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My dream house

My dream house would have to be designed by me. I'd recycle from turn of the century (last century 1900 era) wood. Love that craftsmanship and the wood flooring used wider slats back then. Very attractive. Steel roofing and brick siding with 360 degree wrap around porches. With all my windows covered by porch eaves that there eliminates the worst damage houses take from weather around sills as well as sun damage while steel roofing will last my lifetime. This also allows me to open the windows in a rain storm for fresh cross breezes with the wonderful smell of rain.

Geothermal heating and cooling in the floor. Solar PV covering my south facing roof. My own well water supply and my own septic. Grey water retrieval system for watering plants and yard.

All sorts of other goodies that I'm not thinking of off hand at the moment.
 
DiAnna said:
We designed our own home and had it built 20+ years ago on rural acreage, paid for with cash gleaned from selling a 30 yr old fixer-upper with a great location in a seller's market. We had created scale floorplans, top floor to half-basement, two attached two-car garages (one for cars and one for husby's shop). Watching it come to life was something that I will always remember.

I still love this house, the open space, the vaulted ceilings, the wonderful traffic flow from front door to living/dining, staircase, my office, or kitchen/family room. I love my spacious laundry/kitteh box area, huge pantry, central kitchen island and great view.

Too bad I married a hoarder who filled up every flat surface in the house, his entire shop, shed and garage, with useless crap. Sometimes I wish it would burn down so we could build this great house again... without 20+ years of useless accumulations of stuff that has never and will never be used. *sigh*
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This sounds like my dad. About ten years ago, my mom and dad built a huge house on ten acres. 4400 sq ft, and built an out building with the intent on that being my dad's workshop. The Damn thing is chock full of antique furniture waiting for restoration, and miscellaneous other crap. Their basement is the same way.

I told my mom that I hope they have someone non-related to settle their estate when they pass...cause I'm not doing it. Too much crap. She told me since I was the oldest, I'd have to do it.

Right. Auction company here I come. I'm not about to argue with my two younger siblings about what needs to be done with my dad's "collection".

He wasn't this bad when we were younger, but my grandfather was the same way. A collector of mass proportions.
 
Tucker Case said:
I find that life in the city allows for far more privacy than living in more "open" areas does. People aren't as nosy when there's a lot more to do. Where my family comes form in Ireland is as rural as rural gets, but everyone's pretty much up everyone else's ass all the time and everyone knows everyone else's business.

Here in Chicago, I see some of my neighbors no more than once ever three or four weeks and I know about 4 of their names. Get some curtains/blinds, and people won't know **** about you.
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I have to agree with Tucker even though I don't much care for the 'privacy' aspect of urban living. We've had the condo here in Palm Beach for 10 years and I know five of my fellow residents, out of 100. At our cottage on a Maine island, it is true that everybody knows everything about every other person. Most of the word is passed on the ferry to and from the mainland. Being there in the winter is when you really get to know people, there are only about 300 - 350, including kids, who live on the island year round.
 
TheGirlNextDoor said:
This sounds like my dad. About ten years ago, my mom and dad built a huge house on ten acres. 4400 sq ft, and built an out building with the intent on that being my dad's workshop. The Damn thing is chock full of antique furniture waiting for restoration, and miscellaneous other crap. Their basement is the same way.

I told my mom that I hope they have someone non-related to settle their estate when they pass...cause I'm not doing it. Too much crap. She told me since I was the oldest, I'd have to do it.

Right. Auction company here I come. I'm not about to argue with my two younger siblings about what needs to be done with my dad's "collection".

He wasn't this bad when we were younger, but my grandfather was the same way. A collector of mass proportions.
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My dad had many " collections " also.

He grew up during the depression so I always figured that was a part of why he was like that.
Mom was able to keep most of collections under control but after she died it became worse.
Dad survived my mom for 12 years and added to his collections. A lot of it was in the basement and attic so we were unaware until after he died how bad it had gotten.

I think that when people get older it becomes harder for them to part with things...those things seem to represent memories for them.
 
minnie616 said:
My dad had many " collections " also.

