Growing up, we had this garden of sorts in the back yard.  It was about...40 feet by 25 feet.  I barely remember what we grew in it, I think i remember some lettuce or cauliflower rows, but I know I remember the strawberry section we had right next to the shed.  We had a little fencing thing around it to keep animals from eating them.  I use to love to sneak a strawberry or two.  wow, I must have been like 6 and I remember that pretty well.

I also remember going over Bruce Watson's old house and seeing his garden.  Man, that was a sight to behold.  He had at least an acre or two of solid garden on the hill of his backyard.  If you don't know, Bruce is a main character in the story of my childhood, whether he knows it or not.  But he'd tell stories about how he'd stand on his back porch early in the morning and raise his arms out and shout to his garden, "GARDEN!  GROW!  PLANTS!  GROW!" and that is what he attributed the success of his garden to.

To the point and sentiment/reminiscing aside, I want a garden at my house.  More to the point, a green house.  Not just any green house though, think Big Top Pee-Wee's greenhouse.  I want it to be techy, of course.  Finger print entry, automated sprinklers, temperature and moisture regulators, hydroponic solutions, the works.  I want to be able to go get fresh fruits, vegetables, etc anytime I want.  I'm certainly not against working in the greenhouse, I'd actually love to take care of plants like that.  I'd just want to be able to live off veggies and fruits if a nuclear holocaust were to happen, ya know?  It's like my own plan B. 

 Next post I'll talk about the moat and electric fence surrounding the property...

If you know me well, you know that I like things to have a reason or purpose.  I definitely take function over aesthetic, but if you can mix the two in harmony, that's ideal.  To the point though, I would love a studio in the house, but I'd never be able to use it to it's full potential.  So i'd like it to have it's own entrance and have it run as a business.  There's probably some way I could take advantage of running a business out of my home come tax time too.  If I could find someone that would be willing to run it for 85% of the profit, I think it could work out well.  It'd be nice to open up the house to musicians as well.

I'm a fan of large landscaping.  I just went to Phipps conservatory and there are these huge leaved palm trees that are about 7 feet high and they're totally awesome.  I'm not sure on whether i want the the house to be tucked away secretly in the woods or just have a big clearing in the woods for the house.  I don't think the palm trees would fit in well if they were right next to a big pine tree.  I also like ivy walls, or some sort of ivy crawling unevenly along the exterior walls.  One idea I have with the glass circular entryway is to make it a glass crescent foyer/green house, and I could put all kinds of different plants like the palm trees in there.  It will be more expensive since there will be a lot more glass and such, but it might work out better aesthetically and maybe even energy efficient.  I'll have to wait until it's time to design it to decide the best route I guess.

I also want the roof to be completely green, either with just turf or gardens.  One of my complaints with my life right now is that grocery shopping is very inconvenient for me so I only go once a month.  The fresh fruit and vegies I get have to be eaten in that first week or so, and it's hard to do that as a single man.  I would love to have a huge garden that I could just go up and pick a pepper or something for eggs in the morning.  Having the garden on the roof would keep some insects and small animals from eating from the garden as well as earning green building credits.

So, one of my life long goals is to build a house that i design.  I have a bunch of weird/unique ideas that i'd like to incoporate into the house, so i thought i'd post some of them here when i get them.  Welcome the house category.  One day, i'll get some sketches down/scanned and show you what i'm thinking about.  A textual description will have to do for now.

I would like it to be 3 stories, but will go for 2 if money is an issue.  It will basically just be a big rectangle, large tan blocks walls, and the entrance will be a large half circle, the height of the house, black window frames ~4 feet high and ~2 feet wide.  The glass is "smart" glass and a switch inside would control the glass panes from being white, black, or transparent.  The entry way has rounded stair cases on either side that meet in the middle.  There is a center courtyard to the house, accessible to every room, possibly a pool in the center.  An arched "catwalk" would connect the left and right 2nd story over the middle of the courtyard.  This is also something i could do without if money is tight.  The 2nd/3rd story would have a hall way on the inner wall and rooms against the outer wall.  I'd like to have as many windows as possible along that hallway.  I want to be able to have easy access to the courtyard from outside the walls of the house, so i'm thinking the garage will have doors that open up to it.

some random items off the top of my head right now, that will be the primary content of future topic posts, are as follows:

LED faucets. - http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/faucets/led-faucet-light-135803.php

fish themed bathroom with fishtank toilet and shower wall - http://www.funfishtank.com/2006/07/fish-tank-toilet/

at least 2 secret passages.

a grass roof.

as i see stuff, get inspired with ideas, or remember things, i'll post them here.  Hopefully i'll live to the day i get to build this house.