Components of your dream house

[bhodi]

Just a list of shit that you'd buy if you had a lot of money and somewhere to put it. A materialistic orgasm, if you will. I'll start it off:


The Aquapetics luxury steam shower.


It has two handheld nozzles, mirrors, 8 side jets, a radio, an LCD TV, MP3 input, 6mm of tempered glass, a heater pump, steam generator, an alarm, 6 more jets, overhead lights, back accupuncture massage, a massage tub, towel racks, foot massage, ventilation fans and speakers. For the low price of $4300 (actually, pretty low!)

[schild]

$4300 for that much comfort is a damned steal. Now on my list.

Edit: Of course, I'm not sure I'm willing to pay for that through paypal through what looks to be a fake website with renders.

[NowhereMan]

Man and I though the shower in my house a couple of years ago was fancy because it had some lights and a radio (which was broken) built in.

edit: To contribute, I think I'd prefer to have a good quality wet room to that, with one of those tubs built into the floor. Of course that would probably end up costing a hell of a lot more.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Wow. 

[Trippy]

back accupuncture massage

I smell a lawsuit after somebody gets poked to death by the needles.

[Mrbloodworth]

back accupuncture massage

I smell a lawsuit after somebody gets poked to death by the needles.

Or slips during the poking.....

[Cyrrex]

back accupuncture massage

I smell a lawsuit after somebody gets poked to death by the needles.

Or slips during the poking.....

Or attempts to get a nutsack massage...

[bhodi]

It's just needle jets, high pressure water, a good showerhead has the same thing. And I'm not totally sure it's legit, but who cares, it is in my dream.

[Trippy]

I knew that, I was making a joke at their use of the word "acupuncture".

[Mrbloodworth]

That web site is horribly put together, and the hosting seems to NOT want to show you all the images.

[Nebu]

All it needs is a urinal.

 

[Merusk]

The problem with composite, single-unit ANYTHING is, if one piece of it breaks you're looking at a lovely repair bill, or having a useless piece in your unit. (Like NowhereMan's useless shower radio.)

Plus it's fucking ugly. 


My list:  Multi-zone HVAC system
3-person jacuzzi tub
Custom Kohler Shower system
PEX tubing
Web-Joist construction
Summer Room w/ Retractable Window Wall

Really, though. Despite  working in the industry I don't have a long list of house wants.  I know I'll never afford it and only see such large houses as wastes of material and over the top materialism, so I don't dream much beyond hitting the 3k sq. ft. mark or having a basement at this point. 

[Ookii]

For the low price of $4300 (actually, pretty low!)

How much is installation and delivery?

[schild]

For the low price of $4300 (actually, pretty low!)

How much is installation and delivery?

Over $8900.

[Sky]

That thing wouldn't be anywhere near my dream house. I'm an old english manor type, give me a vast library with a roaring fireplace, secret passages, lots of stairs and a maze of twisty passages, which I'll leave unlit.

[Broughden]

That thing wouldn't be anywhere near my dream house. I'm an old english manor type, give me a vast library with a roaring fireplace, secret passages, lots of stairs and a maze of twisty passages, which I'll leave unlit.

Exactly! With one of those rolling wooden ladders in the library that rolls along the library shelves!

Like the Biltmore Estate library.






Check this place out $22 million for 42,000 square feet. Yes I said 42,000, with three zeroes. No its not my dream, simply something I found while searching for Biltmore estate library pics.
http://www.larryhotz.com/blog/evans-ridge-estate/

[Signe]

That thing wouldn't be anywhere near my dream house. I'm an old english manor type, give me a vast library with a roaring fireplace, secret passages, lots of stairs and a maze of twisty passages, which I'll leave unlit.

You would love my in-law's house.  It's not an old English manor house, though.  It's a big stone house on a hill, overlooking the Clyde.  Tons of beautiful old wood, lots of rooms although I'm not sure about secret ones, nearly all of them have a fireplace.  In the kitchen is an Aga, which still heats the whole house with hot water, fueled by coal and wood.  There are book shelves and beautiful old book cupboards, not just in the study, but pretty much everywhere.  It only has about an acre lot that they own, but the homes aren't built close together.  I find it very very cold in the winter.  Even when I'm sitting next to a roaring fire sometimes I can't stop shivering - except for the kitchen which always feels nice and warm.  Here is what heats their house:



I can seriously see you living in a house like that.  Me?  I like wide open spaces spaces, modern and updated.  I do have a soft spot for Art Deco, especially French.  Righ probably enjoys your style a wee bit more than mine, actually.  He likes his old family house a lot.  I'd probably gut it, modernise everything, stuff it full of French Art Deco and Rennie Mackintosh furniture.    

[IainC]

I'd probably gut it, modernise everything, stuff it full of French Art Deco and Rennie Mackintosh furniture.    

