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- More outlets (indoor and outdoor) than you think you will need
- More outside water spigots than you think you will need
- A mudroom with places to store shoes and hang coats
- A large laundry room with a sink and extra fridge
- Closets, closets, and more closets, including linen closets
- A powder room so guests have a restroom to use without invading a bathroom people living there use and store personal items
- A dedicated guest room and guest bathroom
- A really big garage
- Kitchen open to living and eating area
- Formal dining room (I know a lot of people hate this, but we have one, and I love having it, especially on holidays)
- Double ovens - I have them and use both all the time
- A really large, gas cook top. Either duel fuel or separate from the ovens so the you can have a gas cooktop and electric ovens
- Hardwood floors
- A dedicated office with doors
- Large master bath with big shower, double sinks, separate water closet, and jetted tub. I know jetted tubs have lost favor, but I love mine
- A large wall that provides room for a large TV. I hate TVs over the fireplace
- An irrigation system
- I love pocket doors and don't think they are used enough. So much better than an open door taking up room space. I would use them where I could.
- Lots of windows and natural light
- I would love a screened in porch as well as a large patio or deck
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Small efficient home with; Multiple living spaces, great view, QUIET neighbors (preferably no neighbors). Lots and lots of natural light. Natural wood and stone inside and out. All for <$80/sf
Designing my next home at the moment, but it's just a spare, as main home has been the mainstay for 28 yrs. (12 others have been done in the meantime).
Just can't beat the main home, it's too nice to leave. (All have been custom designed). No need for architect, contractors, or realtors (yet). But getting too old to do this too many more times.
Custom building a home is something I've considered for years, but I have no ideas of the costs. If you were to share you home-building journey & costs in a forum, I'm sure the community would be grateful. It's good that you know what you want & like on your own before engaging an architect or interior designer that may talk you into their off-beat vision. I'm not a fan of current trends-- vessel sinks, open concept or shiplap.... I'd choose an electrical service that has room for expansion-- in case you want a pool/spa or some TBD power-hungry feature in the future. I'd load the place with hardwired ethernet, coaxial & power (most up-to-date standards) if telecommuting, computers, smart-house, security cameras or cable is important to you. Storage is a must! Yes, the large closets and as someone else mentioned--centrally located hallway storage. Easy to clean, classic, non-fussy bathroom surfaces (quartz), subway ceramic tile, clear glass and exhaust fans. If you're doing a basement-- full height with plenty of egress windows to bring in as much natural light as possible. Everyone wants hardwood these days, but I prefer carpeting in the bedrooms. If you have outdoor toys, hobby or lawn equipment-- an oversized garage.
- More outlets (indoor and outdoor) than you think you will need
- More outside water spigots than you think you will need
- A mudroom with places to store shoes and hang coats
- A large laundry room with a sink and extra fridge
- Closets, closets, and more closets, including linen closets
- A powder room so guests have a restroom to use without invading a bathroom people living there use and store personal items
- A dedicated guest room and guest bathroom
- A really big garage
- Kitchen open to living and eating area
- Formal dining room (I know a lot of people hate this, but we have one, and I love having it, especially on holidays)
- Double ovens - I have them and use both all the time
- A really large, gas cook top. Either duel fuel or separate from the ovens so the you can have a gas cooktop and electric ovens
- Hardwood floors
- A dedicated office with doors
- Large master bath with big shower, double sinks, separate water closet, and jetted tub. I know jetted tubs have lost favor, but I love mine
- A large wall that provides room for a large TV. I hate TVs over the fireplace
- An irrigation system
- I love pocket doors and don't think they are used enough. So much better than an open door taking up room space. I would use them where I could.
- Lots of windows and natural light
- I would love a screened in porch as well as a large patio or deck
Yes to almost of all of these although costs might be a factor in how many I could afford. But a big, big yes to an extra outdoor faucet. We have one in front and one in back. Our back yard is small, but I have wished many times for two out door faucets, one each on either side of the back yard. I haul hose from one side to the other, and I’m too old for this!
Yes to almost of all of these although costs might be a factor in how many I could afford. But a big, big yes to an extra outdoor faucet. We have one in front and one in back. Our back yard is small, but I have wished many times for two out door faucets, one each on either side of the back yard. I haul hose from one side to the other, and I’m too old for this!
We got a flexible hose which helps, but still!
I know! We have two spigots outside, one on each side of the house. But our patios (with planters), flower beds, etc. are in the front and back, so we have to haul the hose halfway around the house to water them.
I will say that we are lucky to have most of the things on my list. Our garage is too small, we don't have a sink in the laundry room (not common here, but common where I'm from), we don't have a mud room, and we don't have doors on our office. It was designed to be a formal living room, but we use it as an office. It was never a problem, as we really don't ever use it, until we all started working from home. I would also add solar panels to my list. When it is time to replace our roof, we will add them. A ton of our neighbors have added them and been really happy.
Custom building a home is something I've considered for years, but I have no ideas of the costs. If you were to share you home-building journey & costs in a forum, I'm sure the community would be grateful. .
Our completely custom retirement home will cost very close to $403,700 (not including the 1.5 acre lot, which cost $40k). Construction was started the third week of March. and is due to be completed the last week of July (in about five weeks). Our home is in rural Wisconsin in a small subdivision that is less than two miles from a large grocery store and the town library (our only "musts"), and is also less than two miles from a beach, hiking trails and golf course; and it is within 15 miles of many nice restaurants. There are also several wineries in the area.
Our home is a 1,875 s.f. single-family, single-story open concept 2 bedroom/2.75 bath home with a wood-burning fireplace, separate pantry and separate laundry/utility room, and a large sunroom that could easily be converted to a third bedroom. The initial estimate for this home was $391,700, complete (meaning that it included the site work and well) and all the upgrades we wanted. (Without these upgrades, we could have had the house for about $360,000.) We designed the house ourselves, and then took our design to a professional home designer to do the construction drawings; he is part of the staff of a custom-home building firm that has been in business for about 40 years. He made no changes to our design except for adding a linen closet. (We had worked on our "dream home" for about a dozen years, so we knew what we wanted and what would work forus.)
The additional $12k over the initial estimate was mainly due to upgrading some of the kitchen appliances and cabinetry, and because there had been an increased in the cost of lumber since the first quote was given. (But, still, a total difference in price of just 3% over the initial estimate is something we can easily live with!) So our total cost for our dream home will come in at just about $443,700, although that doesn't include the patio and driveway, which we will put in next summer. I will also add that we did not see any existing home listed for sale that we liked in the area for even $500k. (Btw, our current 32-year-old home in metro Denver -- 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths -- just sold for $430K, so we are basically trading in our current home for a new one for just a little more money, relatively speaking! I am sorry if I sound smug, but we are just very happy and excited!)
P.S. Btw, we had first started looking for our "perfect retirement spot" eight years ago and had spent six fruitless years looking in New Hampshire, where we thought we would move, before we gave up due to dishonest real estate agents, and not finding a home we wanted or any lots that weren't too rural and/or on dirt roads.
We are starting the journey of building a house. Right now we are finalizing plans and I’m curious to know what other people consider “must haves” in their homes. Some things I want are a walk-in pantry and his & hers walk-in closets. But I’m not interested in formal living or dining rooms. I’m considering future resale of the home, so I want to check the boxes. What are the must have items if you were building a home?
Also, what type of cabinet, counters, and flooring would you choose?
His and hers bathrooms in the Master bedroom
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