Dream Home?

Maria, over at On the Road to Contentment, suggested a topic of discussing our dream homes. 


My dream home would be a stone structure with a medium honey paneling throughout. You would enter directly into the great room, which would have a vaulted ceiling and skylights. The chandeliers would be rustic, black iron with Nomex paper covers (and use CFL bulbs). Dividing the room would be a stone fireplace, open on both sides. On one side would be a seating/gathering area with comfy sofas and overstuffed chairs. On the other side would be a gathering area with wood dining tables. I'm thinking this area would be around 30X30.

On one end of the great room would be the kitchen area. I would want a wall mount convection oven, an island with a cooktop and a raised counter (for breakfast seating). The counters would be tile or Corian. There would be a small room off to the side, it wouldn't need to be too large, but I would use it as a pantry/kitchen storage. Maybe 5X8. There would also be a half bath and a separate laundry room.

The hallway leading to the bedroom area would be lined on both sides with closets. We'd have three bedrooms and one full-bath on the bedroom side of the house. Each bedroom would be around 10X15.

The master suite would be on the other side of the house. Again, the hallway leading to it would be lined on both sides with closets. There would be one large master bedroom, maybe 15X20. The master bedroom would have two small walk-in closets. One for J, one for me. There would also be two smaller rooms, about 10X10, one would be the office and the other the classroom/library. At this end, there would also be a comfortable master bathroom. It would have a spa tub instead of a regular one, and there would be a separate 2-person shower. Not necessarily to share, it just makes it big enough to move around or deal with aging issues. The master bath would have a skylight and beside the spa would be one of those glass block window things. It sounds large, but I'm really thinking 2200-2500 sf. 

I would have a good size wood deck, and a screened in porch.

There would be a detached 2 1/2 car garage with a loft above for outside storage. At the back of the garage, I'd build on a potting shed.