tan beach room, a black starlit sky room, etc.) and it would have to include a library/study that has tall shelves that require a sliding ladder. We would have a cute breakfast nook instead of a formal dining area. An island in the kitchen. A garden out back. I'm not picky about the rest.

Something small and cozy. Possibly light blue. Fireplace and comfy chair. Wood paneling. Room for all my books. Solar panels on the roof, or a wind turbine, or something... Small yard for maybe planting a small vegetable garden. A lemon tree in the middle of the front yard. Located in California somewhere along Highway 49 in the Sierra foothills.

I actually know someone in that area who has been trying to sell their custom home out in the foothills for a while now. It's a smallish one story with three bedrooms, but I wouldn't call it "cozy" as the woman who owns it is obsessed with sunlight and the walls are mostly giant windows with no coverings...drives me crazy every time I visit, I like to be in small dark places. They do have their own hangar and runway though, that would sure come in handy if you knew how to fly a plane!

 

[backstept]

Concrete, underground, large glass windows/skylights to maximize the use of daylight
a garden on the roof
so . . . a modern hobbit hole

 

[Itisnotlogical]

A single-story dig with at least 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, and lots of living room space, as well as a large empty room with a hard floor for sparring with my friends on. I intend to learn crav maga someday.

A prerequisite though: Absolutely no other people. I can't stand worrying about if I'm playing my guitar too loud for the slobs downstairs, or hearing more of those god damn annoying chihuahuas going batshit crazy every time I open the damn door to go for a walk. If I had a Big Mac for every dog that ever annoyed me, there wouldn't be a food shortage in our great grandchildren's lifetimes. And that's only counting the ridiculously overbred "toy" dogs that can't even reproduce naturally because their pelvis is too narrow.

 

[Beef Squatthrust]

A Victorian or Colonial for me. I love both styles as far as architecture, Victorian is more ornate and a little more my style. Victorians are usually in urban and suburban areas however, and I would love several acres/living in the country so a Colonial is far more likely.

 

[iguana_tonante]

A decently sized downtown condo, with a balcony and a nice view of the city.

Preferably, a open-space loft apartment, converted to residential use from a former industrial building. High ceiling, big windows, lots of iron, glass, concrete, with an industrial wooden floor. Sleek and retro-futuristic. It doesn't need to be large, but it must have a lot of light.

But in due time, I wouldn't mind a nice "villetta" (I think in Britain they are called "detached houses") in the suburb, too. For the hypothetical future little iguanas, you know.

 

[JiNX-01]

I've actually given this some thought -- including winning the lottery part, which would definitely have to be part of the equation.

Main house: 2200 square feet.
-- I would emphasize the use of "green" materials and top-of-the-line energy effiicency in all appliances and heating and cooling systems. I would also install photovoltaic fuel cells to provide power when the lights go out.

Additional features:
-- A nice view. Fortunately, our dad bought an 80-acre farm with a lovely view of rolling hills framed in stone walls, and a backdrop of evergreens at the far end of the property. And even better, we own the view.
-- I would have an attached guest suite on the opposite end of the house from the master suite (privacy!), which would include the nice view, complete with master bath to accommodate two guests, a kitchenette and flat-screen TV.
-- Screened "wrap-around" porch.
-- Two and half car garage.
-- Large yard with a row of evergreens on the north side of the house (to shield the property from the winds coming off Lake Ontario in the winter).
-- Screened patio/deck with outdoor kitchen.
-- A sheltered screened courtyard for my pets.

 

[auntiehill]

My dream home would be all one story (no stairs for me to keep falling down), with hard wood floors or tile, an open kitchen with a center island that looks out onto the living/family room, a small dinning area near the front of the house, 2 or three large bedrooms, at least two full baths and one half bath, a small backyard (fenced), and a two car garage. At least 2500 sq ft. Oh, and there needs to be room for me and hubby to have separate office space.

I don't need granite counters or stainless steel appliances or some ridiculously large bathtub. Just the layout and the space suit me fine.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Two-bedroom condo, interesting architecture, hardwood floors, lots of light, balcony, water view (or at least walking distance to the harbor or a waterfront park). Walking distance to stores, restaurants and library.

 

[Amaris]

Single floor (but with basement) ranch style brick home. It would have a wraparound covered porch with rocking chairs and a bench every so many feet. There would be a fireplace inside, though the house would be cooled and heated by a central unit. There would be a Japanese maple tree out front, and apple blossoms out back, and there would be many more trees around the perimeter (mostly deciduous).

The house itself would have white trim, with lots of regular single frame windows, and a big bay window in the front where the Christmas tree would go every year. There would be at least 3 decently sized bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The kitchen would have a hardwood floor, an island, and a dining room big enough for an 8 person table. The living room would have a plush, comfortable couch, a sofa, a recliner, and a caneback rocking chair, with all the other comforts available (TV, stereo, etc).

There would be a single garage, separated from the house by a few feet, and a covered swimming pool out back. A fenced in yard, with plenty of room for kids to play, and a beautiful landscape in the front yard, with a lantern lighted walkway.

I don't know how much that would cost, but that would be just about perfect.