Hostile;2016916 said:
Let's say you came into some money. Enough to do something you have always wanted to do. What would it be?
Me, I would like to build my dream house and do as much of it as I could all by myself. I've built several houses, but always for other people and I had to go by their plans and wishes.
I'd like to build this on an isolated 10 acres where I can build my own shop, have a horse again, and a great big garden. I'd line the property edges with citrus trees and maybe some pecans or walnuts. I'd like to have my own well so I can keep my trees and garden watered but not have a huge water bill.
I've passed many an idle hour playing this game, Hos... I'd build my own house too (well, not me personally), find a piece of property on a bluff overlooking one of the famed seven bends of the Shenandoah River... I see it as one of those ultramodern, steel, concrete and glass deals, and each room would have a different "theme"... the living room would be in a Civil War theme, specifically art and memorabilia associated with the Army of Northern Virginia... I see it with art deco furniture... the dining room would have a Scotland theme, because of my Scottish heritage... I see it with Scottish pine furniture... and the country kitchen would have a genealogy theme, i.e., lots of family pics, and some things associated with the clan MacKenzie... I see it with Appalchian red oak cabinetry, and stainless steel Jenn-Air appliances...
The office would have a golf theme... if I was took sufficiently rich, I'd actually have an office, a library and a meeting room, the office theme would be great golf courses, with an emphasis on Augusta National, Pebble Beach and Saint Andrews... the library theme would be great golfers, like Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson... the meeting room theme would be classic golf clubs... these rooms would all have oak paneling, and antique oak office furniture... a big ol' rolltop desk, and a partner's desk with leather writing surface... barrister's bookcases, that sort of thing... and a big Chesterfield leather sofa...
My master bedroom would have a Texas/Desert Southwest theme, featuring collections of Hopi kachina dolls and Zuni fetishes (bear fetishes, naturally)... the master bath would have an Alaska theme, tribute to the state I was born in... the furniture would be custom made mesquite...
I'd have four guest bedrooms, each done in an Asia theme... one bedroom, I call the China Black bedroom, and it would feature black lacquered furniture with an antique opium bed... I think that would be cool... a second bedroom would be the China Red bedroom, and feature mostly red lacquered furniture, and a Chinese wedding bed (an elaborately carved canopy bed)... a third bedroom would be the Japan bedroom, the fourth would be the India bedroom, lots of teak furniture...
I've never been to the Orient, but I just love Asian art...
The real fun starts when you go down to the basement, or the playpen...
My game room would be the Dallas Cowboys room (featuring a Brunswick Centennial pool table, and an antique Wurlitzer juke box), my exercise room would be the Texas Longhorns room (with a 4 person sauna and a 500 gallon aquarium), the pub would be done in a Jack Daniels theme, the bathroom downstairs would be a Baltimore Orioles theme... and if I got took really rich, I'd have a 4 lane bowling alley in my basement, with a kind of 50's kitsch feel to it-- car sofas, that kind of thing... I'd also have a private cinema, that might seat as many as 30 people, with state of the art electronics, done in a movie theme-- lots of posters of old movies that I loved...
I'd also have a large garage, done in an automobilia theme, with at least a half dozen muscle/performance cards and SUVs... there would be more if I could afford them...
At times I think it would be cool to have my own 9 hole golf course on the property, but if I have that kind of money, I'd rather go around and play a bunch of different courses... it would take a lot of grounds staff to maintain a golf course anyway... I would, however, have a large putting and chipping green somewhere on the grounds...
What's sick about that is I've even got crude blueprints drawn up for each room, each floor... I had a LITTLE drafting back in high school... and I've got folders of printouts of the kind of furniture I'd contemplate for each room in the house... ditto with the kind of home electronics I'd want...
I'm gettin' all excited again, if I hit that 113 million lottery tonight I'm gonna get started on all this tomorrow....