I didn't know Apple made furniture?

Somewhat more on topic, my new apartment is awesome like that, it's a 1200 sq ft duplex attic flat in a ~300 year old building so it has a lot of exposed beams, funny wall angles and so forth however it has been pretty tastefully modernised and made into an airy and pleasant place to live with a lot of character. Pictures are here.

[bhodi]

That's really quirky. I imagine you hit your head on that beam on that hallway. The guest bedroom looks bigger than the main! It looks really nice though, vaulted ceilings really make the place look huuuuge.

I personally want a modern-style house made of glass that overlooks a forest. You see them every once in a while on home & garden shows. The one I'm thinking of I saw recently on a 'amazing pools' type show, it was a open-floorplan house with one entire wall made of glass and a long but fairly narrow indoor/outdoor pool overlooking said woods, extended out into space with an infinity edge.

My dream house definitely has a heated pool with an infinity edge. For those who aren't familiar with the term, an infinity edge is a pool who's water overlaps the top and is recaptured in a catchpocket out of sight. This gives the illusion of the pool abruptly stopping as if by magic and is used most often on oceanfront pools to give people the illusion they are swimming in the ocean (without all that salt water/jellyfish hassle)

[Yegolev]

I have been through this when I built my house.  The things I actually managed to get was a hot tub on the screened-in porch that was sunk into the deck (actually a bad idea) and having two shower heads.  I don't actually use the second shower head most of the time, but that's because it is in the wrong place.

Things I did not get include a "batpole" going from my office upstairs to the garage.  I find that I should have put an electrical outlet on the kitchen island.  Tile backsplash behind the stove.  Attic fan (might install one this year, TBD once I know if I have a job and how much money I get for it).  Awnings in two places.  Turns out most of the things are kind of normal.  Except the secret passages and the gun mount.

The workshop, I did get it but it was all fucked up because I let the wife and the builder take care of it while I was working.  The workshop was going to be simply a separate room in the garage.  It was wired with 4-way outlets and plenty of juice.  One day my wife calls up and says that they were thinking the attic of the garage was huge and would be wasted, how about we put in some stairs and we can use it?  Sounded good on the phone.  What I found, however, was that the workshop had lost about one third of itself due to a huge traditional staircase.  I was thinking something like one of those prebuilt metal spiral jobs.  There are outlets under the stairs.  There is no room to build proper worktables along the walls, except in the back.  I asked them both how I was supposed to get lumber into the new upstairs workshop (which had just a few two-way outlets and shit particleboard floor) and the solution was to cut a hole in the ceiling of the garage.  The lesson here, kids, is that everyone working in the construction industry is a cockgobbling retard that deserves to be punched in the balls until they shit their pants.

[Sky]

I call vacation "contractor babysitting". If you're not on-site, even a good contractor will fuck things up.

Plan is to start the library next spring. This year I'm hoping just to get it painted and some cheap shelving in place and work on my wood shop, build a bench and get a few power tools. Then next year get a plumber to set up the gas fittings for the fireplace, rip out the walls and insulate/sheet rock it. Move the electric heater to a sensible spot, right now it spans the only long wall, I'll put two units under the windows. Then build in some shelves, because the space is too small and windowed to do much with bought shelves.

If we do a second-story addition, I hope to open up the ceiling and have a two-story library with a balcony and spiral staircase, but that's just in the wishland.

Yeg: my garage has a home-made staircase that hinges up flush with the ceiling. It's heavy as hell and can probably use a v2.0 redo, but the basics of it are sound and it's a great idea. You get a real staircase without losing any space.

My dream house would have a huge open space traversed by rope swinging, with little hammock spots by windows (20' off the floor) instead of reading niches. Also a pool with a climbing wall next to it.

[Nebu]

Reading these posts made me come to a clear realization.  I work in a field that you don't really get to choose where you live (well... unless you're a star).  I find that my ideal home is one based more on location than on construction.  Give me a small, rustic house on a lake with mountains in the background and I'll be a very happy man.  Anything else is gravy. 

[Stewie]

The woman and I have our "when we win the lotto" house all planned out with a bar in the basement that has a glass wall that behind it that shows through to the pool.
I also want slides and a Sharp 108 for the mancave portion of he house 

[Yegolev]

Ah, I forgot about the underground bunker.  Technically that's not part of the house, though.

[Sky]

Give me a small, rustic house on a lake with mountains in the background and I'll be a very happy man.  Anything else is gravy. 

Amen. That's what sold me on my house. I like the place, it's cozy and got a non-traditional layout (originally two buildings in 1930, joined in the 40s best I can guess). But it's got a massive lot for the city and trees on two sides, dead-end street, great neighbors. Driving home last night I realized there's only two houses on my entire street that have garages as large as mine, I'm really in a great spot especially if I improve the lot a bit.

