dream HOUSE...?

Well I'd need at least 4 bedrooms, one for each kid, our bedroom and a guest room. Preferably, we would have 8 or 10 bedrooms so all of my family could come stay if they wanted and not feel like they were putting us out. I would need at least 10 acres with 1 attached to the house fenced securely so my dogs could come and go as they pleased into their yard. I'd like a small lake or stream on the property or have the property backed onto a lake. I need a sauna and a pool, preferably inground or even indoors. The pool has to have a gradual entry so the dogs would be able to get in and out. Slate flooring throughout the main floor, granite on the countertops, very open concept. Far far back from the road with a locking gateway entrance so no traffic could come in to endanger my dogs or my children. Hmmmm.... what else? Skating rink in the winter? Good hill for sliding and plenty of trails for the dogsled. Oh and a maid and a groundskeeper to keep it all clean![]

Wow, I don't even know where to start with this one!  Within the US, I love the southeast, like Florida (Gulf side), but my more favorite place I've been is East Africa.  I love the people, the culture, the climate, the plants and animals....I also love their houses - they are made of cement, no drywall or wood, and everything is totally open because the climate is so warm.  If you are wealthy (as in, all of us here on iDog would be "wealthy" over there just by the fact that we can afford to have a pet and an Internet connection), you can afford a house with a yard that would have a wall around it and gardens inside the wall.  I don't know what kind of dogs they keep there, but I'd definitely want a larger yard so I can import dogs (for pets, not breeding) and have room for them to romp around.  My husband and I are planning on moving there (hopefully Arusha or Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) when our current pets die, so he can teach and I can work in the non-profit sector.  Sound weird, but I say that because it's such a process to move an animal internationally and I don't know if my cats would ever adjust.  Also, we want to establish ourselves here first, so if we ever come back, we have family and friends to come back to.

This is just a random home near dar es Salaam I found Google searching, but something like this:





This particular home is a small "middle-class" home and located 1km from the Indian Ocean *drools*

Another example:
 

so i've been mulling over my own question here....
 
i would pick a spot either "downeast" maine or somewhere mid-coast, like searsport, right on the coast.  i would like a small house built circa 1910, or perhaps a new house built in that style, as to be more energy effiecient.  hardwood floors, weathered shingles for the exterior.  a fireplace in every room, but small rooms.  cozy-like.  i don't care so much about a yard, but it would be nice.  shore access would be better.  proximity to a working harbor would also be important.  it would be nice to have a small barn or a separate garage (heated, of course) in which to work on the cars.....
 
and, of course, what would really make it my dream house is that it would be FREE![]

and, of course, what would really make it my dream house is that it would be FREE!

O I don't want my house to be free. I want someone to buy it for me and pay all the utilities, staff, groceries...[]

a staff would be nice....  perhaps i would build an army of robots in my heated garage!

Unfortunately I can't build acceptable robots out of wood or I'd try it too. but you do raise a good point. I need a nice big heated woodshop. I forgot to add that.

I guess my dream would be a beach house overlooking the pacific ocean.  Maybe Del Mar, La Jolla, Santa Monica, Malibu, Palos Verdes.  I want huge bay windows too.

I'd like a place at the end of a long driveway or its own road, sort of away from other people a bit. It's got a good bit of land, which is of course fenced, and a walk out basement out to the yard. There would be some indoor/outdoor dog runs. An inground kiddie sized pool for the dogs would also be nice. Inside the house I am not as concerned about. I'm thinking maybe 2 bedrooms would be plenty. 1 for me and the dogs, and a guest bedroom. Another room would bea sort of office/animal room, and would probably be the only room dogs might not be allowed in. In there I'd have all the computer stuff, modem, printer, etc., if I had a desktop it would be in there. More importantly, this is the room where I would have all my snakes, lizards, and some mice and rats to breed for feeders, if I decide to breed my own. The place would have 2 bathrooms, 1 for me, and 1 for the guests. 1 of them would have a jacuzzi tub. I'm not so concerned about the kitchen as long as it has one. I'd also like a 3 car garage, cause i'm think I may want 2 cars, and the third spot would be for tools, extra dog crates, and other good stuff like that.

My dream home...

For years I've planned it out with lots of details.  It's built into the west side of a mountain.  The mountain has a stream which provides fresh water and a little mill wheel which helps to provide power, of course the solar arrays are on the south side and they help to provide power and hot water.  There's a wood burning cookstove that provides heat, and a cooking surface as well as heating the water.  There's a couple of big airy rooms that share the west wall which is made of glass. 

All in all it's just a dream because I couldn't afford the mountain, which is a necessity.

Here's a pic of the house I have now.  I love it but I'd like to have one more bedroom.  Some trees need to go!  All of the land in the 2nd pic is now fenced in for my doggies!

This is fun!  I'll start with my dream view.  Here are a couple photos of our current view...8.5 acres, back porch facing foothills of the white mountains...the only thing I need to do for it be my dream is to add a custom barn and a couple of paddocks (coming in the next couple of years...priorities [8|]!).

We can see the sunset during the fall and winter months.





We have a ranch style home...what will change in the future to make this my dream home is to build a 2-car garage, large open breezeway, and add a long front porch.  Not only are we located near the mountains but we are near a very large lake.  I feel like we've hit the jackpot here!

ORIGINAL: badrap

i would pick a spot either "downeast" maine or somewhere mid-coast, like searsport,

How'd you get to TX, when you started off in your dream home locale?

I'm at the point now where I don't want a really big house, don't really need more than 3 bedrooms. I do like big bathrooms though. I definately like having 2 floors and a basement. I would like a good sized kitchen with a gas fireplace in it. I also like a lot of land, 20 acres at least. I really love New England and can't think of any where else I would want to move to. I also would have to have a farmers porch out front and a screened in attached porch out back. A built in pool is also a must complete with sexy pool boy.

a stucco and red tile roof house perched on a cliff overlooking the meditteranean sea along the amalfi coast. and a sailboat anchored in the marina below.

maybe like one of the ones closer to the top of the hill in the pic below...



second choice (close second)... a farmhouse in the tuscan country side.