Welcome to the 795th Metamorphosis Monday! Many years ago, I shared this photo in a post called, My Dream Home. I don’t remember now how I first came across it, but the photo was of an adorable playhouse available to purchase at the website PoshTotsdotcom. In that post, I shared that if/when I ever move, I would love to find a cute cottage home similar to this one. Of course, it would need to be made to “adult-human” size. lol
Photo from PoshTots.com
There are so many features to love in this little fantasy dream home, starting with the dormer windows up top and the cute bay window with beautiful flowering window boxes. I also love the white picket fence with its rose-covered arbor. I wonder if adorable cottage homes like this exist in real life? I’ve seen a few over the years that came very close! I’ve been thinking more and more about a cute cottage home lately, and that has me wondering what type of home you would envision for your dream home.
If you moved to your dream home right now, how would it look? Would it be a small cottage, or perhaps something a lot bigger/roomier than your current home? Where would it be located: the beach? On a lake? In the mountains? In a big city? Would your dream home be located closer to family, grandchildren, or good friends? Or, maybe you’re living in your dream home right now. If so, please tell me about it!
Please leave a comment letting me know what you envision when you think of your ideal home. Since we’re dreaming here, anything goes! I would love to hear how your dream home looks and where it would be (or currently is) located!
Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!
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Metamorphosis Monday: Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects even recipes. Please do not link up Table Settings, save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday. If you are participating in Met Monday, you’ll need to link your post to the party using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on the name of your post, then copy and paste the address that shows in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the “url” box for InLinkz when prompted.
Oooh, go for it…that could be replicated “these days!!” We…chose a beautiful lake (300 miles of shoreline) to…retire. I chose a cove facing West so…our sunsets are…putting it modestly…SPECTACULAR!! I could send hundreds of photographs franki
That sounds amazing, Franki! I love sunset views!
We built our retirement home in 2002. It’s all on one floor. At the time our older daughter’s family lived in another state. We wanted enough bedrooms to accommodate them. After 3 years, they actually moved to our city. I keep trying to get one of my daughters to move in here and let us move to a smaller place. So far, no takers. It’s the party house. They use our house because theirs aren’t big enough. If we decide to sell, we’ll see what they say then.
So wonderful that they moved to your state, Nancy–the closer family is, the better. The party house–love that!
We did not specifically look for our “dream home” after we retired, but definitely wanted to downsize and move to a ranch from a 2story house. Through the intervention of our daughter we ended up moving one block from her family. She approached a neighbor and told them we would be interested in purchasing their home if they decided to move. This was unbeknown to us and we were surprised to get a call to view the house! We bought the house with a handshake and have never looked back. It is perfectly walkable to her home, our grandsons can walk or bike here and it is perfect for our extended family from out of town. We are lucky it provided many of the things that were important to us as we plan to “age in place”. It has been a blessing and still is a bit of a work in progress, we are so happy to have landed here.
That sounds wonderful, Sherry…like it was meant to be! Wow, you don’t see anything, much less homes, bought on a handshake anymore. I love that story! What a blessing to be so close to family and your grandsons!
My dream home would be a log home…on the west coast of Canada…with a view of the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains!! Instead….I live on an Island…on the East Coast of Canada …surrounded by water! But….a girl can dream….
Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a home in both places. They both sound wonderful!
Your little house is charming! And very similar to one I would like, only mine would be a sage green with burgundy and white trim. With a picket fence all around a small garden (I have a huge garden now and sometimes it overwhelms me!). I can’t decide where I want to locate it, my three daughters are all thousands of miles away from me and each other so it could only be close to one. Love to dream about it though!
Love the idea of a garden with a white picket fence surrounding it…sounds wonderful! I haven’t had a vegetable garden in ages since my backyard is way too shady. I’d have to learn how to grow vegetables all over again. lol
That’s hard when everyone is so spread out, which seems to be the norm these days.
This post is so timely! Right now organizers are here pre-packing my house, which is going to be staged next week for sale. I’ve been here for over 20 years, but now that my late mum who lived with me has been gone for 3 years, it’s too much to look after. At the moment I’m viewing condos with my realtor but haven’t found the right one yet.
I hope you find the perfect one, Brigitte! I know, all the upkeep with homes can be so tiring, at times.
A friend of mine went through the same situation but after calculating HOA fees, lack of privacy and trees she went with a smaller single family home. She can pay someone to mow the lawn, plow her driveway in winter and still come out thousands ahead. Just a thought, hope you don’t mind the comment.
