Homestead Dream Home?

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If the money was available to do it. What would you want in your Homestead Dream Home?

I have been planning for a few years doing some drawings and some ideas have changed over time, some that have remained are: To be off the grid, to generate our own power. To have an under ground home, I want it to be a 2 story with atrium in the center. To have big double front doors.To have radiant floor heating.

To have a cistern or two. Still like the idea of composting toilets, but not sure of the best way to do it. I like LED and fiber optic lighting.I want a built in root cellar rooms.I like the idea of ground source heat pumps.

I like fire places, haven't figured out how to do it best yet.I like glass block walls and lots of plants.Large bedrooms and a BIG BIG BIG kitchen with lots of stuff and gadgets and cabinets for every thing, and a big cook top and double no triple ovens and two refrigerators, two freezers maybe three if they are small. I like to cook with gas better than electric.

Lots of book shelves and a few large closets. All tile or wood floors. Some of the new stamped concrete is fabulous. I like rugs, but not carpet.I want a sheepskin bed spread and a big over stuffed mattress on my bed.

What would you add or change, remember it is a DREAM HOME...

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), February 10, 2001

Answers

Our 'dream home' would be a log cabin! Wouldn't have to be a big one, but we like the looks of the cathedral ceilings. It would be completely off the grid. It'd have a big ole' kitchen with a big ole' wood cookstove. As far as a 'bathroom'...well, using the trusty ole' outhouses never bothered me! Of course, all wood floors throughout. As far as location...well, just FAR AWAY from everyone and everything. Owning 150 acres or so would be nice! Right outside the back door would be an herb garden, and a bit further would be the vegetable garden (of course, always looking like it belongs on a organic magazine cover!)

*sigh* Oooooooohhhh....to dream!

-- Tracey (foralltimes@hotmail.com), February 10, 2001.


We have been thinking of building an "Envelope" type house. Brick on the out side and logs on the inside! Don't know why DH loves this idea! Mine would be a house with a huge front porch, a big eat-in kitchen and a screened in porch--everything else I can do with out!

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), February 10, 2001.

My dream 'stead? A nice country house with modern convienence and wood heat capabilities (small wood stove),city and well water, room for a garden and small greenhouse, space for my computer, books and tinkering. Lynn just told me to quit describing where we live now and get to breakfast.:>) Seriously, our 1.2 acre place is just fine, but I wouldn't sneer at the same amenities on a 3 or 4 acre wooded piece with earth sheltered dwelling either.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), February 10, 2001.

Mud room, crafts room, wood stoves DW

-- DW (djwallace@ctos.com), February 10, 2001.

We currently live in a small, early 50's mobile home. I want a place that has the lowest maintenance possible, also with the fewest moving parts, with no roof penetrations. A small house, easy to care for, with a big screened porch, possibly with removable screen panels. I love the living room window walls, actualy french doors, in Frank Lloyd Wright designs (he recommended living in the country and buying as much land as you could afford). Btw, did you know?...he designed the first concrete block and placed the idea/design in the public domain so that it could 'not' be patented, his books tell you one way to make your own... I like patterned concrete floors (also another FLW - Frank Lloyd Wright idea from the '30's) Off grid, most definitely (no permits here if you are off -grid. The only penalty here if you don't have permits is no electrical hook-up.) Both indoor and outdoor kitchens, wood - fired, of course, with propane back-up. Solar hot water with wood and/or propane back-up. Composting toilets like at this site: http://biorealis.com/composter/compost.html .. no expensive septic system. This house will have at least two bermed walls for moderating temperatures, my goal is minimal air conditioning systems, hydronic heating and cooling arranged for the best thermo-siphon effect, pumps for back-up only. Stand alone rainwater catchment / storage system with no well to drill, no deep well pump to fool with. Develop an edible landscape and food forest with edible understorey, the goal to make everything edible, nut trees, fruit trees....This is all for the house, now lets see.. the shop...hmmm... Would I give up some things to be free of all the entanglements? In a heartbeat!

-- Jerry (neljer@txcyber.com), February 10, 2001.


My dream home is Monolithic Dome Home , 3 dome structure on my 125 acres, step one is achived, land is mine, and studing dome plans, will tour some homes on 24th.

-- Deborah (theant00@yahoo.com), February 10, 2001.

I'd have to say I'm in my dream home! A simple, c. 1840 4 br farmhouse with 50 acres, good soil, privacy. The early deeds on our home call it "The Old Homestead." It's not an extravagant home but what makes it fulfill my dreams is that it has a large porch on the side of the house, southern exposure in the front, a front hall, fireplace in kitchen/dining room, family room with woodstove, living room, wide plank floors, pantry, 2 baths, slanted ceilings in bedrooms. The former owner was a master carpenter and craftsman, so he renovated the home and put in beautiful wooden cabinets and glass cases in the living room, including a gun rack. After living in cities for years, I feel like I"ve finally come home. However, I would love a barn and a mudroom. Without a mudroom, I'm always mopping up the front hall. In a perfect world, the house would also be further away from the road.

