When I was a teenager in the 1990s, I thought that if you grew up and “made it”, you’d live in a colonial-ish house with a garage and a driveway, probably in a housing development.
Sorta like this one, from The Unoriginal Mom:
You raise your kids there, and live happily ever after, basically.
Obviously, that vision didn’t pan out for me; I lived in a split-foyer (my VERY LEAST favorite home design) from 2005-2022.
the foyer at my old house
Then I got divorced, and now I don’t even own a home. Ahahaha.
Anyway, I was thinking about how my idea of a dream home has changed. In fact, this past year I was biking by the type of neighborhood I used to dream of living in, and I noticed it held little appeal, given the new direction my life has taken.
I don’t have any immediate home-buying plans, but I thought it would be fun to describe my current dream house. And of course, I want to hear about your dream home too!
My dream home
The house I live in is actually not too far off from a type of home I’d consider my dream home, so it might sound like I’m describing my rental sometimes. 😉
the living room in my current rental house
Also, since this dream purchase is at least a few years in the future, I’m going to assume I’m empty-nesting.
I would love:
A small home
My dream home has a bedroom for me, plus an extra for guests, and one for my home office (we need a blogging headquarters, OKAYYYYY?)
But overall, the house should be on the small side. My dream is cute, right-sized, and not a ton of work to maintain.
A design that is not a split anything
I don’t want a split-foyer or a split-level or anything like that. A Cape Cod, a rancher, a cottage….I’m flexible in a lot of ways, but my dream home is nottttt a split style of any kind.
I refuse to settle on this.
A bathroom connected to my bedroom
I have only had this luxury once in my life, from 2000-2005, at my townhouse. So, my dream house has to have an en suite bathroom, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Two bathrooms
Since one of the bathrooms will be my private bathroom, I’m gonna need to put two bathrooms in my dream house.
Actually, you know what? Let’s do two full baths, plus a half bath for guests. I have never had a half bath! That would feel pretty fancy.
A porch
I have never had a porch, but I think homes with front porches are so lovely. And the porch will have ceiling fans to keep the bugs away. 🙂
Lots of windows
Light matters a lot to me! My rental house has a fair number of windows, but many of them have broken seals, which means they are cloudy.
So, my dream house has multiple large windows, and none of them has broken seals. 😉
A big front window
I love my living room window here! My dream home definitely needs one.
Wood floors throughout
I adore the classic look of wood floors, and I also like how easy it is to keep them clean.
My dream home is 100% carpet-free.
A garage
I’ve never had a garage in my adult life, and while it is not a strict necessity here in this climate, I would definitely feel a little like I’d arrived in life if I had a garage.
So, we’re gonna put one in my dream house.
A neighborhood with big trees
Trees are kind of a pain, what with the constantly falling branches and leaves, but to me, it is worth it. I prefer old neighborhoods that have big old trees growing, and my dream house is in one of those.
And bonus points if it’s one of those sort of disorganized neighborhoods, vs. a neatly planned-out development. I like the character of more random neighborhoods.
A house in an area I can walk in
I’m obviously not opposed to driving to nearby trails; I do it all the time. But I also like that at this house, I can just put my shoes on and go for a walk right from my front door; I even have a wooded trail I can walk to.
Here it is on a snowy day. So perfect, right??
So, we’ll add that as an adjacent feature to my dream home.
A house on a hill
I know that having a house up on a hill can be problematic, especially if you live in an area with high winds.
Regardless, I have always sort of wanted a house perched up at the top of a hill so I can have an expansive view available outside of my windows.
Also, it would be very good for sunrise/sunset viewing.
Will I ever get my dream house?
I don’t know! So much of my next five years feels uncertain, but I do hope one day, I will be able to buy a house with some of these features.
(I realize I may have to compromise on the hill situation.)
But for right now, I am unspeakably happy to be here in my little rental house because my life here is peaceful and free. That matters more than any shape, style, or feature.
My eyes filled with happy, relieved tears as I typed that; it still feels like a dream that I get to live here, that I never have to go back.
In that sense, THIS is my dream house. And since I never have to go back where I came from, every place I live from here on out will be some form of a dream house for me. 🙂
My heart is full of gratefulness.