He grew up during the depression so I always figured that was a part of why he was like that.
Mom was able to keep most of collections under control but after she died it became worse.
Dad survived my mom for 12 years and added to his collections. A lot of it was in the basement and attic so we were unaware until after he died how bad it had gotten.

I think that when people get older it becomes harder for them to part with things...those things seem to represent memories for them.
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My dad just retired last year, and it seems to have gotten worse. He's bought an antique tractor (no clue why), a golf cart (he says this is so he can peruse the property.. Haha) and three motorcycles. He's had a motorcycle for years.that he still rides , but now he says he's going to "fix these two up" and sell them.

I think he's driving my mother insane.
 
poweRob said:
My dream house would have to be designed by me. I'd recycle from turn of the century (last century 1900 era) wood. Love that craftsmanship and the wood flooring used wider slats back then. Very attractive. Steel roofing and brick siding with 360 degree wrap around porches. With all my windows covered by porch eaves that there eliminates the worst damage houses take from weather around sills as well as sun damage while steel roofing will last my lifetime. This also allows me to open the windows in a rain storm for fresh cross breezes with the wonderful smell of rain.

Geothermal heating and cooling in the floor. Solar PV covering my south facing roof. My own well water supply and my own septic. Grey water retrieval system for watering plants and yard.

All sorts of other goodies that I'm not thinking of off hand at the moment.
Click to expand...


You need to study up on house history a bit more. In the early 1900s, most home flooring was done with planks even narrower than what is common today. Wide plank flooring is found in colonial and pre-Civil War structures in East Coast urban areas but by the 1870s-80s, industrial sawmills were turning out standard size boards for construction. Search online for companies that offer salvaged boards that can be used for flooring. There are also companies that salvage 'stuff' from buildings that are being torn down. Here's one we have worked with in the past - Portland Architectural Salvage We bought stuff like antique door knobs, stained glass windows, stair railings etc.

You can find wide plank flooring in rural areas and sections of the Old West from the early 1900s but generally things were becoming standardised by that period. In the early 1900s, kit homes became popular with Sears, Roebuck & Co selling more than 70,000 between 1908 and 1940


Aluminum roofing lasts longer than steel and looks the same. I think it is what we will be installing on our next cottage. Siting of a new construction is important with all of the factors you noted. Ground preparation is obviously a big deal for locating a septic system - have to ensure that there won't be contamination of ground water. Solar panels on the roof plus a hook up to the local grid that will allow you to feed back excess power generated by the panels. Roof overhangs will vary according to your latitude, how far north or south you live. Southern homes will need larger overhangs than northern. Northern homes should have lots of glass on the southern side for solar warming in the winter. the list goes on and on
 
Somerville said:
You need to study up on house history a bit more. In the early 1900s, most home flooring was done with planks even narrower than what is common today. Wide plank flooring is found in colonial and pre-Civil War structures in East Coast urban areas but by the 1870s-80s, industrial sawmills were turning out standard size boards for construction. Search online for companies that offer salvaged boards that can be used for flooring. There are also companies that salvage 'stuff' from buildings that are being torn down. Here's one we have worked with in the past - Portland Architectural Salvage We bought stuff like antique door knobs, stained glass windows, stair railings etc.

You can find wide plank flooring in rural areas and sections of the Old West from the early 1900s but generally things were becoming standardised by that period. In the early 1900s, kit homes became popular with Sears, Roebuck & Co selling more than 70,000 between 1908 and 1940


Aluminum roofing lasts longer than steel and looks the same. I think it is what we will be installing on our next cottage. Siting of a new construction is important with all of the factors you noted. Ground preparation is obviously a big deal for locating a septic system - have to ensure that there won't be contamination of ground water. Solar panels on the roof plus a hook up to the local grid that will allow you to feed back excess power generated by the panels. Roof overhangs will vary according to your latitude, how far north or south you live. Southern homes will need larger overhangs than northern. Northern homes should have lots of glass on the southern side for solar warming in the winter. the list goes on and on
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Informative post. :thumbs:
 
TheGirlNextDoor said:
This sounds like my dad. About ten years ago, my mom and dad built a huge house on ten acres. 4400 sq ft, and built an out building with the intent on that being my dad's workshop. The Damn thing is chock full of antique furniture waiting for restoration, and miscellaneous other crap. Their basement is the same way.