-- amy (acook@in4web.com), February 11, 2001.

We live in our dream home/stead.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), February 12, 2001.

My dream was just to built my own home. So I feel really blessed that we got to do it. I don't know if people realize how much money over the years they well spent on a house. Don't build more than you need, The tax people were here before we could finish the house. Even when I told her how much we had spent. She said"I can't go that low". She had a set price to start with. So there's taxes,insurance and repairs. The big cost is also heating, So sometimes small is better. We built small and are not sorry. I wanted to travel. Are budget now and when we retire could not afford a big house. Dream big but don't over do. When things get crowded at our house we have a yard sale. I built a pantry in our kitchen, they really hold alot. You can hang big pots and fry pans on the wall. We love our propane stove that looks like a wood stove. You can buy your propane in the summer when price is low. I used wood windows, they look so nice. Our house is 7 years old now. We measured our furniture to see if it would fit before we move in, but I still keep changing. Love the rustic log look now.

-- Joanne Aller (joannealler@elltel.net), February 15, 2001.

My wife and I are talking about more land and building a new house. One thing we have always said is "Limit it to ONE floor". We are all getting older and someday stairs may become a problem. A second floor won't help, if you can't get to it.

Good luck with your planning, it is fun.

-- David in NH (grayfoxfarm@mcttelecom.com), February 15, 2001.



Believe me, when you end up building your dream home, you will find things that you should have done differently. We had a tornado go through in 1998 and had to rebuild our whole farm, including the house. I wanted a walk-in pantry(which I love), rambler with a walkout,and lots of windows for the sunshine to come in. I have that and more, but now I would like to move the kitchen around a little for better access and move the basement stairs away from the back door. But, when you have to decide in 24 hours what your new home is going to look like, you put in what you really want and then make changes in the future. Good luck in the building of your dream homestead. My is slowly getting the way I want, one day at a time. Now though I'm working on a small shed for cattle and pigs and getting ready for the 200 chicks that come in April.

-- Linda Klinkner (klinknerkl@juno.com), February 16, 2001.

Close your eyes and visualize this dream home/farm. Well, I guess you can't read with your eyes closed. Our dream home will be on level land with the house, goat barn, milk house, honey house, chicken coop, shop, garage, garden shed, garden, kennel, etc. neatly arranged nearby for greatest efficiency. Also arranged to allow easy access by semi trucks, horse trailer, etc. Each pasture will have its own shelter so that the bucks and dry does do not have to soil the barn year round.

The house will be one main floor with possibly a cellar and/or loft for extra space, but working and living areas on the ground floor. It will be off grid with a combination gas generator, wind turbine (depending on location), and battery bank for electricity needs. The house will be wired for both AC and DC. All rooms and buildings will have DC lights (similar to camper dome lights). Electronic devices and chargers will run off DC wherever possible. Heating will be provided with a combination of propane and wood. The gas forced air furnace and gas hot water tank will be integrated with a wood stove so that air and water can be heated with either gas or wood. The kitchen will be equipped with both gas range/oven and wood cook stove. The house will be a more traditional frame structure with steep pitched roof and wrap around covered porch. This dream house will also have a turret (sort of a cupola) at the highest point of the roof, from which I can survey the estate.

The outbuildings will be on the same power source as the house. The goat barn will be spacious and will be designed to be easily cleaned with the tractor. The milking parlor/milk house will have its own hot/cold water supply and its own heat source and will be designed to accomodate as many as thirty milking does. The milk house will have space for cream separating, pasteurizing, butter churning, yogurt culturing, ice cream and cheese making.

There will a centrally located office with telephone and computer, possibly located in the house, where most of the farm business will be conducted. The honey house will also have its own water and heat and will provide space for winter storage of equipment. It will also have adequate space for honey extraction and bottling.

The summer canning kitchen will have one or two gas ranges, large sinks, and lots of counter space on which to can fruits and vegetables. Other types of preserving will be done here as well, such as dehydrating, jerking, and vacuum packing. Another possibility, depending on location, is a roadside stand from which to sell eggs, fresh produce, honey, crafts, etc.

Garage, shop and tool sheds will be positioned for easy access and maintenance. There will also be a bone yard with sight obscuring fence for all those fence remnants, scrap lumber, and other such usable parts.

This dream farm will be designed and laid out so that two people can run the entire operation without losing time to inefficient labor, thereby making it possible to enjoy our work.

Well, I can dream, can't I?

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 17, 2001.


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