A Few Things on My Dream House Bucket List

Project 365, Day 191/365

Even before I was into design, I dreamed of what my “forever adult” home would be like one day. Granted, at the time, I probably thought I’d have it by the time I turned 25, with my husband and babies on the way…and lots and lots of money. I’m fairly certain I first started thinking about said dream home after I read “The Ghost at Dawn’s House,” from The Baby-Sitters Club series. In it, one of the characters (Dawn) is convinced her old historical home is haunted, which somehow leads her to find a secret passage.

Honestly, I can’t remember most of the details of that book, but what I do remember very clearly is how I felt what I read that Dawn found a secret passage in her house. I’m pretty sure it went something like this: “One day, I will have a house with a secret passage, even if I have to build it myself.” I was convinced. It had to be so. And I gotta tell you, I still want that, all these decades later. Or rather, a secret room of some sort.

The hyper anxious person inside me likes it for you know…safety and whatnot. Hiding in their should an intruder show up (bleak, I know), but mostly, I like the idea of having a little spot that no one else knows about. Maybe it’s where I could take my naps. Maybe it’s my hobby space. Maybe it’s where I go read and eat snacks. Honestly, who cares, I just think it would be so great.

There are a handful of other things I’ve added to the list of “dream home amenities.” The list is long (big closets, soaking tub, my own toilet—if you’re married, you’ll understand—a walk-in pantry), but that’s all mostly logistics. Some of the other things I dream about are more about a “feel.” Magical, charming, obviously lots of nooks, every room awash in warm light that still somehow doesn’t make the room hot.

Listen, it’s a “dream” home for a reason. Can I play a little make-believe, hm? Anyhow, I thought through some of the first things to pop in my mind besides plenty of storage and toilets, and that it would be fun to share:

A secret nook or alcove or room

We’ve already talked about this. For anyone who follows Emily Henderson’s blog, remember when she did that secret playroom behind the upstairs bookcase in the Portland house?

I swear she used to have a GIF that showed this opening up to reveal the playroom behind it. Basically, I want that, but a full-height room. Behind a bookcase or through a fireplace or a piece of wall that looks like molding would work just fine for me. 🙂

Pizza oven

I’m not sure if I’ve ever shared this but I love to make pizza. I’ve had a pizza stone that was then upgraded to a pizza steel for the oven, but I’ve always dreamed of having a brick pizza oven either in my kitchen or outside. I know they sell those smaller pizza ovens, and that’s all well and good, but if I’m dreaming, then I want the whole freaking shebang. I imagine a tradition of homemade pizza on Friday night or Sunday night and having friends over to enjoy them. Anyone can come on through that’s free, make their own pizza, hang around and enjoy the evening together.

A backyard with a meandering garden (and separate areas for convening).

Part of the pizza tradition would take place in my magical English-like garden with meandering lush paths, butterflies, wildflowers and old-growth trees. There would likely be a big dining table somewhere out there, under branches adorned with lights or lanterns. Along the path, you’d come across a fire pit encircled with lounge chairs. Keep going from there, you know…after you encounter the fluttering butterflies, and you’d see a bench where you’d want to spend your Sunday mornings drinking coffee or reading. I have no idea how big this backyard is, but well, I don’t care. Deal with it.

Orangery or conservatory

Many years ago, I was working on a story about a designer who restored this home in the Loire Valley in France. It was this enormous estate that he eventually had photographed and made a coffee table book from. The house had an orangery, and since writing that piece, I was like…duh, I need an orangery now.

This is where I’d take my breakfast, because you could only “take your breakfast” in a place like this. Someone obviously makes it for you and brings it to you. You do not toast your own bread if you have an orangery. This is also where I’d take my afternoon coffee, in a proper porcelain teacup, not a mug, with a saucer and everything! A biscotti would be served with it, because, why not? Only comfy, plush, overstuffed chairs would be allowed in here, each with a matching ottoman, because you must put your feet up while you’re sipping your afternoon coffee and dunking your biscotti.

A built-in window seat

As a child, I was highly influenced by the things I watched and the things I read, if The Baby-Sitters Club anecdote wasn’t enough for you to realize this. There was a show I watched when my neighborhood got free Disney Channel weekends (the Disney Channel used to be a premium, and I only enjoyed it when the cable company would let you watch it for free to entice you to likely nag your parents to death until they gave in and added it to the plan). It was called The Torkelsons and in it, the show always ended with the main girl character sitting at her upholstered window seat talking to the stars or moon or whatnot. I did not have a window seat, so I felt slighted, and I knew that one day, come hell or high water, I would have a house with a window seat. That day has yet to come, but it will.

And that’s that. Again, I’m sure I could sit and think up a ton of other things I’d love to have in my “dream home” but those would likely be a bit more realistic or logistical. These are my dreamiest of dream requests I’ve collected over the years.

Have any of your own?

See you tomorrow, FOAS.