Thanks for having us over, Susan. Your yellow cottage is so sweet. I agree, it could be replicated. 5 years ago we moved to a mid-century brick ranch that we morphed into an English style “cottage”. It does have a basement, but that’s my husband’s hangout. Main disadvantage is that it has a large yard with trees that is time consuming and expensive.
I have a similar situation in my backyard, lots of trees, so I know what you mean. It’s nice when they leaf out this time of year, though.
We have moved to our ‘dream house’. I know its not what many will call a dream house, but we are in a basement suite with our daughter, SIL and the grandkids. So this is awesome.
Thanks for hosting, Suzanne, and having me over, sharing with your readers.
Aww, there is nothing better than being surrounded by family! Sounds wonderful!
That is the cutest little house! It would be darling as a grown up one too! I have so many dream houses – a penthouse downtown, a cabin on a Hawaiian beach, a stone cottage on 10 remote acres, a historic manor house in England, a modern 3-story party house in the suburban hills with walls of windows to bring in the spectacular city views, a beautiful old Victorian in San Francisco … I guess I better win the lottery! Thanks for the daydreams, and for hosting every week! Hope yours is starting off well!
Love the sound of all of those! Imagine just being to fly between them all whenever you wished. It’s fun to dream! I’m sure there are plenty of headaches that come with owning a bunch of houses in different places, though. Maybe it’s better to just dream about it than to actually experience it. lol
I’d love to have my friend’s pool house (it looks almost like a full-sized version of the picture you posted). I’d like it on a postage stamp-sized lot or “in the woods” with a small beautifully landscaped area around it so the yard is low maintenance. And, of course, it would need to be within 15-20 minutes from healthcare (Drs., drug store, hospital) and a great grocery store – but definitely not in a city.
Margaret, I love the photos you shared, what an amazing pool house! I know the actual house must truly be amazing!
Yes, we need all those conveniences!
I think we live in our dream home. It’s not elaborate but we have done a lot of updating. We do think about moving closer to our boys.. about an hour and a half away. Not far but we would have to pick up our house and take it with us!!! Lol! The best thing we did was remodel the bathrooms for zero entry showers and grab bars. And my craft room!!!! And built on a dining room!!! Oh I just love it all!
I know that feeling! I’ve become so attached to my home after 34 years, so hard to imagine moving. Sounds perfect, Sheri!
I have 3 dream homes! I just love homes! 1) would be the yellow cottage you are showing. 2) A Tudor style cottage and 3) A stone cottage, like the ones you see in Pennsylvania near Gettysburg and Philadelphia.
Oh, I love all three of those styles! So much character and personality in all three styles!
I am writing my family stories and that has created a huge need to return to the Midwest where I was born and raised. Since this is a dream house we’re talking about, mine is large because I would like to donate it to my small hometown to be used as a library, or some other public building the residents would like to have after I’m gone. Two things this house must have are an elevator to avoid the stairs issue and a glass lookout room on the roof so I can see the house where my grandparents lived and the house I lived in until I was 3 years old. A song that I remember from my earliest childhood, Dear Hearts and Gentle People, is the catalyst for my dream along with a quote I like, “You are never too old to have a new goal or another dream.” This is the first dream I have ever had for myself so I went big.
Aww, Lynn. That’s all so touching. I hope this is just the first of many dreams that come true for you.
Lynn, I love it! Yes, we can still have big dreams and even make them happen. I hope your dreams come true–they sound beautiful!
Oh, such a cozy house! I would say we are in our dream apartment now…love living in a building with so many amenities and in a community with lots of entertainment and activities. But, your post made me think of how I have always loved houses…and would take walks or rides and look at homes and dream. I even took photos of two houses I loved when I was in my late teens/early twenties. One was a cute colonial and the other was an tudor like style. Of course, back then, you took a photo, got the film developed and then had the photo. We moved several times in our 47 years of marriage…small rental homes, apartments, several years in a family home that came available…but then built three homes. First was a little colonial – people would stop on walks and tell us it looked like it dropped out of Williamsburg. Next was an English country style, sort of tudor, and we got lots of compliments on that, too. Last house was more like the cottage you pictured, but with a stone front. That was the home that the inside was the closest to perfect. Anyway….going through old photo boxes when we moved, I found the photos of those homes I took pictures of many years ago – and was amazed by how close they came to the homes we built! Dreams do come true…..
Love that, Ann! You knew what you loved in a home at an early age. I grew up in a city that was chock-full of beautiful old homes and didn’t realize how special they were since that’s all I ever saw. I guess that’s where my obsession with old homes came from.
