What is your dream house?

[Ann]

I love John Travolta's place because I love travelling. I look forward to getting it

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And yours?

[Victoria]

Personally, I likeshiny things like mirrors, but I might want a more natural type house, maybe built out of cobb...but that's in the future. Right now, I still live with my parents.

[Adam]

My idea of a dream house is of a typical Taurus castle.

The entryway is well lit with a hard floor, covered in rugs leading off in each direction. Along the walls are a few vanity items, such as some of my Grandpa's art (I'm saving the priceless stuff for my personal space) and my wife's photographs, and it has ready access to the second floor.

On the first floor, I would have the entertainment areas off to one side, such as the traditional American living room, complete with the brain rotting box. I would also have a fairly large library in there as well. Hard floors with comfortable rugs is still an absolute must. Fake leather chairs would make up the seating area in the library, and soft couches are essential for the living room. The other side of the first floor would have the rooms necessary for living, such as a kitchen, separate dining room, laundry room, and broom closet.

The second story would be split up into two sections as well. Above the entertainment side of the house, I would have two office, one for my wife, and the other for me. I would also have a server room, because I'm a nerd like that. There would also be a dumb waiter between my office and the library. I would put my office in the corner so that I can have two walls of windows, and do what I can to isolate my wife's office, because she's a photographer, and by the time I can afford a house like this, we'll have enough artificial light that she wouldn't need natural light for her pictures. (I don't expect her to spend too much time in there anyways, unless she's editing pictures.) The other side would hold the master bedroom and a guest room, both equally as large, and with laundry chutes, but no dumb waiters connecting to the kitchen, because, by golly, if you're hungry, go downstairs. Also, even though the upstairs would be carpeted, I would make the floors rigid and thick enough that they didn't squeak... That's important to me as well.

Even though this is my dream house (and I've obviously put a lot of thought into it), there are many other things that I would want long before I even though of making this particular dream a reality, and few of these more important dreams are as physical as the house would be.

[Jill]

What is your dream house?

One that cleans itself!

[Naomi Matalon]

First of all, I would be thrilled to live in a freestanding house, rather than an apartment. I haven't given much thought to the details, other than certain essentials -- a master bathroom adjacent to the master bedroom, and one or more guest rooms with their own bathrooms. I dread having overnight guests because the lack of privacy in a one-bedroom apartment cramps my style, but with these additions it would be no problem. I hadn't thought of this before reading Adam's post, but an office for myself and another for my partner would be handy. i would also love to have a room dedicated to being a library.

[SamBeaven]

Freestanding house surrounded by trees, with a writing cabin for me. Inside there would be a nice little library with a good reading chair. I'd have an office inside for administrative work, but I'd use the library for research and the cabin for writing. The cabin would be out of range of the wireless connection and be free of distractions, containing a small bed in case I wanted a nap and a kitchenette.

[Shaden]

Any house would do for me at the moment

[Ellesse]

A penthouse.

[alexb5784]

My dream is to own two condos, one in Paris and another in New York City. I would like to buy both of them in terrible condition and then re-model them. But of course they have to be located in decent neighborhoods!

[Andrew Brunelle]

In my dream house, the bathroom is the biggest room, equipped with desks, bookshelves, and even an internet conncection. The rest of the house is pretty much standard, with a couple of bedrooms and a nice large living room. Maybe a home entertainment system for the bathroom, though, althoughy I do not want to be distracted while I'm doing my taxes...

[trekr5]

My dream house is a massive penthouse loft, decorated with modern classic furniture overlooking the San Francisco Bay.

I also own a modern loft in Jo'burg, South Africa and travel constantly on business between the two

My homes are empty waiting for me to occupy them..

State it and claim it!!!

[dgorila1]

I hope to build a concrete dome home for my next house (many years away most likely). I have researched all types of dome homes and other alternate construction methods extensively and feel a concrete dome home offers mutliple advantages, especially if it is partially underground.
- Ultra energy efficient. Very cheap to heat/cool.
- Almost indestructable and low/no maintenance. Impervious to hurricanes, tornados, the elements, storms, etc.
- High security, especially when designed correctly.
- Unimited interior design because all interior walls are non-load bearing walls.
- They blend in with the earth more than a regular stick built or box house.
- They're just plain neat!

Here are a few sites to check out:
www.aidomes.com
www.cloudhidden.org
www.earthshelter.com

My other, more "traditional" choices would be concrete insulated form construction or structural insulated panel system construction. Do a web search and you can find info on both types.

[RT Wolf]

My dream home is insane, would cost millions to build and be totally awesome.

