House

I've been playing with a design for our next house. I don't think we'll move for two years, although I'd like to move next year. The design keeps evolving around a plan I found in a Small House Designs book. I still haven't pulled up the two-page list of Ideas for Next House, which are specific features I want to include, such as Outdoor Stream, Chute for Glass (so it'll shatter when it reaches the basement storage container--easier to recycle), Indoor Clothesline (must be in a non-public, sunny area), Residential Urinal (shouldn't these water-savers be pretty common by now?)

I hope to finalize a layout, then check the list and tweak the design as necessary to include ALL the features. Getting this designed a year or two before we build/renovate will give me a sense of peace, knowing what the house I want looks like. If we decide to buy an existing house, we can at least weigh it against what I designed and decide what, if any, compromises we're willing to make.

The trouble with getting an existing house is almost no one will have built the type of superinsulated, low maintenance house I want--so we automatically have to plan on refinishing the inside or outside of the building envelope (whichever side we add insulation to), adding solar panels and/or water heating, adding skylights and/or windows, which means buying a low-priced-enough (read: probably crummy) house to be able afford/justify the expense of improvements.