what's your dream house and dream bedroom?

Good question. I'm house hunting at the moment and my dream house is modest but beyond my reach.

Sound proof bedroom is not on my list though. I love the sounds of outdoors coming in to the room and one of the things I miss the most from past homes is the sound of trains whizzing past in the night. Soothing.

I still live by a railway but it sees about ten trains a day and the main night noise now is cows mooing. Except in Januaryish when flocks of migrating geese spend the night cackling in the field.


But anyway. Dream house has stuff going on. A view with stuff in it. If I ever get that sea view I want, I want to see ships rolling along by.

I like four posters too but the wife is freaked out by the closed curtains, whereas I like them closed. They shroud the entire planet from view and that fires my imagination.

Ideal home has space. A massive well equipped kitchen, and a well stocked pantry.

There would be a telly room and a craft room and of course somewhere to write.

Most importantly it needs a nearby chippy, pub, Chinese, off license, and Indian restaurant. All in staggering distance.

This is a tough question that requires more thought.

On the tube a few years ago I saw a house that had its own piano bar. It was a big room that had a regular bar with stools by it. And it had little tables with chairs. And a grand piano. I thought it was such a great place to throw a party. Cocktail party, of course.

Sami, I like your house. Can I move in too?



When I was in high school I played with designing my dream house, and one feature was a library on top of a mountain (which I would own of course -- the mountain, that is.) This library, as I recall, was reached by means of an elevator which tunneled up through the center of the mountain.

The library had walls and ceiling of glass. Well, except for the walls that had books on them, books to the ceiling you reached with those rolling ladder things they have in old libraries. It was tough, bullet-proof glass, in case of things coming to break it. They couldn't, you see.

I realized that sun glare would be a problem if it were just clear glass so I invented polarized glass for myself not knowing it actually existed -- that would darken when the sunlight got too bright. Only, I had it on a dial control so the occupant of the room could choose how dark or clear to have the glass according to taste and preferences.

I've got a realistic dream house, and a fantasy I'm-a-billionaire dream house. The realistic dream house is a low, modernist pavilion on the edge of a beachside lagoon with a wooden deck jutting out over the water so the whole house appears it's floating in a lake of reeds. There's an infinity pool but the lagoon is also clean enough for swimming in. All the main rooms are open on both sides so the breeze can come through. On one side is a broad verandah, the other a landscaped courtyard with a koi pond. There's a huge gourmet kitchen of course. Lol, this is getting a bit specific. I Should complete my plan of designing it in google Sketchup.

My billionaire house is like the House Absolute from Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun: mostly underground with sprawling gardens on top. It has a huge map room with a three metre globe, a library with mezzanine and spiral staircase, a theatre/music room, and a genuine supervillain lair, amongst about a hundred other rooms.

My dream house would make The Rat Pack cry in envy. It would have an awesome game room with a regulation size pool table. The property brothers would wish they had created it.

Has anyone seen the movie Death Becomes Her? It's a Bruce Willis flick from the 90s. He and his wife (Meryl Streep) had an absolutely magnificent house. It was not to be believed. Yeah, that's what I want. With the piano bar.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and here's what I've come up with (regardless of how much money I have).

2-bedroom house, with a reasonable-sized living room, a modest kitchen, and a modest dining area, a small laundry, but a reasonably large bathroom.

In 1 bedroom: My bed, a cheapo computer set up for watching DVDs in bed, or else listening to music in bed, and probably a built-in wardrobe for clothes.

In bedroom 2: A drum kit, guitar and amp, bass guitar and amp, keyboard and stand, grandad's organ (which I get when he goes), and an electric violin; as well as storage for musical accessories (tuners, leads, etc.), and a laptop on a stand that can be rolled around the room, with a microphone and mic stand, for recording.

In living room: My main computer set-up, where I would write, play games, go online, and so on - and attached to a large-screen TV; a futon to be used as a 3-seater couch and an overnight-guests bed, my computer chair for extra seating; and then my books, CDs and DVDs on a couple of nice bookcases along one wall.

The kitchen doesn't need to be big, just big enough for a "standard" fridge/freezer combo (most energy efficient one available), gas cooktop with an electric oven, and just enough storage for the essentials.

Dining area: I've got my eye on a six-seater glass table that has this really nice semi-translucent black pattern in a strip down the centre (which also comes in a package that would give me 2 side tables in the same glass pattern, that could be used wherever in the house they are most useful). Don't need anything else, though perhaps a TV would be nice.

