SewMini Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Seeing the thread about Victorian interiors got me curious. What is everyone's dream home style and what draws you to it? Living just outside Chicago, I have the pleasure of being surrounded by many Prairie and Arts and Crafts style homes which is my favorite design style. It's very clean and uncluttered (key for people like me who experience senory overload when there's too much to look at!) but it's still got weight to it thanks to the heavy use of wood. Frank Lloyd Wright had a home in Oak Park (about 10 miles from me) and there is a whole neighborhood there that is basically all Frank Lloyd Wright style homes that were designed by him and his proteges. I live in a Prairie style bungalow which is similar to Arts and Crafts but with less architectural features and plain windows. It's basically FLW light. I had wanted to live in a bungalow since I was about 19 and fell in love with my friend's grandmother's house in that was a bungalow. When we moved here to Chicago and saw our current home up for sale, we snatched it up as fast as we could (thankfully DH loves this style as well). I also adore Art Deco and Art Nouveau architecture and design style. Thats why I keep pulling up Barcelona ties in my build. There is a ton of Art deco architecture here in Chicago but Barcelona was a huge center of Art Nouveau. Technically they had their own offshoot called Modernisme but it's still a part of Art Nouveau as a whole. Casa Batllo is one of my favorite places to see and it is a prime example of Catalan art nouveau. The outside is a bit much but the interiors are amazing as is the roof. Anyway, what is your favorite design style. Inquiring minds want to know! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyckedWood Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 In real life I like the mountain cabin, ski chalet, rustic prairie style, but in mini I like the storybook Tudor look the most Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesp2k Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 I like a craftsman bungalow. In particular this c 1926 in our old neighborhood. I like the half porch... The colors are much better in person - this is from google maps. Miranda - don't show me your bungalow - I might want to move in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debsrand56 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Craftsman bungalow! We are lucky enough to live in a "Berkeley Bungalow" with the original wood built-ins untouched. Our next-door neighbor removed all of his in the mid-70s; such a shame! My "dream home" would be a little bigger (even though we did add on to the house several years ago, it still isn't quite big enough to suit me), so there'd be plenty of room for all my crafts, but I'd still want a bungalow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewMini Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 These are photos of our Prairie style. All the woodwork is what instantly sold it for us (though, sadly, the floors have really taken a beating thank to the fur babies ) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Mine would be the Georgian townhouse of London........very possibly because until moving to the frozen north (and I don't just mean the weather) we lived in just such a house. Whenever we manage to get back down it feels like home to be back in the streets and lanes of Kensington and Chelsea!.............Now I've gone all homesick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 My RL dream home would be difficult to build and way too expensive but, hey, we're talking about dreams here, right? I'd want a house up on a mountain in a forest. (Think Swiss Alps and Bavaria rolled into one). It would be stone and heavy timber with several towers and diamond shaped leaded windows.. Sort of a faux Tudor with stone castle overtones. Don't forget to throw in lots of cottage style gardens and veggie ones too. 100s of acres of land with windy vine covered paths. Oh, and a huge barn!! Not too unrealistic, right? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannonc60 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Miranda, that looks gorgeous! I love bungalows too, but my dream home is French art nouveau, which we have done in our current home with antiques, lighting, cornices, etc. but we'd love to build a French style home larger than our current one just out of town with lots of trees, or better still buy something in France. One day..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesp2k Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 4 hours ago, SewMini said: These are photos of our Prairie style. All the woodwork is what instantly sold it for us... Yes, beautiful built-ins & woodwork! Your house is lovely, Miranda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 I love the Craftsman bungalows, but I absolutely adore the house we live in now, which is a basic house with just enough rooms for privacy and open enough for moving around. Both DH & I amass "clutter" (statuettes, framed prints, pillows, throws...) and books... