Friday OT - Home Sweet Home

[Angie]

Tell us about your favorite place you have ever lived. Are you a house/apartment/other person? Tiny house or large vibes for you? Do you like a rustic hunting lodge look, minimal decoration, etc.? If you haven’t lived anywhere you loved, how would your dream house look?

 

[Fishhead]

I wish I lived in a small house on a lake with lots of land between any neighboring houses. 2 BR 2bath, 1 other room as living space. I hate having all this worthless stuff that I don’t have the heart to get rid of though I would want to disappear with the snap of my fingers.

 

[NWICY]

Not very finicky on a house but that NW corner of Washington St sure is nice up around Bellingham/Burlington. Granted I've never been there for the full rainy season.

 

[CloneFanInKC]

In my early/mid 20's I wanted to live in an urban downtown loft with a lot of tall windows. Girlfriend/now wife was not interested. We've been living in suburbia for 20+ years. Current house is nice, we live on a dead end with neighbors on each side of us and backyard that backs to a green space. A lot of wildlife comes through.

We dream of the next house being on 3-10 acres, ideally with a pond. It's very convenient currently to have the elementary, MS and HS less than 1.5 miles away, grocery store and target being less than 5 miles away.

Chiefs/Royals, Big XII tournament and other downtown stuff about 40 minutes away. Airport is about 45 min away, but we are tied of the suburban lifestyle.

I'll climb down from my soapbox now, sorry.

 

[JM4CY]

Give me a shack up in the mountains where no other human can find me.

 

[SCNCY]

I lived on the property of Hammersmith Farms, which is the property that used to be in the JFK family in Newport. At some point, the side of the property we lived on was sold to the Hamilton family (Campbell Soup old money) and the old JFK mansion (or cottage as rich people in Newport call them) was sold to a Goldman Sachs’s person. My wife worked for a foundation close by and part of getting us there was housing as we didn’t make enough to afford housing in Newport. We lived in the small house that faces Fort Adam’s Drive.

It was nice living there because it was quiet and secluded. I would go running around Fort Adam’s in the summer. We also lived there for free, so we were able to save a lot of money for a house, which we did. Before we lived there, the foundation was renting the house to 10k a month.

The larger property right next door to the south actually housed British officers during the revolutionary war.

Only downside was that we lived there during the first 2 years of Covid, so we didn’t really get to do a lot of things we actually wanted to do, like learn how to sail.

Oh, I forgot. During my Birthday one year, the mansion was having a wedding, so I got free fireworks on my birthday that we watched.

 

[ackatch]

Our house in Lakeville MN was right up there. The house itself wasn't anything super special, just a typical 4 bed 3 bath house built in 2016, but we put a lot of time and money into it (landscaping, added a garden, storage room/wine cellar, repainted the entire thing), but our neighbors were absolutely incredible. We had the type of neighborhood where you could just walk into someone elses garage, borrow a tool and no one would even bat an eyelash.

That being said - I love our house now in Waukee. We have a bigger lot, bigger shed, extra bedroom/bathroom, finished basement, and a bigger garage. We're 2 minutes from 80 and 10 minutes from Hy-Vee/Costco.

Dream house is going to be a custom build with at least an 8 car garage on about 4-5 acres.

 

[madguy30]

The farm I grew up on will always be the best place. I walked out the back door to 50ish acres including farm animals, a creek, some timber and wildlife.

For roughly 13 years in Madison I lived very close to the Capitol building and had free range of trails, music venues, etc. I hate crowds now but that was a really fun time.

In a magical world if I could retire right now a cottage in the U.P. would be a definite thought.

 

[Beernuts]

We live in my families 4th generation farm house built in 1901 that overlooks a pasture with a quiet creek. We raised our kids here and would love for one of them to take our place. But, if I could live in a different house I always wanted to live in something like this:

 

[CYdTracked]

I've lived within a 1 hour radius all my life in central Iowa. Liked a little bit of everything where I have lived, grew up on a 50 acre farm so loved the quiet life and exploring things growing up as a kid. Lived in 3 different dorms in 4 years at ISU and all 3 had some uniqueness I liked along with a few annoying things too. Got an apartment the summer before my final semester on south 5th which the coolest thing I saw was 1 weekend they had a hot air balloon festival in the field right across the road so that was a neat thing to watch a couple nights when they lit up the baloons. Moved to an apartment in West Des Moines for a year the following spring then bought my first house. I guess you can say your first house always has a lot of memories because you are excited about owning something you can fix up and customize and at the same time find out there are also frustrations and challenges with owning an older home too. Moved to my current house over 11 years ago when were pregnant with our first child and don't see us moving out of it for a long time hopefully.

