Monday, May 9, 2011

Home Is Where the House Is

I sometimes fantasize about the absolute dream house. I'm sure a lot of people do this. I'm never going to actually live in that house, but it's fun to think about. One reason my wife and I will never occupy our dream house is that it's really two different houses.

Hers is a classy modern house, full of sunlight and space.  There are gleaming hardwood floors, and just enough tasteful furniture to be inviting.  There's a piano in the solarium, whatever that is, and some large-leafed plants, for that large-leafed plant look.
My house, on the other hand, is more like Merlin's tower in The Sword In The Stone.  It's architecturally grotesque, and filled with every conceivable kind of mental diversion and amusement.  It doesn't have to be a tower, of course, but when I look out the window, I want to see trees, not someone else's window.  It will be chock full of books and what we now refer to as media.  Ideally, the floor won't be visible at all, and I don't have much use for bare walls either.
So, as near as I can figure, the only way to work this out will be to build a contemporary split fronting a Medieval castle, on a semi-urban street, with the back abutting hundreds of acres of conservation land.  The front door will be minutes from shopping and public transportation, while the back will be impervious to the sound of internal combustion engines.

Visitors will enter a brass-and-glass gallery of selected art works and musical accoutrements, and then proceed back, stepping over piles of ancient tomes and strange devices of wood and stone.  I'll have to get to work on the plans.

Unless we find one already for sale.

2 comments:

David said...

Agreed. At this point, I have given up on the dream of the ultimate vdeo/media library and concentrated on the library (books) part. I used to have a nice 5.1 surround system, large (for its time) TV and several walls of video tapes, DVDs and even laserdiscs. Oh, I might mention I was single as well. Marriage happened and the ultimate media room shrank...as did my interest ultimately (and possibly my hearing). Divorce happened (not over the medeia room) and I saw that I was woefully, technologically behnd the times. At this point, the tapes and laserdiscs are gone and the DVds are boxed. The surround system is set up but I rarely even go in the room. I guess my interests have changed as well. Who knows what the future may bring? Thanks for a good post.

Unknown said...

Thanks, David! I don't know if kids entered the picture at all, but then all the video and audio media have to make way for Legos and Pokemon and Harry Potter paraphernalia.

I cling desperately to my little corner, but it's shrinking. I still have the books ... 3 lifetimes' worth at least, but they keep making new ones.