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 4 hours ago, MikeUK said: Mine would be the Georgian townhouse of London........very possibly because until moving to the frozen north (and I don't just mean the weather) we lived in just such a house. Whenever we manage to get back down it feels like home to be back in the streets and lanes of Kensington and Chelsea!.............Now I've gone all homesick! Georgian townhouse in Chelsea or Kensington... yikes! Now that takes some serious cashola! I live in a 130 year old Queenslander Workers cottage style house with all the wonkyness that 130 years entails. The style is unique to this part of the world but is similar to the houses of Key West, Florida or the Carribbean. Originally they were all built on stilts for airflow & to avoid floods in the sub-tropical climate, but most people have used that "wasted" space underneath and built in to add more square footage.. us included... The style always has at least one veranda and french doors to access them. @SewMini my floors & stairs have taken a complete and utter beating from my fur babies too. Here is the exterior. Interior... Walls floors & ceilings are all tongue & groove wood paneling... And yes it's tiny.. it was a workers cottage.. ;) (sorry for the blurry photo) Fur Baby enjoying the front veranda. Oh, but in my perfect world I'd be living in a New England, Shingle style like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewMini Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 Oh my goodness @Samusa I would love to live in your house wonkiness and all! I am on a simple living kick and honestly feel like sometimes my bungalow is just too much (though medium sized by most American standards). Also, I love flying foxes so all the more reason to pick up and move in. I know they horrify the vast majority of Australians but I can't help myself. I think they're so cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 8 minutes ago, SewMini said: Oh my goodness @Samusa I would love to live in your house wonkiness and all! I am on a simple living kick and honestly feel like sometimes my bungalow is just too much (though medium sized by most American standards). Also, I love flying foxes so all the more reason to pick up and move in. I know they horrify the vast majority of Australians but I can't help myself. I think they're so cute! @SewMini I think your house is wonderful too.. and would love to live in the Chicago area (hubby is from Palatine ). Swapsies?.. haha.. grass greener and all that. I'm not horrified by flying foxes at all and they are incredibly cute up close... I think we are wary of them because they carry deadly diseases like Llyssa & Hendra viruses. They also make a complete mess, half eating mangoes and other fruits from the trees and dropping the carcasses on our cars, driveways, roof, yards etc... and then there's the poop... that stuff dries like concrete and will take the paint off everything.. which in a wooden painted house is a massive pain in the proverbial.. When you see hundreds of them flying at dusk it's time to get out the pressure washer.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewMini Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 35 minutes ago, Samusa said: When you see hundreds of them flying at dusk it's time to get out the pressure washer.. Ha! I get it. Funny side story: 2 years ago Josh and I went to Australia for our 15th anniversary and part of the trip was spent in Port Douglas. We had booked a room there that had a really nice terrace. One day I was laying in a chair on the terrace close to dusk and saw a black spot fly above quickly. I had been hoping to see a flying fox all trip and hadnt seen on yet so when I saw that and then looked at the time, I dashed over to the highest spot on our terrace to see if I could see more. Sure enough, it was full fly out time! I was so excited and ran back in like a little kid yelling "OMGGGG THEY'RE DOING FLY OUT!!!!!" Josh looked at me like I had 3 heads. Later, we were going to dinner and I saw a juvenile spectacled FF swoop down and land in a tree. Josh was at an ATM and I 100% ditched him mid-transaction and bolted across the street to see it up close. Poor Josh was standing there about a minute later so confused and I yelled out "THERE'S A SPECTACLED IN THE TREE!!" Again...three heads. It was seriously one of the best moments of the trip for me, though. The next day i dragged him to Tolga Bat hospital in Atherton. He was mildly amused 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Shawn, experienced a fly out of thousands when he first moved here. We were out in the country driving back home after picking up our dog from quarantine in Sydney.. 12hr drive... around dusk we stopped at a McDonalds in a country town for a refuel and the sky literally started turning black... we looked up and I kid you not, there were hundreds and hundreds & hundreds of bats... clouds of bats... Shawn just looked at me and said "What the... <insert magic word here>???... Where have I moved too???" I think he thought the end times were beginning... lol And then there's this when you are driving down the street... He's not in Chicago anymore.. that's for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 This is the house my Dad grew up in east Nashville. 