First off, my dream house is in Texas, preferably somewhere far from the coast. I like Austin, Brian likes Wichita Falls. Either one should be less painful for me than Michigan. The humidity is lower, the cold is less harsh, both good things for arthritis and fibro pain.
My dream house will have at least seven bedrooms. They don’t have to be big bedrooms, I just want each of the kids to have their own room with a bed and a desk. We could save room by lofting the beds and putting the desks underneath. That way, we won’t have so many fights over who cleans up what. “Go clean your room.” And nobody can overrule their roommate on incense, candles, and keeping the closet light on at night. The floor plan will be one that I’ve lived in (from the kids’ side) several times in the south, where the master suite is off the living room on one side of the house, and the kids’ rooms are on the other side of the house.
My dream house will have at least three bathrooms, at least two with bathtubs. The master bath will have a bathtub big enough for me to lounge in, and will be wired for music.
My dream house will have a backyard with an 8-foot privacy fence all the way around. The yard should be big enough for a playset, a garden, a fire circle, a chicken coop, and room to run around. It will have a roofed deck for smoking and watching kids and grilling and eating outside and hanging a hammock. It will also have a hot tub.
My dream house will have a great-room open floor plan in the middle. The TV/living room will be big enough to house a sewing space in the back of it. It will be connected to the kitchen by an open bar. It will have at least one real fireplace.
My dream house will have a dream kitchen with enough cabinet and pantry space to hold the food supplies for our large family. It will have a double oven, a gas range, and a dishwasher, and it will have butcher-block counters. It will have plenty of counter space for cooking and baking and entertaining. It will have lots of nooks and crannies and different kinds of cabinets for organizing things. The dining area will be connected to the kitchen, but not necessarily to the great room as well.
My dream house will have a library, with room for bookshelves to hold all our books, a comfy chair or two to read in, and a larger table for doing schoolwork.
My dream house will have a man-cave, with a pool table, a wet bar, another TV, and exercise equipment. It will also have room somewhere for a woodworking and ceramics shop, maybe in the garage. You could even stack the mancave and the workshops.
My dream house will be as close to net-zero as possible. It will use green construction techniques, with earth walls, green walls and roofs, and a greenhouse. It will have solar and wind power, geothermal heating, and a rainwater collection system. It will also be fully wired, with remote control available for everything, music in every room, and automatic lights that shut off when a room is empty.
My dream house will be desert-landscaped in front, with gravel, cacti and hundred-year plants and yucca, bluebonnet patches, and cedar trees. My dream house will not require lawn-mowing anywhere, ever, or raking leaves, or shoveling snow. It will have a front porch with some chairs, so that we can socialize with our neighbors a bit.
Someday.