Dream House?

What is your definition of a "dream" house? We are in the beginning phase of creating a new house out in the country, on our 2 little acres of land, full of trees & wildflowers. Neighbors down the lane but not right next door, peering in my dining room when we have Sunday dinner! Quiet, serene & very organic!

Twelve years ago, we took a huge leap of faith & purchased this little piece of paradise. At the time, our children were very small & the only thing that stopped us from building a house immediately was the fact that the neighboring country school was not as good as our local school in town & we were not crazy about the idea of transporting this many kids into town all the time for activities. We are literally minutes from anything here but there, it would be about an 8 minute drive into town. We weren't in a hurry, so we decided to just sit on it, visiting at times to plant fir trees (provided by our County every year, for free & a donation to the food bank) & spread wildflower seeds. In the spring, we'd collect pussy willows & in the fall, we'd collect leaves & pine cones for art & our dining room table. With so many trees, almost the full 2 acres, it's been a magical place to visit for a peaceful walk & a quiet spot to write or dream about our future.

P.S. Not our house but the one that I 

see each day as I look out my office 

window in the city. Love the design

but it should be on an acreage!

When our oldest dd moved home with her young son, we began to think about building a new house that would better accommodate all of us. Our house currently is 1820 square feet. Not a bad size & it worked when our kids were young. But right now, we are essentially 2 distinct families trying to live in a house meant for 1 family. It's definitely time! 

As we look at house plans, we've had many discussions about just building a house to accomodate each of us & then actually building our dream home. My version of a dream home would be energy efficient, solid, well built with lots of storage, some interesting character features & as healthy as possible (low emissions, recycled materials, etc.). My dh's version of a dream house seems to consist of what he sees on HGTV: granite counters, tons of extra rooms, a theatre room ("what's wrong with watching a movie on the tv we have now?" I ask), a island in the kitchen bigger than our current kitchen, a 3 car garage with a workshop, Victorian, with a huge wrap around deck, a library, a den, an exercise room .... yikes, where is he going with this? I can't fathom what that would cost & need to find ways to reign him in!! My frugal guy is changing. Help!!

We've managed, on a tight, mostly single income til now budget to live in comfortable, fit us at the moment, homes. I know his feeling is that we've worked so hard all our lives & now we can have fun, but the last thing I want is a monster house with a mortgage. My plan all along has been to build new but have no mortgage on the day the keys are handed to us. Meeting in the middle is our goal now.

What would be essential for your "dream house" 

& what would be the fun things 

to put in if you could?