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.

I want to get ahold of the company in NC that sells used DC10 Jetliners, gut out all the seats, cut several holes and install stairs to the belly, keep both wings and use one side for a garage, and the other for a glassed in triangular shaped deck with a hot tub and lap pool. I'd also have a workshop somewhere in there in the belly with a few large windows punched out of the side. On the top I would build a massive sun deck.
Of course this might not work out. So a backup would be a retired cruise ship that I simply move into and hook up to some power grid. I really like the plane idea though. they cost 250k.

I don't know if this has been brought up before but we have a company out here that builds something called a "yurt". Has anyone heard of them? I've seen the "installation video" and it looks like 3 people can do it in 2 days. I think they borrowed the idea from th nomads of the Gobi Desert. Of course these are quite modern and can be fitted w/plumbing elec. etc. I think they're called Pacific Yurts. I saw one set up at the state fair and they were very comfortable. I guess at the end of the summer you could just take it down (or if a fire were coming your way). I've wondered why more people didn't consider them for a summer/2nd home? I think they are only about 10-15K and come as big as 1,000 sq. ft.

Dinor,
I saw one of those at Yosemite Natl Park last summer. Theirs was a more permanant kind of construction using some sort of heavily treated canvas. When I was a kid, the 1982 World's fair came to Knoxville. The amphitheater was made out of tubular steel and some sort of space age canvas material used by NASA. 24 years later, the ampitheater is still there and in great condition. I wondered what a tent made out of the stuff would cost since the canvas on the ampitheater has outlasted most roofs.

NEED:
-no carpeting, hardwood flooring preferred
-bike-able distance to work
-big enough yard for gardening
-no 1960's crappy ranch stucco boxes
-no McMansions

PREFER:
-view of no other houses, very few houses okay
-lots of Cal oaks on the property
-solar panels
-at least 1 acre property

Basements are nice, but I wouldn't list it as a top priority.

I would enclose my entire backyard in glass, making it a giant greenhouse. That way I could air-condition it and ensure that the temperature remained constant at 72 degrees F.

This would also eliminate bugs, bird droppings, and pests of all kinds.

Those in colder climates could heat the greenhouse so they'd have an "endless summer."

I wonder why more people don't do this?

Joe Schmoe Says:

I would enclose my entire backyard in glass, making it a giant greenhouse...I wonder why more people don’t do this?

Because most people don't want to live in a fishtank.

That would be expensive. Ever priced structural, insulated glass? It's be over $500 a pane. An entire yard would probably be well over 150-200k just for the glass. Then again, it'd be kinda cool to be able to wonder around in the yard in shorts when the weather outside was snowy.

I would also try to ensure that I never have to set foot in the outside world. The garage would be air-conditioned, so I could setp from the comfort of my McMansion into my Hummer without dealing with heat or humidity. Our office garage has a/c, so that's no problem, and there is a grocery store in Pasadena which also has it.

The trick woud be getting gasoline. Even with the Mobil SpeedPass, you still have to get out of the car. I guess I'd need to install a gas pump inside the garage as well.

Joe,
Sounds like your dream world is "Logan's Run", except without the killing off anyone over age 30, or whatever.

Joe,

Try moving to places like [Oregon?] where full-service gas stations are mandatory.

I could go for a nice tower. I think, a large basement, and a small Carmel-style cottage above ground, a separate tower, and some sort of hanging bridge structure from house to tower that has a midpoint stop at a treehouse in a tree of Appropriate Size.

Almost like some kind of warren, I guess. Different style structures connected by passageways.

Joe,
Have you seen the Simpsons episode where Homer gets a hold of a teleporter and decides the best use of it is to be able to sit in the living room on one end and take a crap at the same time by having his butt in the bathroom on the other end? I bet you'd be into that.

Joe,
ya! how about we motorize toilets too! I imagine a new company: "Crapper on wheels", where by GPS, you can call a remote controlled 4 Wheel Drive crapper to come to you, no matter where you are; in the woods, in the back yard, or at Wal-Mart. life would be so much better!

ww2, It would be easier and cheaper to just wear adult diapers.