The laundry just needs a sink, a cupboard, and then an energy AND water-efficient washing machine (I don't need a dryer).

The bathroom I'm still undecided on, but I want a relatively large one because cramped bathrooms are annoying. Not sure whether the toilet would have its own room - it depends on how the floor plan for the house shakes out.

Extras: I'd also like numerous solar panels, 2 large rainwater tanks, and a U-shaped garden round the back and sides of the house, which would be engineered to be as environmentally-friendly as possible - but not a big one, as I'm not a gardener.

And I suspect that the whole lot would fit on a relatively small block of land.

ETA: However, being as this would be my dream house, I would want plenty of space between me and any neighbours, nearby to public transport and shops, but relatively secluded and quiet, and sound-proofing for the music room.

Oh, I forgot... I'd also want energy efficient wall-mounted heating and cooling in every major room. So, what, the 2 bedrooms, the large bathroom (makes more sense to also have the toilet in there if I'm having heating/cooling in there...), the living room, the kitchen and dining can share one, and... Well, I wouldn't put one in the laundry. I spend hardly any time in there.

So that's 5 wall-mounted heating/cooling systems. Now, I've looked at the prices, and I could buy 5 of those for about the same as getting central heating/cooling installed in the roof. But the wall-mounted wins, because I can then just use the one in the room I'm currently in, saving power.

Oh, and I'd probably want a 1-car garage, even though I don't drive. It would be for re-sale value if I ever got sick of the neighbourhood, or decided I wanted a bigger (or smaller) house in the future, and could be used for any storage needs I might have (such as gardening stuff maybe?) in the meantime.

Okay. I'm done. (Said the threadkiller...)

Any of these would do me just fine.

Hmmm... Dream home...

These are the pieces I've determined so far. (Bookshelf space in every room is a given here, so I'm not mentioning it. ) As more come to me, I'll add to it:

- LOTS of property, 6+ acres minimum, and property must have a creek/river/moving water on or within walking distance of it.
- 1500 to 2000 sq ft minimum spacing (though I'd be good with a max of 2500 until I have/adopt kids), 3-4 bedroom, 2-3 full bath, river stone or red brick exterior
- Detacted two car garage with loft over top for Workshop/writing space (Not included in the above space requirement)
- full unfinished basement (Could turn part into a great room)
- At least one functional brick fireplace
- a decent sized kitchen with island
- a solarium or breakfast nook that faces east, preferrably with built-in bookshelves
- This is going to sound weird, probably, but it needs to be older, so it has history and character
- Hardwood or tile floors prefer real wood as opposed to laminate. Carpet is nice in select areas, but I prefer the hardwood.
- I like multilevel homes, but not sure about split level.
- pocket doors if possible, or convertable to have pocket doors -- more bookshelf space if you don't have to account for the swing of a door.
- a 3/4 wrap around porch - with only a portion enclosed, maybe attached to the breakfast nook/solarium, basically space to let my kitties have outdoor space without being outdoors

My dream house is less about the house itself than it is about location--and a little bit of space in this crowded city. The bedroom, nice size with a great view, whether of the ocean or skyline or just something interesting--actually, scratch that on the ocean view. I had it once, an apartment in Venice and it had a lonely feel to it. I'm hearing the theme song from the old sitcom, Green Acres, right now. "Dahlink, I love you but gimme Park Avenue."

House is relatively unimportant. But I'd like to live on the banks of Loch Tay with big picture windows everywhere.

Ideal bedroom would have windows on three sides with panoramic views. Apart from that as long as it has a little bit of land and good heating a shack would do.

Usher, you must be more self- what? Reliant? Sufficient? Entertained? Than I am. I do love the water. When I go to the beach my head's a dot on the blue horizon. But at night? I donno, the vacuum is a bit much for me. But I just googled Loch Tay and it sure is gorgeous during the day.

My dream house isn't just one place. I would want several different places all over the world so if I ever get bored of one I can just move somewhere else.

My Dream House is one that is:

1. Paid for

2. Has an obscenely gigantic walk-in, sit-down closet that is mine ALL mine.

3. Comes with a Maid, a Chef and a Chauffer

Not so much a dream home but home in dreams is almost always the house I grew up in and often there is often a forgotten room that I rediscover that makes no sense.

Back to my ideal home. The garden would be semi landscaped and lined with trees for privacy, but it's hill Top location would command views of seas and cities and hills.

On a hot day I'd be able to sit listening to the trees sway and the babble of water from a cascading water feature and watch the clouds roll by.

I would give my pinky ( never liked it though) for bedroom like that.