Some little girls dream of their wedding day.

I’ve always fantasized about my house o’ dreams. Maybe it has something to do with the year and a half I spent with my Mom pouring over layouts and square footage with I was 10. My Dad and Grandma had both succumbed to cancer within a month of each other, and I think that my Mom decided that the best way to rebuild her life, and her family, was to build a home.

So we did. That year was a blur of wall paper swatch books, paint chips, and carpet samples. There were decisions to be made on grout color, molding type, and tile size. To me it was a frenzy of exciting discoveries. Our new neighborhood had a pool, and there were two trees in the back yard that were going to be perfect for the hammock I’d always wanted. My Mom was going to have a huge bathroom and a tub you could swim in. It all felt like a great dream.

Now granted, I wasn’t the one who fought with the contractors, applied for the loans, or dealt with the realtors – so I’m looking back with the rose colored glasses of a 10 year old who’d never heard of a 30 year mortgage. All I know is, that after the worst thing that ever could happen to me, did happen to me, this was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

I loved being part of the process. We went out and marked the trees on our lot that we didn’t want torn down during construction, we watched them lay the foundation, and then frame the whole house in a day. The roof and walls went up, and I saw when the house went from having empty sockets for eyes, to gleaming new windows with the stickers still on. Then we finally moved in and got to decorate, settle in, and nest. This house was ours – we claimed every bit of it, every tree, every wall, every light bulb.

From then on I’ve dreamed of what it would be like when I had my own house. A few years back I became interested in eco-friendly design, and have spent dozens of hours pouring over books, videos, and articles on topics like straw-bale construction, grey water reclamation, passive-solar orientation, masonry heaters, and living roofs. I’ve read theories on work flow, and how to use space efficiently. I’ve poured through shelter magazines and design blogs. I’ve estimated costs and looked at land prices – in fact, this dream of mine was a big factor in me wanting to move back to Texas.

I have a file tucked in my bookshelves with all these ideas, resources, inspirations, estimates-- and my sketches. All my graph paper sketches of floor plans and elevations are tucked in among the magazine clippings and printouts. Plans for houses with courtyards, and houses with backyards, houses with game rooms, and houses with lofts, tiny garage studios, and sprawling 5 bedroom ramblers.

I hope one day I get my house o’ dreams, but I do wonder sometimes if it’s not just more fun to dream about it.

_originally posted 6/5/09_