Dream Homes

Today (like pretty much every other day) I have been thinking about how much I hate the house we are renting. The amenities include disgusting toilets with ill-fitting tanks covers,

weird leaves stuck on the kitchen ceiling,

and cactus in the front yard.

Sigh.....Decent rentals are hard to find. Especially in a very small town. Especially when you want something over two thousand square feet. Especially when you have an indoor dog.

We are in the process of subdividing an acre off my parents property. . We have to pay for the subdivision and for water, but other than that it's free. How else could we get 1 acre of land in Southern Nevada for under $30,000? The money we save will enable us to build a much bigger and nicer home than we could otherwise afford. However, there is a downside. And not a minor one. The land division process takes forever! We hired a company to handle it for us, but we are already at the 1 1/2 year mark. :( I am becoming increasingly more impatient and frustrated. I spend a lot of time dreaming about the house I would like to have. These are a few of the homes I love.

This one is my all-time favorite home that is even remotely within the realm of affordability. About seven years ago, when we were a poor student family, we found this home plan. It is the Collinwood plan by Frank Betz. Both Jared and I fell in love with it. We are more than a bit obsessed. Just to give an example.......April of 2007 we flew out to Virginia to see a house built from this floor plan. Seeing it in person only served to increase our obsession. My husband is almost certain that we will be able to afford this home by the time the property division is done. I am almost certain that we will not. Jared is notoriously optimistic. He would say that I am notoriously pessimistic. This is one occasion when I hope he will prove me wrong. I think most likely the Collinwood will go down in family history as the house that got away...

I have come up with some smaller (ie. less expensive) home plans that I like. However, even these may be long shots. But, who knows? Maybe insurance companies will actually start paying us for a change. Maybe we'll win the lottery even though we've never bought a ticket? Stranger things have happened. I think.

This is the Shenandoah. Before we left for Virginia to see the Collinwood, my sister said, "What if you go to see the Collinwood and find another house you love even more?" Blasphemy! How could that ever happen? I had searched through literally thousands of home plans and had yet to find anything I liked better. However...I do REALLY like this house. It was in the same housing division as the Collinwood. Gorgeous, isn't it?




This is another house I found online. I LOVE Victorian homes. As if you couldn't tell. This is one of my favorites. It's about 2,500 hundred square feet, so it should be fairly affordable. At least that is what I'm hoping. I would probably change the color. This one seems a little dreary to me.





This is another of the more realistic possibilities. I love the cheeriness of the yellow. The gazebo is nice too. Think outdoor wedding reception...The downside is that it only has 3 bedrooms. Of course, we could probably have the plan expanded or altered a bit to include a fourth bedroom.







And last, but not least, yet another Victorian home plan. I love it when online home plans include photos.















So what do you think? Which do you like the best and why? I would love to hear your thoughts! Please, please, please leave a comment!