Finishing the basement is something I hope I can fit in the five year plan. The drums and weight bench will go down there pretty soon, if things stay dry this spring.

[Samwise]

(edit) I'm pretty sure my entire house could fit in either of those rooms.

[bhodi]

See, i just think that's ugly. I hate that style of decoration.

[schild]

That second one? The only one who should be living in that is...

Ok, harder time finding Leonidas from South Park than I thought.

I like the *idea* of old libraries and such like the ones posted above, but really, they come across as being owned by stuffy old assholes who collect books rather than read them and would spend their wealth on things that makes it look like they have some sort of important heritage and life beyond their giant prison.

In short, No.

If I had my way, I'd have a giant warehouse with movable dividers and a very, very modern kitchen. Also, possibly, something that I could turn on and off that would spit fire at unwanted guests.

[IainC]

Also, possibly, something that I could turn on and off that would spit fire at unwanted guests.

I have one of those. We've been married for six years now.

[NowhereMan]

See I would absolutely love to live in a house with an old library like that. I'd probably like a smaller one since I'd like to think I could read at least a significant proportion of the books but I would fucking love to do so in that kind of room with nice leather armchairs.

I could do it wearing a smoking jacket

[Merusk]

  I find that I should have put an electrical outlet on the kitchen island. 

NEC and IRC requires this, actually, and I'm surprised you don't have at least one.  Most local building codes are starting to require multiples for the 'oversized' islands that are popular these days.  

The lesson here, kids, is that everyone working in the construction industry is a cockgobbling retard that deserves to be punched in the balls until they shit their pants.

Fuck you too!  

Actually, most of the field guys went into the job at 17 or 18 after blowing-off high school. Educmacated they are not so I'm, unfortunatly, not surprised of your low opinion of them.  The "good" guys are all hired by Commercial construction firms, the next tier (or those who hate commercial) go into production housing, then the guys who can't hack that, or say "fuck you I know how to swing a hammer. You can't tell me how to build!  I do NOT need to put more wood under that load!" open their own small builder firm.

[Broughden]

Reading these posts made me come to a clear realization.  I work in a field that you don't really get to choose where you live (well... unless you're a star).  I find that my ideal home is one based more on location than on construction.  Give me a small, rustic house on a lake with mountains in the background and I'll be a very happy man.  Anything else is gravy. 

Couldnt you get a job teaching in Montana or Wyoming (Wind River Range) or someplace with mountains close buy? Or go back to practicing again?
Any place where medical schools and mountains co-exist?

[NowhereMan]

The problem being that jobs in academia are not common and you are further limited by whether you're going to fit with the general tenor of the deparment (in the humanities at least). Unless you're really well known there needs to be a job open, you need to have a specialisation they want and you need to be a decent 'fit' since your future colleagues will get a say in who gets hired. On top of all that there will probably be 50 people going for the post so it really doesn't matter where you want to teach. If you get an offer you go there.

[Samwise]

See I would absolutely love to live in a house with an old library like that. I'd probably like a smaller one since I'd like to think I could read at least a significant proportion of the books but I would fucking love to do so in that kind of room with nice leather armchairs.

The only difference between the library pictured and my ideal library is that the shelves of my ideal library would have a lot more sci-fi on them and a lot fewer books that look like movie props.

[Numtini]

We're just about to enter the dragon's den of contractors. Our house isn't large enough for a third and we are one lab result away from starting on the process of creating a microperson. We've talked a lot about this stuff.

Right now we have a 1 1/2 floor cape, the downstairs being half an open kitchen/living room with a cathedral ceiling instead of a second floor. The other half is split between a dining room with a walkout onto a deck and a bedroom that's an office. Above that side upstairs iis a tiny cape cod house bedroom, which we sleep in. The standard expansion for a cape is to add a dormer, bringing one of the sides of the roof from peaked to almost horizontal, expanding useable space upstairs. We'd then have a full size bedroom and we're thinking an open loft space above the kitchen. Also finish half our basement. And we want a combination Florida room/pantry which would be off the living/kitchen, probably with a fireplace so we could use it occasionally in the winter.

The other option is my partner's parents live on a 3 acre lot on a pond in a tiny house so tiny that it would count as an "in law apartment" and we could sell our place and build a new home there. That would be the whole dream house idea and we'd have a decent budget for it since we'd already own the land and just be dealing with construction/furnishing. Almost all my luxuries would be in the kitchen. I'd love dual ovens, a vented grill station, and/or a wok burner. The big crazy extravagance would be a small sauna, which I doubt if we'd go for both because of the initial cost and the cost in energy of running it. Bathrooms don't mean a lot to us, other than having one. We're big into simple scan design type of things. We'd like to make it energy efficient and possibly do solar voltaic and a heat pump (HPs are rare here). A lot of wood and a lot of natural light and ventilation.