What we saw on the house tour today was: one badly situated and architected home; a well-designed barn/ranch home that I loved except for the colors; and a gorgeous home in the mountains that was my husband’s favorite.
We really found out the difference between a spec house and one that is custom-built for a family. The last home we visited actually had a dog bath with steps up to it, in the midst of the probably heated three-car garage. That’s the kind of thing you need here, before hitting the mud room!
The customs were not built to our specs because we all have differing needs in a home. The spec homes try to provide everything a potential buyer may want at a price level but may not to be the prospective owner’s liking.
We’ve run the gamut from horse properties to mountain mansions to substandard condos and are really amazed at what people build and design. I started going on house tours in high school and have done so intermittently over the years. One thing it sparks is ideas.
We love the barn idea of trusses (and I love clerestory windows for light) over a master living space but we’re still working out the bedroom areas. We got some ideas today. We need an indoor-outdoor entertaining area and much has to go into kitchen design for my space and space for guests to sit and talk.
It helps that there’s a learning curve and that we may get there by the time to settle down. A few moments ago I would have urged buying 5 acres in the country and building later but not after reading the NYTimes and long-term real estate prices. I dreamed all this, right? I have a home. It’s wherever my husband, dog and I live. That makes a house a home. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
Please consider my housing needs as well. I prefer a nice warm place beneath a hot tub or other similar feature. I also need a good place to store my dead prey.
My dear Mr. E, you have vacated the premises for a while, and we did open up the hot tub to see if you were in there or had stored extra carcasses in there and thankfully you were not there nor any of your prey. We can not do anything to keep you from living in a tiny hole in the hot tub or driving our dog to distraction by mocking her outside the closed windows, or charge you for it, but any demands for improvements will have to be approved. Dee
He’s Baaaaaack!
I knew someone was trying to steal my dead! You are welcome to bring out your dead, but please leave mine alone. Furthermore, I think you need to have a talk with the cranes, they are stealing all the good mice along with that pretty little dog of yours. Mr. Coyote and I have been talking, and we are thinking about doing something about it if you do not. You think you are so smart, yet you can’t even manage to shut off an electronic meat thermometer.
Honey, it was YOUR electric meat thermometer. I’ll move off the Preserve if you and the coyote conspire to eat Zoe.
I don’t use thermometers. I prefer my meat raw and a little aged.
Ha! The primary feature of my home is that it is set up for the comfort & convenience of my critters.
[Have to go furniture-shopping once the back-to-school rush settles down… Bunny tore up cushions on love seat** & I deem it unsalvageable. Remind me to tell her I’ll be taking that out of her allowance.]
**I will likely move it to back porch for the dogs’ convenience. What rednecks we are!
Val, since I don’t know the rate of Z’s allowance I can’t imagine what the bunny gets. Zoe gets anything she wants, except new hips. Hey, if she tops 50 pounds are there titanium hips available for her?
Redneck doesn’t mean a nice sofa on the back porch with a lovely weather-proof covering. It means the ’73 chevy seats out front torn to pieces, and a still.