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What’s In A Dream Home?

2014 February 13
by WWGD

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We have been struggling lately with the notion of a dream house. Is our dream house the house that would be dreamy right now? The house that would be dreamy in ten years from now? Maybe in 20 years?

We love the convenience of living in a new neighborhood with our young children – the built-in playgrounds, tons of kids to play with, community amenities, turn-key kitchens and brand new baths.

But the truth is that our dream home is not made of granite countertops and builder palette paint colors. We want a home with a little personality, charm, our own custom upgrades, wide open spaces and cozy little nooks. We just want it to have a built-in playground, tons of kids and community amenities outside the (painted) front door. And we don’t want to have to spend a ton of money making something (very) old new again…at least not right now. At least, we think.

This home I found online has me second-guessing all of that.

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This beautiful house in Montecito, designed by architect Michael Eserts and photographed by Jessica Comingore (who was kind enough to give me permission to re-post her work here), makes it so easy to imagine a dream home we could live in now. Not in 10 or 20 years, but now. With a growing family, two home offices, a busy kitchen…and a suitcase full of dreams.

It looks new but feels old, which I love. The white walls, the bright natural light, the wood floors (we would probably opt for a darker shade if the choice was ours)…it feels modern without being cold and warm without feeling stuffy.

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I wish there was a little more of the kitchen to be seen, but at first glance, it has so many of the elements I love: big farmhouse sink, amazing windows, white everything…no granite.

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The bath is similar in tone, but has a little added dimension in the shower, which is a nice surprise. Clean and simple but not so austere that you can’t settle in.

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It’s not huge, which is another thing we struggle with in the suburbs. We don’t need or want all the space being offered to us in most new homes…and frankly wouldn’t even know how to begin furnishing (or cleaning!) it. I don’t know why everyone thinks young families today want big, bigger, biggest. We want to keep our families safe and happy and comfortable and most of us don’t need 3,000 sq. ft.+ to do that in.

And finally, it has an absolutely beautiful outdoor space (with incredible flow from the interior to the exterior) with plenty of room for fun and games and hey, maybe even our own little built-in playground…

And a little dreaming, of course.

*You can see a few additional images of the home on Jessica’s web site here.

One Response
  1. liz permalink
    February 13, 2014

    This house is gorgeous! I love all things white with little accents of black, gray and neutrals. I’ve had to make myself be ok with the fact that I’m probably going to live in an apartment for most of my life, but looking at this home makes me so happy inside.

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