1920's bungalow. It is fashionable to live there again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaJane Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Our house was built in 1940 and has a lot of details that I really like. I think it's considered Ranch style. My dream style would be anything with a nice big front porch. Farmhouse, Victorian, Craftsman - doesn't matter as long as the porch is wide. I do have a little courtyard that is looking pretty spectacular at the moment. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Gorgeous @AndreaJane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Swearengin Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 My dream house?????? It's in my head. Part Victorian, part farmhouse, think foxhall mages. Inside and roof lines different. I drew it up years ago, I started building it with 2 Tennyson bashed together. One day I'll finish it. I never own a real one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannonc60 Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 7 hours ago, SewMini said: Ha! I get it. Funny side story: 2 years ago Josh and I went to Australia for our 15th anniversary and part of the trip was spent in Port Douglas. We had booked a room there that had a really nice terrace. One day I was laying in a chair on the terrace close to dusk and saw a black spot fly above quickly. I had been hoping to see a flying fox all trip and hadnt seen on yet so when I saw that and then looked at the time, I dashed over to the highest spot on our terrace to see if I could see more. Sure enough, it was full fly out time! I was so excited and ran back in like a little kid yelling "OMGGGG THEY'RE DOING FLY OUT!!!!!" Josh looked at me like I had 3 heads. Later, we were going to dinner and I saw a juvenile spectacled FF swoop down and land in a tree. Josh was at an ATM and I 100% ditched him mid-transaction and bolted across the street to see it up close. Poor Josh was standing there about a minute later so confused and I yelled out "THERE'S A SPECTACLED IN THE TREE!!" Again...three heads. It was seriously one of the best moments of the trip for me, though. The next day i dragged him to Tolga Bat hospital in Atherton. He was mildly amused Oh we honeymooned in Port Douglas and go back there every year - LOVE IT!!! And I am surprised you only sew a couple of flying foxes. If you come to my home town in Victoria, you will literally see thousands. We have a colony of between 7000 and 10000 permanent,y living in the town along the river. Many residents hate them because of the muck and the stench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesp2k Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 9 hours ago, AndreaJane said: Our house was built in 1940 and has a lot of details that I really like. I think it's considered Ranch style. My dream style would be anything with a nice big front porch. Farmhouse, Victorian, Craftsman - doesn't matter as long as the porch is wide. I do have a little courtyard that is looking pretty spectacular at the moment. Andrea, we currently live in a ranch style home too - but I won't show your beautiful courtyard to my DW - she'll definitely want it I'm enjoying seeing all of your homes & reading your stories! I think this could be a separate topic...lots of decorating ideas for dollhouses too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewMini Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 Ha I'd be up for changing the title of this thread so its more about sharing our homes and maybe what we do or dont like. Or maybe just real life house inspiration? Can an admin do that for me? I agree it's been fun oogling everyone's home! @AndreaJane your flower covered courtyard NEEDS to happen in my casa! What kind of flower is that? Camelia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beulah Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 I love so many style, can I just have one Victorian Stone, one Craftsman, one Country French, one Italian Villa, one Beachside Bungalow, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 4 hours ago, SewMini said: Ha I'd be up for changing the title of this thread so its more about sharing our homes and maybe what we do or dont like. Or maybe just real life house inspiration? Can an admin do that for me? I agree it's been fun oogling everyone's home! @AndreaJane your flower covered courtyard NEEDS to happen in my casa! What kind of flower is that? Camelia? This whole thread might better be moved to the chitchat forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaJane Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 4 hours ago, SewMini said: @AndreaJane your flower covered courtyard NEEDS to happen in my casa! What kind of flower is that? Camelia? It's a climbing rose of unknown origin. Vaguely Cecile Brunner-ish but the flowers are more of a blush than a pink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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