Always said if I won the lottery or came across a bunch of money I would buy some land far enough outside of town that wouldn't have to worry about being built around and would build a home exactly the way we ideally would want each room to be like and have a nice view to enjoy. Honestly as long as I have a roof over my head and comfortable space I'm not really into lavish furnishings or amenities. Would rather pay off the mortgage sooner so we can help put our kids through college without going into debt and retire sooner than later. I really don't want to work into my 70's and honestly would like to be in a position I can consider retiring at 60 or at least changing jobs to something I don't have to work 40 hours through my 60's so I'll trade having my dream home now for not having to work or work as much later on in life.

 

[cyfanatic13]

I guess it kinda fits the thread but my parents just moved a couple weeks ago out of the family home of 30+ years. Downsizing and it's a great home for them as they near retirement. Didn't even think about it while moving them but later that night it hit me that the place I knew as "home" my entire life was no longer that. It was a very weird feeling

 

[MeanDean]

Pretty much loved everywhere I have lived, looking back.

Grew up on a gravel road in Iowa. Very much the isolated Iowa farm culture in the 60's and early 70's. Life options were very limited by today's standards. Plus spending most of that time in a one parent family meant true isolation outside of the bus rides to/from school. My lifeline to (what I thought was) the real world was 3 channels on the television and music on the radio.

I often wonder how my life would have been different raised in a major city. So many of my retired friends here had that life experience and the options available to them seem so much greater. But no regrets. My life has been pretty good.

Best place I've lived: Here on the beach in Florida. I stay here Nov-Apr. That said, I love coming back to Iowa for the spring, summer and early fall. May in Iowa is the best!

My dream home would be 2BR 2BA with both a living room and a large hobby area to display my favorite things. It would be sited on an acreage on a rural county PAVED highway with a 6 car garage and a pond.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

My favorite place to live was at ISU. I've never really cared about the stuff around me and much as the people and events, and my time at ISU was unrivaled in that department.

 

[Cy Hard]

Give me a shack up in the mountains where no other human can find me.

I feel sorry for whoever has to find you months after you go out David Carradine style up there.

 

[MJ29]

I've always loved craftsman style homes. A family member had one and I just adored all the woodwork and simple lines. A one-story craftsman style home with a two-car attached garage and screened in porch in the back would be my dream. But, alas, a dream. I'll always be too poor for that. Ha.

 

[AgronAlum]

I don't necessarily like being in the water but love being around it. I also really dig the vibe of touristy beach/lake towns. The shops and restaurants over the water and all that.

Also, somewhere with a decent sized out building or garage for hobbies and projects.

Realistically one of my favorite places to stay is New Buffalo, MI and could see myself moving there at some point. It's really about location more than the house itself.

 

[madguy30]

I guess it kinda fits the thread but my parents just moved a couple weeks ago out of the family home of 30+ years. Downsizing and it's a great home for them as they near retirement. Didn't even think about it while moving them but later that night it hit me that the place I knew as "home" my entire life was no longer that. It was a very weird feeling

If/when the day comes that we sell/walk off the farm for the last time I'll be a mess.

 

[jbclone10]

I'm constantly dreaming / looking at mountain lake (or reservoir) properties in CO.... problem is supply and demand. If money wasn't an issue I'd have one for a vacation house in a heartbeat.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I guess it kinda fits the thread but my parents just moved a couple weeks ago out of the family home of 30+ years. Downsizing and it's a great home for them as they near retirement. Didn't even think about it while moving them but later that night it hit me that the place I knew as "home" my entire life was no longer that. It was a very weird feeling

My parents retired and moved to town the year after I graduated from Iowa State. The land was homesteaded by my family and my dad was born in the house.

My cousin owns it now, but he's changed so many things that it barely resembles what I remember. I've always wished that I could have taken my daughter to the same farm I grew up on and do things that I did growing up. My older siblings got to do it with their kids, but, the timing didn't work out for me. It was a tough pill to swallow.

 

[matclone]

I'm constantly dreaming / looking at mountain lake (or reservoir) properties in CO.... problem is supply and demand. If money wasn't an issue I'd have one for a vacation house in a heartbeat.

Have you considered the weather there? Mountains have a climate of their own.