When I was a teenager in the 1990s, I thought that if you grew up and “made it”, you’d live in a colonial-ish house with a garage and a driveway, probably in a housing development.
Sorta like this one, from The Unoriginal Mom:
You raise your kids there, and live happily ever after, basically.
Obviously, that vision didn’t pan out for me; I lived in a split-foyer (my VERY LEAST favorite home design) from 2005-2022.
the foyer at my old house
Then I got divorced, and now I don’t even own a home. Ahahaha.
Anyway, I was thinking about how my idea of a dream home has changed. In fact, this past year I was biking by the type of neighborhood I used to dream of living in, and I noticed it held little appeal, given the new direction my life has taken.
I don’t have any immediate home-buying plans, but I thought it would be fun to describe my current dream house. And of course, I want to hear about your dream home too!
My dream home
The house I live in is actually not too far off from a type of home I’d consider my dream home, so it might sound like I’m describing my rental sometimes. 😉
the living room in my current rental house
Also, since this dream purchase is at least a few years in the future, I’m going to assume I’m empty-nesting.
I would love:
A small home
My dream home has a bedroom for me, plus an extra for guests, and one for my home office (we need a blogging headquarters, OKAYYYYY?)
But overall, the house should be on the small side. My dream is cute, right-sized, and not a ton of work to maintain.
A design that is not a split anything
I don’t want a split-foyer or a split-level or anything like that. A Cape Cod, a rancher, a cottage….I’m flexible in a lot of ways, but my dream home is nottttt a split style of any kind.
I refuse to settle on this.
A bathroom connected to my bedroom
I have only had this luxury once in my life, from 2000-2005, at my townhouse. So, my dream house has to have an en suite bathroom, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Two bathrooms
Since one of the bathrooms will be my private bathroom, I’m gonna need to put two bathrooms in my dream house.
Actually, you know what? Let’s do two full baths, plus a half bath for guests. I have never had a half bath! That would feel pretty fancy.
A porch
I have never had a porch, but I think homes with front porches are so lovely. And the porch will have ceiling fans to keep the bugs away. 🙂
Lots of windows
Light matters a lot to me! My rental house has a fair number of windows, but many of them have broken seals, which means they are cloudy.
So, my dream house has multiple large windows, and none of them has broken seals. 😉
A big front window
I love my living room window here! My dream home definitely needs one.
Wood floors throughout
I adore the classic look of wood floors, and I also like how easy it is to keep them clean.
My dream home is 100% carpet-free.
A garage
I’ve never had a garage in my adult life, and while it is not a strict necessity here in this climate, I would definitely feel a little like I’d arrived in life if I had a garage.
So, we’re gonna put one in my dream house.
A neighborhood with big trees
Trees are kind of a pain, what with the constantly falling branches and leaves, but to me, it is worth it. I prefer old neighborhoods that have big old trees growing, and my dream house is in one of those.
And bonus points if it’s one of those sort of disorganized neighborhoods, vs. a neatly planned-out development. I like the character of more random neighborhoods.
A house in an area I can walk in
I’m obviously not opposed to driving to nearby trails; I do it all the time. But I also like that at this house, I can just put my shoes on and go for a walk right from my front door; I even have a wooded trail I can walk to.
Here it is on a snowy day. So perfect, right??
So, we’ll add that as an adjacent feature to my dream home.
A house on a hill
I know that having a house up on a hill can be problematic, especially if you live in an area with high winds.
Regardless, I have always sort of wanted a house perched up at the top of a hill so I can have an expansive view available outside of my windows.
Also, it would be very good for sunrise/sunset viewing.
Will I ever get my dream house?
I don’t know! So much of my next five years feels uncertain, but I do hope one day, I will be able to buy a house with some of these features.
(I realize I may have to compromise on the hill situation.)
But for right now, I am unspeakably happy to be here in my little rental house because my life here is peaceful and free. That matters more than any shape, style, or feature.
My eyes filled with happy, relieved tears as I typed that; it still feels like a dream that I get to live here, that I never have to go back.
In that sense, THIS is my dream house. And since I never have to go back where I came from, every place I live from here on out will be some form of a dream house for me. 🙂
My heart is full of gratefulness.
Jenny Young
Friday 5th of December 2025
Your dream house sounds perfect for you. I love it.
