Can't limit it to one, but the two things I appreciate every day are the large walk-in pantry and the central vac.

It's not fair for me to answer this because we're not living with any of our extras yet, many have not yet been installed, and I'm not limiting my response to one. But, here's the extras that I'm certainly looking forward to:
- Steam Shower in Master Bath
- Gorgeous Glass Tile in Master Bath
- 36 in, 5-burner Bertazzoni range in kitchen
- Walnut hardwoods throughout 85% of the house (being installed now and I just want to clean off a space and curl up on them they're so beautiful and warm)
- Laundry room lockers (I can't wait to be super organized!)

Good luck getting through the planning phase.

I know nowadays this isn't an "extra".

But as someone who remembers growing up in Ohio in the '50s where our only cooling in the 100Ë+ summers was from a variety of full-blast fans, AC would be it. To my mother, maybe adjusting the thermostat for heat, rather than feeding another shovelful of anthracite to the monster in the basement would be her biggest treat.

mrs worthy still prefers a soft broom to a vac. We don't even use the central vac. Or the ss dishwasher.

Elevator. At $21,000 it's less than some great countertop options (one of the nifty finishing surfaces we downgraded to make this happen.) This allows us to have the best view possible from our bedroom, and, considering the declining condition of DH's knees, I saw it as a distinct possiblilty that we could end up camped in the living room, bathing out of the powder room sink.

And, worthy, my memories are the same as yours! trying to sleep, but too hot and too much noise. And we were just children! How much harder it must have been for the adults.

The central vacuum-- hands down.

Can't live without? Are we talking about survival?

I gotta get this sucker finished before our loan expires. At this point, that's all I need.

Central Vac
3 Car Garage vice 2 Car

worthy -- Thought I'd heard the last of people who prefer washing dishes by hand (waste of water and lack of sanitation) and sweeping or using hand vacuums instead of central vacs (re-distributes the dust and dirt instead of removing it). I could make one case *for* hand dish-washing: Fosters conversation between the washer and dryer.

I'd put my money into what pleases me everyday:

Central vac
Hot water circulating pump (and great water pressure)
Dishdrawers
Nu-heat-warmed bathroom floor
Baldwin door hardware
Soft lighting under kitchen cabinets (and in glass-fronts)
Tight construction (quiet)
Flow-through humidifiers
Dual stage furnaces
UltraBain airtub
One floor living

There's nothing I couldn't live without other than the basics -- it's all just really nice to have! The ones that I appreciate the most are the most practical. First (and would be the "one" if I had to pick just one) is the mudroom. I absolutely love all the "junk" having one place to congregate rather than being strewn out throughout the house! Second would be the walk-in pantry: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the space! And third would be the pass-throughs from the master bath and kids bath into the laundry room that sits between them -- no more toting dirty laundry through the house!

Our views. We bought the lot because of them. Looks like Switzerland to us.

Our views. We bought the lot because of them. Looks like Switzerland to us.

Similarly, I'd say "privacy". We bought the lot due to being able to site the house with no visible neighbors, and plenty of wooded buffer between us and the invisible ones.

The lot came first, and everything else was tiled into the budget we had remaining, and wanting to have the house feel like it belonged in the location. I wouldn't like this house nearly as much if it were in a dense suburban setting, regardless the gadgets in it.

--Steve

Oh, YES! The LOCATION! We looked for two years to find THE lot, on THE country road, in THE northern suburb -- one acre overlooking a conservancy to the south with a creek along the west side. Only two homes are in sight of ours, yet the center of a pretty town and a RR station are four minutes away. A few more minutes and we are at the lake.

worthy, I just saw your note about A/C. Same here, only it was Iowa I grew up in. Sleeping on the floor at night to try to keep cool! So humid, right next to the Mississippi.

These are the goodies we are looking forward to:

Ultra Bain corner air tub
motorized chandelier lift
laundry chute in the master bedroom
heated floors in the ensuite & basement
HRV is our "green" contribution lol
EverCold chiller
walk in pantry
at least one bathroom on every floor
TV in my kitchen (no more missing the end of a show!)

That's all I can think of for now...

Down Memory Lane again, I remember one home we lived in that had a pump at the sink rather than a tap. Imagine the luxury of simply turning a handle. And neighbours in one town still had working privvies at the rear of their homes. (No wonder I was the only one who didn't mind the cottages I had a few years ago that were similarly equipped.)

It's certainly hard giving up luxuries.

Well, to mention a few:

Large kitchen with a 10X12 pantry

60 inch Bluestar range

Antique heart pine floors on 85% of main floor

Travertine master bath with clawfoot tub

Stone fireplace

2 laundry rooms 1 up and 1 down

Main floor designed for us

Walk out basement for kids with their bedrooms at the opposite end from the main floor master bedroom.

8 foot high doors

And...the Jack Arnold - Bishop II chimney pot!

worthy -- That was a neat link. I played the one about the dog experiencing his 400th consecutive Best Day of His Life!

FWIW, I grew up on stories about "the farm" told by my mother. There are a few photos to illustrate the house in rural New England with no running water, electricity or gas. Her parents moved her there to get away from NYC's filth and disease. When she was 13 they moved her back to the city because "the bulls were getting over the fences". (Took me until I was 30 to figure that one out.)

I agree with the central vac issue. My house is 3500 sq feet and I got the vac for a 7000 sq ft house. More power goes a long way for $100.00 or so bucks.
As far as an extra for us, we had bio-base 500 (Blown soybased insulation) turn our house into an igloo cooler and it has done wonders for energy savings all year round.

Covered deck. It is already our favorite feature and we don't even have the deck part yet, just the roof. Zone 8 grandma has me looking forward to those ice cold beverages on the deck. :)