patrick.net

The one thing I would really, truly like is a basement. Houses in CA almost never have them, though I saw one on TV which did.

A basement is an incredibly useful room. You can do the laundry down there, there is limitless storage space, you can can vegetables and preserves and keep them in the cellar, and when the kids get a little older you can turn it into a playroom for them. People put pool tables and bars in the basement as well.

If you are a hobbyist the basement is the ideal place for you. I've seen huge model railroads, HAM radio stations, quilting looms, etc. -- the list goes on and on.

In the unlikely event that I am ever in a position to have a house built here, I will certianly insist on a basement. People from areas without them just don't know what they are missing, basements are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

The one thing I would really, truly like is a basement. Houses in CA almost never have them, though I saw one on TV which did.

Some houses in SJ have basements.

Did you mention model railroads? :)

Basement = Wine cellar.

schlep baskets full of dirty clothes down two flights of stairs

My great-grandfathers house had a chute in the bathroom that you put your clothes in and they ended up in the basement in a cage fastened to the ceiling.

Laundry machines should be in or near a side entry, so that you can quickly get out of muddy/dirty clothes without tracking dirt through the house. A bathroom nearby is also useful, especially one with a shower.

Joe Schmoe,

My cousins in Berwyn basically lived in the basement. It seems every family picture I have of them is in their basement! It looked like a sports bar. My uncle coached at Morton West for about 3 decades. For all the fond memories I still have mixed feelings about basements. It's easy for things to become damp or ruined in that environment, they tend to collect junk and can be time consuming to clean if things get out of hand. Some of the basements in Chicago looked like something out a cheap horror flick.

Actually, maybe I can get a bigger lot: http://tinyurl.com/gs3rk

And spend $500,000 building my dream house.

Bweheehehhheeeehhehehehhahahahahahahahha!

Just yesterday while hosting our daughter's grad. party it became kind of obvious that as much as I like our "rented" condo it will not be a permanent solution. Too hard to have lots of people over and for folks with little kids the second story railing can look a little scary. I like the layout fine but if friends or clients come over my says she feels like she's been told to "go to her room". I would never again subject myself to a huge mortgage (and tax bill to boot) but a single level 3/2 on a 5,000 sq. ft. lot would be just fine. Since it's your "downsize home" you've got the rest of your life to figure out how want it laid out. "Re-sale value" will not influence our decision making so we have the opportunity to make it as quirky or eccentric as we want. After my "rant-a-thon" it should be pretty obvious I would like to be secluded from the prying eyes of neighbors. Not that I'm "anti-social" it's just that I think I've earned the right to not have to battle with neighbors over things that SHOULD be common sense.