Yes, we have it so good now with photos. I remember those days of waiting for photos to be developed and wondering if any of them would be any good. lol
We built my dream home 22 years ago. It’s a Queen Anne Victorian, which we describe as “turn of the century.” We just don’t say which century. We built it as a 4 story Bed and Breakfast, with 5 guest bedrooms en-suite. We built it into the side of a hill, so only 2 stories are seen from the front. The 4th story – 5th guest room – is in the “attic.” We included an elevator, and one room is handicap accessible. We hosted ministers and their wives at NO CHARGE to them. We also ended up hosting women’s retreats (no charge). Our friend and former pastor’s wife brought many women from their church, and by word of mouth, we hosted many more. I had one phone call from a minister in Aspermont, TX. (It’s north of Abilene.) We are in North Texas. I asked “how did you hear about us,” since we did not advertise. Their daughter had been here with a group. We hosted many over a period of 6 years, then I developed shingles, and no longer had the stamina to do so. We had a delightful youth minister at our church who was here for 10 years. We hosted junior and senior high girls from the youth group for D-NOW (Disciple Now) which was over a weekend, and many other special times. When we bought our property, none of our children lived in Texas. Two were in CA and two in CO. Now they are all in Texas, and at our age they want us closer to them, SO, we’re looking for a smaller (than 12,000 SQ. FT.) home.
Wow, what wonderful memories, and so generous of you to share your home as you have over the years! I know you must be so happy to have all of your children back in Texas, now. I hope you find the perfect home to right-size to. I know it’s hard leaving a home you’ve loved and lived in for so long, but sounds like you have new adventures to look forward to.
We just moved from our dream home. It became too much for us to take care of. We had 125′ lake frontage with dock, pontoon and a big yard. The house was two stories with lots of windows. We moved close two our children and have a lovely, smaller home now. I like that it is easier to take care of and has a good community just like our lake community. I still miss the water, wildlife and the views.
I know when I move, there will def be things I will miss, so I can just imagine. I’m so glad you are near your children, Lynne–that is truly the best thing ever!
It’s adorable. That’s for sure. I’ve always wanted a cottage with a garden and I had a dear friend who lived about a mile away from me with the most enchanting house I have ever seen. Not large, but an exquisite cottage style house with a beautiful garden. Sadly, she passed away four years ago from covid. I always wanted to sell my house, which is way too big for me, and buy hers, but unfortunately the timing was not right, but I will always have wonderful memories of her and her “enchanting cottage home”
I’m so sorry that she passed, it’s so hard to lose friends. Her cottage sounds beautiful, Lisa. I know what you mean, timing is everything. There was a home close to my son that was on the market a couple of years ago and I loved it, but it sold within 24 hours of being listed, so there was no way I could get there and make an offer before it was gone. There’s just something so special about a cottage home, they have so much charm. Enchanting is the perfect way to describe it!
I have a Pinterest board full of cute cottages. Mine would be made of limestone and be wooded and near a deep lake. Yours is close to perfection. Love it.
That sounds enchanting, like something from a fairy tale. ♥
I have been quite entertained by all the dream houses that have been described. I’m sure I could live happily ever after in each and every one.
Now I have to finish my family stories that began in 1857 with a 9-week voyage on a sailing ship from Germany. I encourage everyone to write their stories because so much will be lost if you don’t. Susan, you have a head start on writing about your family. My mother’s father was born in the 1860s and left behind 2 handwritten books that are a diary of sorts that introduced me to the man I never knew. He died when I was 10 but his books about farming, his family and life at the turn of the century are a gift that I’m very pleased he left behind.
Such a great idea, Lynn! How wonderful to have those books, what a treasure!
I love so many styles of homes, I want to do a “residential tour”! Six months to a year in Marina City in Chicago, a Frank Lloyd Wright house somewhere, a Swiss chalet, a Paris apartment, somewhere within a block of Central Park in NYC, a longboat cruising a canal in England (thanks to the Cruising the Cut YouTube series), a little house in Manhattan Beach in CA, a lake cottage in the upper Midwest, maybe a house along the St Lawrence in Quebec. I’d better get packing!
Susan, what a great question and I loved reading all the comments! so many have wonderful dreams and so many came true for them! I am starting to think about aging well and with that in mind, would go to a single story home, with a basement for storage and a garage. It would have to have a large kitchen and pantry, breakfast nook, dining room, a craft room, and most importantly a large library. I remember when several magazine would have a page of house blueprints you could buy. Several of those were my dream homes. Victorian, Farmhouse, Swedish inspired, always two storied.