My Dream House

So, yesterday as I walked I needed a pick me up, so I visualized the house of my dreams – a beautiful Arts & Craft or Craftsman style house. God, I love that style. So much so, that for my last birthday I asked for a book on Bungalow houses – it’s like architectural porn. I just flip through and ogle the woodwork and nooks and fireplaces. This is actually nothing new for me, in junior high I would go to the library and read Architectural Digest and magazines and books about designing and landscaping. Then I graduated to going to the department stores to scope out flat wear and cutlery for everyday and special occasions. Sometimes I would even make a pass through bedding to look at linens and duvets.

But back to the house. It would have warm wood interiors with alcoves and breakfast nooks. Small stained glass windows depicting nature or landscapes. Two floors and an attic which could be used as another room – I’d have some big chests up there where I would keep my collection of Indian skirts that have gone past the point of wearing so I could pull them out from time to time and look at the embroidery. I would have a large slightly roughly hewn dining room table, and the walls of the dining room might be a dark green color. I would have a fireplace and a piano in the living room.

I would have central heating and air conditioning and a washer and dryer. That probably seems trivial, but that’s how I always said I’d know if I made it – if I had a house with those things.

The backyard would have a heated swimming pool that went at least 8 feet deep (for diving) and enough shallow space to do handstands without worrying about hitting your feet against the sides when you fall over. I’d have a hammock. There would be enough lawn to set up a badminton net. I would have enough distance to set up a compact archery target or traditional bulls eye target and shoot at least 20 yards. I’d also have several redwood trunk slices mounted for knife throwing practice. There would be big shady trees, and a Hass avocado tree and an orange tree would be a nice addition, although not completely necessary. I would grow tomatoes, cucumbers, rosemary, parsley, cilantro, and maybe mint at the very least. Selected garden flowers like roses and sunflowers would be mixed in with wildflowers like poppies, and I would let some of the grass grow wild and uncut so that I could turn my back on the house and pretend I was in the great outdoors. There would be a big table outside to have sunny breakfasts and dusky dinners at. It would probably be covered in tile – either colorful Tuscan tile or a French countryside pattern of small blue flowers on off-white. White lights and lanterns would be hung from the trees year-round.

I’d have a guest house that could be for actual guests (maybe with a Murphy bed – those are way cool!), but otherwise used as a work out room or art studio, because it would have big windows with lots of sunlight and a wooden floor. If there wasn’t an actual guest house, I would like a small yurt! I saw a house listing once that said “full sized yurt in the backyard” – that just seemed like a cozy fun thing to have – but I don’t know how much space you’d need for that.

There would be a front yard as well, with more shady trees, and a big wall covered in ivy to block out the street. Because I don’t like when you are walking down the street and you can just see all into people’s houses and they’re there watching TV – that’s just weird. Behind the wall, my house would be like a world of its own. Oh, and on one of the trees in the front yard, I’d have a swing! I’d also have a fountain either made out of stones or with little statues. AND A WIND CHIME!!!!! Yeah, those are always nice.

Understandably, I got so involved in this beautiful dream that at times on the walk, I would realize I had fallen silent, and then have to sing extra loud to make up for it. But I think it’s important to have an idea in your head about what you want so you can try to make it happen.