Is it ok to say that I am living in my dream house? I loved my old house. I lived in it from 1989 to 2024 & thought we would never leave it. My husband & I moved into a granny house on the property where our old house sits. Now our son & grandson live in the old house.
We built the granny house to retire in & it's almost perfect. We did have a budget! But we love it so much. It has 2 bd, 2bath, a screened porch, lake views on two sides, a garage & a wonderful large room that I use for exercise/craft/storage. You can see my dream house on my Instagram feed if you want @jennylovescharlie You have to go back a bit to see house pics.
Tammy
Wednesday 3rd of December 2025
I'm glad that your current rental makes you so happy and it saddens me to think about how miserable things must have been for such a long time.
I know that you have very little time these days but if, when you have some time, you're interested in building a window sill cover so that Chiquita can sit comfortably on that uneven ledge, I can send you a YT video of a man who made some for his cats.
LF
Wednesday 3rd of December 2025
Mine is almost identical to yours, but with enough bedrooms/convertible spaces for my kids and their families to visit. When my parents moved into their empty nest, there was barely room for one family to visit, as the guest room was super tiny and could fit only two adults, and suitcases only fit if slid under the bed. Kids slept on the living room floor--there wasn't even room for a sofa, unless you got rid of mom's piano. With three adult children, plus our spouses, and eventually twelve grandchildren, family gatherings were impossible in their house. My dream house doesn't have to be huge, but the ability to get creative with space would be excellent. A garage attic room or a glassed-in sun porch for grandkid hangouts would be awesome.
Jan
Tuesday 2nd of December 2025
My daughter lived in a 2-story townhouse alone during her medical residency, and there was a half-bath downstairs. It became a real PITA because she never used it, so the water sat in the pot and it was damp in there so it didn't smell great (no window or ventilation). I think I was the only one who used it when I visited because she lived at high altitude and it was difficult for me to go up and down stairs just to use the toilet when I wasn't tolerating the altitude well (heart and lung issues). So no half bath for me. One more bathroom to clean--no thanks.
I always wanted to live in a colonial style two story house, too. Instead we have a kind of ugly ranch house with popcorn ceilings, a dumb step down into the awkward living room, no dining room, etc. The price was right and it was a great location. We still love our neighborhood and the schools were great for our kids--it's close to my work and our religious congregation. We have 4 bedrooms, but now there's so much to clean, and, while we're not quite empty nesters yet we hope to be some day. We love having our youngest, but we won't be around forever and she needs to fly.
So my dream home is a cozy small house, too! Not so little that it's on wheels and we have to sleep in a loft bedroom too short to stand up in, but a 2 bedroom house with an office nook, and a cozy kitchen and living room, and a dog-friendly fenced yard, and easy maintenance. Maybe a condo. There are nice condos nearby and my eldest daughter lives close now, so we wouldn't have to go far.
No popcorn ceilings, plenty of natural light but it MUST have air conditioning (we don't have that now!)--maybe with solar panels to save electricity costs--no interior steps, and easy access in the bathrooms (we are getting older), washer and dryer IN the house.
Selena
Tuesday 2nd of December 2025
@Jan, yes one of my "jobs" is to use the upstairs bathroom. Despite not being in the basement, water evaporates. Plus two flushes from the upstairs is good pipe "action" as it goes to the septic. And yes, popcorn ceilings stink - there was one at this house which is no more.
Ginger
Tuesday 2nd of December 2025
I've always wanted a wrap around porch and I'm obsessed with porch swings (I now have one, but it's on it's own frame, and 10 year old Ginger imagined ones hanging from the ceiling!) I would love a portion of the porch to be screened in and a portion to be open air. As I am no longer a child and instead have children, I will add I'd love to have several outdoor areas for the kids to enjoy- a playset, sandbox (with lid!) maybe even a ninja course. as for the interior I'd love to have the space to have a play room- so I can keep the kids' toys out of their rooms (less distraction for sleep time!) It's not that I mind having them in the living room, but having a designated toy storage location would be great. I'd want... 4 bedrooms. one for me and the spouse, one for each kid and a guest bedroom that can double as a library/ office.
and at least two full bathrooms. maybe two full (for us and the kids) then a half for guests?
and to top it off I want a cleaner and a lawn maintenance person lol