Oh, I also want a "man" cave with a huge TV and a pool table.

msbelle, McMansion Hell just posted today a listing near Baltimore: [link]

I'm not surprised that we're out of the Paris Accords, but I am sad about it.

Dream house: It's on either the Lake Michigan or Lake Huron shore with a hundred feet of sugar sand beach. There's one of those super efficient, but reasonably attractive, wood burning fireplace inserts in a lake stone fireplace. The kitchen is on the large size, and it has a round kitchen table rather than a counter with seating so I can get family around it for pinochle. There's a decent sized bedroom and full bath on the ground floor, and the entire floor is handicapped accessible, so I won't have to move out until I'm no longer able to live by myself. There's also a library. There are a couple of bedrooms and another bath upstairs. There's a full pantry off the kitchen. And on the side of the house away from the lake there's a decent space for a garden.

I've given this a fair bit of thought.

You'd certainly be welcome, brenda.

It occurs to me that my dream house is sort of Lorelei Gilmore's with a bigger kitchen.

PS: We saw Aurelia!

Lunch with Family Flea! I did sneak a photo at the Chagall that I could post on FB if you're okay with that. Did Dillo get to slide on the Picasso after I left you?

My dream house would be not too big, and definitely cozy. But requirements include a walk-up attic (with a good window for a writing room), a front porch (with swing), a mud room/laundry room, a fireplace, a deep tub, and plenty of counter space in the kitchen (island!). Built-in bookcases wouldn't hurt, and lots of natural light.

Oooh. Yes, please.

Tom - that was horrible. HORRIBLE.

I'm pretty happy with our house the way it is, at least for now -- though it is on the small side, and will no doubt feel smaller as the kids get bigger. All we really need right now is (say it with me!) room for more bookshelves.

...Oh, and a window seat somewhere. And a roof over the front porch. And a carport, and a finished basement would be great too, and I'd like a few more windows on the south side...

Really, I think my dream house is basically my childhood home, with perhaps a bigger kitchen. But man, I loved that house, and I appreciate so much more about it now than I did when I was a kid. I kind of wish my parents hadn't sold it, though I understand why they did, and I love where they live now too. I just miss the old place.

If we're building dream houses, it's going to have a bookcase that conceals a hidden passage, right?

At least. I might need two or three.

At least. I might need two or three.

Heck, set it up so that all the interior walls are hollow. That's where the servants' passages are in palaces.

Kate, I'm sorta like you. What I want in a dream house is what I want in this house. It's a work in progress I hope to manage. As much as I hate finding contractors, I like the projects, progress and caretaking. I had a revelation that in some ways, I see myself as curator of an old house.

I think my perfect house is in fact a housekeeper/concierge. The rest I will invent.