Basically, it's a globe held up from the ground with a single pillar, in which there is also an elevator. It's in the forest, near a river (from which I get power) and the mountains, but in a part of the world that is mild in weather all year. Anyhoo, the house is in the middle of a round clearing with grass and flower gardens. There's a fence around the estate, and it's just forest outside that. There is no road access, however you could take a boat down the river to the nearest town, or hike for a few days in the forest. The normal way of getting to it will be by helicopter.

There are maybe four or five floors. The elevator lets you out of each one and there are entrances to each of the rooms there. The whole building's exterior is actually made of glass, but the kind that if you have electricity going thorugh it (or not through it--I don't remember which), it is opaque and probably white. If I can, it'd change colour throughout the day, from white at noon to black at night. And/or it's a one way mirror thingy, so I can see out but no one can see in. Lots of light in the whole place.

The whole place is ridiculously computerized and self-cleaning and the whole shebang. I think the coolest thing is that the rooms are all going to be round in shape and there's a projector mounte in the ceiling of each room and it swivels and projects on any wall in the room (since they're essentailly just one wall). The whole place looks super clean, no seams or edges. Most of hte stuff is invisible and/or hidden. For example, the desk won't come out from the wall unless I want it to.

Lots of space and stuff. It'd be awesome.

Funny how my dream home is totally isolated.

[Love]

Large windows overlooking a mountain... a nice deck. A cozy inside. Heaven.

[Marc Greve]

A blend between a New Orleans Mansion and a gigantic gothic castle, structured like Hogwarts in the movies.

Once I get my website up and running I'll post a video of it for you guys to marvel at.


Buy The Sims 2 and build your dreamhouse in it - the customization features are brilliant and it's much simpler than any interior decorating programs I've come across so far.
Do get a cheat code for unlimited cash though.

[aelle]

My dream house has a winter garden and good sun exposition to get lots of natural light. It's pretty small (feels more cosy ... and less efforts to clean and tidy ) and made mostly with natural materials.
The floor is wooden so that you can walk barefoot without getting cold. It has a great kitchen (I love to cook!) and in most rooms the walls are covered by bookshelves.

[Stu]

haha, thats a great idea Marc, I can never get my imagination going on these kinds of things, I have to see it.

[janlee]

My dream house would be a large, stand alone house with big gardens (love gardens) and beautiful big windows overlooking the gardens and the sea beyond...

I would have lots of cats in it, and a healing room, a study, lots of books, it would be painted in shades of white and cream... modern furniture..

with a peaceful, loving harmonious atmosphere...

somewhere i can dream, have space, listen to music, be myself.

I love the house Diane Keaton was in in Somethngs Gotta Give - hmmm - definitely a beautiful dream house that one... would just do me !!

love and light

janlee x

[pjgat09]

I've always had an indescribable fascination with the ocean. My dream home would be located in a small town near the ocean, where I can look out and see the ocean.

This house would be 2 stories (at least), with large windows on the higher floor. I would have at least 2 cats, because I love cats. It would also be rather automized, turning on/off lights when needed.

[taylor2]

a cabin in my woods.but also a separate building for all my books with a chair in it and a little heater or wood stove.so if i got a cabin in my woods...i could still have a place for all my books and crafts.and not have my husband throw out my books in the name of saving space.maybe 2 chairs so hubby could sit in there too and do his writing.

[bellbird]

My wonder-house would have typically round walls. As it is, my partner and I are in the process of buying a large property close to the sea. There is an existing house that needs organizing (type 60's) and I would love to turn it into an Italian/French feel where warm summers linger and grapes and flowers grow outside on the patio. Butterfly galore. Ofcourse we will have to add a veranda and bifold doors to let the outdoors in. At night it will be cozy with a heater. There will be art and books and cozy corners. The kitchen will be a place to gather and talk. The lightening will be great and the bathroom large with a freestanding and large tub (don't have one now and really miss it.) The bedroom will be comfortable and warm and will have a lovely view.
Outside in what is currently the sheep shearing shed we will build studios upstairs, one of them will be my place where I can go to paint, design and work. Opening out the french doors I will see animals (sheep, Scottish fuzzy cows and horses) walking the grass and chooks chattering amongst themselves. It will be great place to write and read. There will be trees on the property and grass and light. I would like to build a round area where a creative fountain will be build and we can sit beside under French plane(?) trees. There is a lake on the land so it will be nice to plant some trees around the edge and we can go swimming there. We would have people over quite regurarly and build cabines and rent them out as a retreat
I think I could be very happy living in a place like that...... It will be great to share with my partner. Private and quiet off the beating track and 4km from the beach, the sea glimmering in the distance.

[Stu]

All you would be architects might be interested in these two books. I havent read them but I hear very good things and Im saving them for the day I can afford to build a house.

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
The Timeless Way of Building