Yesterday, pretty much out of nowhere, Poppy said, "I would like to live in a mansion."
Okay.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because it would have so much SPACE!"
Yes. That it would. My first thought--and response to that--was that also all the SPACE needs to be CLEANED. This being my experience at Blackrock, which is not a technically a mansion, but is also not a normal house.
Poppy acknowledged the truth of that, and then she asked me what my dream house would be like.
This is a fun question. I will answer it here for you now.
I like stone houses. Not brick. Stone. They just look nicest to me. They also have excellent insulating properties, and tend to be cool in summer, warm in winter.
I like one-story houses, BUT, I also like the bedrooms to be separated from the living areas in some way. My current set-up of having my bedroom open out to the kitchen is not ideal for me. Stairs serve the function of separation in a two-story house, but so do courtyard-style houses.
Houses built around courtyards are my favorite style. You can have wings of the house that are far enough away from the living areas to be private without having stairs. And then, of course, you have a courtyard, which are the perfect outdoor spaces.
I like doors in the interior of houses. These open-plan houses that are so common now are not for me. I like to be able to close and open doors as needed.
Although I acknowledge its utility, I do not like heating with wood, and my dream house would be heated electrically. I know this requires depending on the electrical grid, and thus comes with a lack of independence, but I really don't enjoy messing around with wood, propane, natural gas, or anything else.
I do like propane fireplaces, though. They're nice. Clean, and they provide the cozy atmosphere of a fire.
I like carpet in bedrooms, but rugs and wood floors everywhere else.
I don't like those open showers that have become so popular. I like contained bathrooms, with the shower and tub together. It's nice if the toilet is in a separate alcove, though.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you're probably getting the idea.
So! How about you? What is your dream house?
I watch ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY . It is a show from England. The houses there are just what you are describing. That also is why I watch it.Those houses also last hundreds of years.
ReplyDeleteThe open shower (not connected to a tub) is intended to be accessible to the aged and those using wheelchairs and walkers. They usually have grab bars and benches built into them. Tubs don’t work in these situations.
ReplyDeleteI like my house, but I'd love to have a mudroom off the kitchen with washer /dryer , big sink, lots of space for hanging backpacks, coats, etc. And an office for my husband where he can sit in comfort to work, and a good sized workroom for his tools. (Though we will probably move most tools to the garage once that is finished. )
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with you - too many rooms means a lot of cleaning to be done! Four bathrooms sound good in theory, but imagine the scrubbing!
I like your idea of a courtyard house - one wing for kitchen , dining, mudroom, maybe family room, another wing for bedrooms and office. I also like rooms with doors that close. The noise and smells from the kitchen don't have to go to the whole house. And maybe a screened-in porch or sun room.
I want to get rid of all the rugs in our house, and maybe have just a few area rugs near beds to help keep feet warm in the winter. Not happening any time soon though.
For me, smaller houses trump big houses every time. Less space to clean, cheaper to cool and heat.
ReplyDeleteRight now we have a pretty nice house. It's about 1600 sq feet but we fit six people and a bossy cat comfortably in it.
What I like about the house: TILE floors throughout the main area and dining room. Not laminate. Not wood. I've experienced enough splintery wood floors and peeling laminate. Tile is great and easier to keep clean. We put rugs down where we want.
The kitchen is small but we've made the adjacent small laundry room into a second kitchen, with a butcher block table, an extra hotplate, a fridge and a microwave.
My ideal house would be like this one but with more windows. I love opening windows and getting cross-breezes, and this house isn't quite designed like that. It would have one more bedroom with a door--our bedroom has no door and the cat likes to wake us up at 5. We're working on a fix for that.
And maybe more closets. I'm absolutely FINE with not having a basement; all they do is flood. And attics invite bats. I'm a bit of a hobbit; give me a one-story house with no stairs and a nice pantry and I'm good to go.
We have bats in our attic- so we mostly ignore it. We don't go up there and hopefully they keep the mosquitoes down. Our basement is for storage and tornado warnings. If you live in Tornado Alley, a basement is really important.
DeleteHowever, I'm with you on closets and cross ventilation!
One comment about your dream house: things like open showers are life savers when you break a leg or get old or are sick from chemo and don't have the strength to climb in and out of a tub. If you build your dream house, make the doors wider so that they can accommodate wheelchairs should you break a leg or get old or be so weak you cannot walk from chemo. Stairs become your enemy if you get disabled or grow old.
ReplyDeleteAfter many years in a very old house, and freezing in the winter, we have electric heat and a propane fireplace. It is absolutely delightful to be warm in the living areas, but keep the bedrooms cool. and we have doors to all the other rooms and upstairs, but everything I need is on one floor.
ReplyDeleteI like two stories so that I can see birds and leaves outside my bedroom, and so that I can keep my legs strong by going up and down stairs. Any BIG house should come with a staff, and I mean a cleaner, not a walking stick. MIL
ReplyDeleteThis topic is far too interesting for me to condense into a comment. It's good food for thought and possibly post fodder, if ever I have a moment to daydream enough to write again.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, as a stone house person, you may enjoy the content of this page: www.facebook.com/BluestemStoneworks
They disassemble and reassemble-for-reuse old Kansas limestone houses, and also repair buildings and build new homes and buildings. Unbelievably cool.