I told my mom that I hope they have someone non-related to settle their estate when they pass...cause I'm not doing it. Too much crap. She told me since I was the oldest, I'd have to do it.

Right. Auction company here I come. I'm not about to argue with my two younger siblings about what needs to be done with my dad's "collection".

He wasn't this bad when we were younger, but my grandfather was the same way. A collector of mass proportions.
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If you live long enough you will probably accumulate alot of crap too. It is part of getting older and forgetting to cleanout closets and storage once in a while.
 
Rocketman said:
If you live long enough you will probably accumulate alot of crap too. It is part of getting older and forgetting to cleanout closets and storage once in a while.
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I already have a lot of crap. :D
 
I feel like I'm living in my dream house now. Realistically I don't think this house will be beneficial to us in our latter yrs since it's 3500 SQFT. I don't think I'll be able to manage a house this size in my 60's 70's or 80's.
 
a house near water
 
We're still in our first house, a 4 bedroom, 2 bath split on a half acre. We love the house but Lately I've been enamored with the idea of a home with a center courtyard, perhaps when my kids are out and on their own.........
 
Somerville said:
You need to study up on house history a bit more. In the early 1900s, most home flooring was done with planks even narrower than what is common today. Wide plank flooring is found in colonial and pre-Civil War structures in East Coast urban areas but by the 1870s-80s, industrial sawmills were turning out standard size boards for construction. Search online for companies that offer salvaged boards that can be used for flooring. There are also companies that salvage 'stuff' from buildings that are being torn down. Here's one we have worked with in the past - Portland Architectural Salvage We bought stuff like antique door knobs, stained glass windows, stair railings etc.

You can find wide plank flooring in rural areas and sections of the Old West from the early 1900s but generally things were becoming standardised by that period. In the early 1900s, kit homes became popular with Sears, Roebuck & Co selling more than 70,000 between 1908 and 1940


Aluminum roofing lasts longer than steel and looks the same. I think it is what we will be installing on our next cottage. Siting of a new construction is important with all of the factors you noted. Ground preparation is obviously a big deal for locating a septic system - have to ensure that there won't be contamination of ground water. Solar panels on the roof plus a hook up to the local grid that will allow you to feed back excess power generated by the panels. Roof overhangs will vary according to your latitude, how far north or south you live. Southern homes will need larger overhangs than northern. Northern homes should have lots of glass on the southern side for solar warming in the winter. the list goes on and on
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Probably right. I was under the impression turn of the century flooring was wide plank while wall and ceiling wood were narrow slats.
 
There are still a few of those all metal kit homes in my area. I have been in one. They are interesting but not for me. They are really small and the reason there are not more of them around is because they had a tendency to go up in flames from what I was told. I wouldn't be afraid to build a kit home if I lived in the place where they were not such code Nazi's already as they are trying to drive up property values to increase revenue without undertaking the political unpopular step of raising taxes.
 
TheGirlNextDoor said:
I love old things, and that includes houses. Modern houses just don't have the character. I collect antique furniture and that doesn't always "fit" in a newer house.

I pass these houses every day going to work.


One of these days! :D
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Do you have any idea of the plumbing, electric, insulation, dry rot and foundation issues you would be getting into?
 
Lutherf said:
The Organic and Japanese styles such as Wrights Fallingwater are awesome. I love the idea of combining natural features into the architecture and large windows to tie the interior and exterior together.
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I came away from Falling Water wth the idea that it was a beautiful piece of sculpture and the most unliveable house I had ever seen.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
Thanks Lutherf, it's a simple house for a simple man. Most people would consider it a vacation cabin but it's our dream home.
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Bah.."house" means vacuuming and mowing the lawn. I'll take a home with family and memories over that any day. Besides, nothing creates memories quite like doing it yourself!
 
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