the house i'm not building

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

I know we are very fortunate to be expats living overseas as we are. But from time to time I do get homesick. I admit some of my triggers are seeing bloggers share their own homes, the latest projects they're doing or the cute new find they found at the local big box retailer (ahem, Target - yes you can laugh at me). Often this leads to daydreaming of a fantasy house I would build when we return to the States someday.


Recently I was cruising the real estate listings from back Stateside and found a beautiful farm for sale. I don't talk about it much here but I am an equestrian, well a former equestrian. I lived and breathed horses my entire life, until we started moving around that is. My whole family is horse crazy, I'm even descended from America's only one-armed polo player (at least as far as we know) so basically we're nuts. In my fits of homesickness, I daydream of building a horse farm.


Pinterest doesn't help... this last time, I came really close to pulling the trigger. It was in our budget, the land was perfect and even the schools in the area were great. But then my brain started working again and I asked myself, "Can you really oversee the building of a house from overseas?!" Nope, not really. But if I could, this is the house I'm not building:


I love colored kitchens:


Julia Reed in New Orleans, image

A calming dining space:


Solis Betancourt

A cozy office to read a book:


A family-friendly, casual living room:



And a fun place to play:


A beautiful stair and other details:



I actually really like wood tones in a bathroom, especially after seeing this one by Phoebe Howard.


And a beautiful, simple hearth:


And a solarium, my grandparents had a solarium and I have so many memories of loving that space:

1939 house in Atlanta by Frazier and Bodin restored by Stephen and Kerry Fuller from Cote de Texas

I always thought I would prefer a more formal historic house for restoration, however I'm becoming more and more interested in building new. If the right historic house came up, I would still love to restore. Maybe someday, but for now I'm happy with our under 800 square feet here in Japan and all the life experiences our current home brings.
ArchitectDesign™ said...

thats what the blog is for - to 'play' with these ideas with other people who are interested :-) Love your style!