Sadly, I did not inherit ours... My brother did, though and it's seen much love:

{{!gwi}}

People always ask what this is and if they can live in it. It is about 12x18? i think, can't recall for sure.

It has a fpl but a gravel floor. Electricity but no plumbing. It is within 90' of our pond so alterations are limited. My girls want to make it a yoga studio. It would need a raised floor and then the roof would have to be raised and then you'd have to figure what material to use..?

{{!gwi}}

Oh, and I forgot to say, what a cool idea for a post! That brick ceiling! The crib! ANd of course Susanka's view (don't think I'd very get anything done --- I would just plop down and watch the sky morph).

I love this topic! Lots of "oohs and ahhhs!"

Mine is the fireplace which you all have seen a dozen or so times. lol.

Just last week the UPS guy came inside to get warm. Unfortunately, the temps have been in the 60s most of the month. Warmest January on record. Pfffft!

{{!gwi}}

She's decorative, although not strictly decor. Everyone who visits is charmed by her...because they don't know the darkness in her heart. She is a devil!

leafy, your comment cracked me up "....they don't know the darkness in her heart..." But she's so CAH-YOOOOOOOOT!!!!

Oh my, here I was scrolling down and admiring so many of the various conversation starters and then I got to leafy's girl. BWAHAHAHAHA, darkness in her heart, she's adorable!

Like susanka's view ours starts and stops conversation too. Our house is long from front to back but the glimpse of the lake from the entry doors draws visitors like a magnet. I'd like to think there are other interesting features of the house but the water really steals every scene.

Oh yeah, Sis3, I can see why! Gorgeous :)

Great conversation starters - and stoppers - posted above. Love the fireplaces, vintage toys, little stone cottage (I WANT one), artwork and, of course, the cute puppy!

Most people comment on my front doors and Carlisle wide-plank flooring. The planks are up to 20" wide and 15 feet long. DH and I installed the floors and stained/finished both the doors and flooring DIY. It was a very lengthy, painstaking process but worth it in the end.

BUT - I'd trade them for susanka's views in a heartbeat!

I really need an updated picture!

Floors right after the finishing process:

What a fun thread! These are the kinds of things that make someone's home memorable. I love what's been shared so far and those views........you don't need to worry about decorating with those views!

This over-sized canvas was an inexpensive purchase. It made me smile and I had a space for it, so I bought it. I started noticing that when we entertained, people would gather around it and comment. Some people love it ....others not so much but it rarely fails to elicit a reaction. Sorry for the poor quality photo......

To make things more interesting, I've ordered this picture to hang next to it.

oak "Just last week the UPS guy came inside to get warm. Unfortunately, the temps have been in the 60s most of the month. Warmest January on record. Pfffft!"

so, exactly why is the UPS guy coming in if it's in the 60's? Do share....

Mine is my kitchen. Sorry to bore all of you with same old photos.

And then they figure out that the backsplash is not some man-made solid surface, but rather individual tiles....that usually blows their minds.

I laughed out loud at the darkness/dog too. We have a small dog that can turn into a Gremlin when provoked by the cats.

Love the views, and seeing personal artwork lets us know more about you!

When someone comes to our house for the first time and we're out on the front veranda to greet them, they stop as they are getting out of car and say something about the stone mix we used on the barn/garage:

Then they say something about the view down the lake, to their right. As they come up the sidewalk, they say something about being "way out here" and the woods. Once they are on the veranda, they talk about its stone, seating and the front view.

Once inside, the lake and ridge view out the back catches their attention. (Fall shot to brighten my dark, dreary view today). The lake is about 12 acres, and we're on a point so there is water on three sides of our property.

The biggest thing inside most talk about is the kitchen, its island with antique pine counter. Most ask about the French butcher shop zinc horse head. He's happier living in a horse community than over a butcher shop.

Kids and young adults tend to pick up the pair of antelope antlers on the coffee table and put on top of their heads. ;D I tend to use unique vintage things for accessories... it's not every home that has a porcupine quill boxes or French ici repose (enamel grave markers) laying around. ;D

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

Ours is the painted brick wall in the kitchen. It starts the conversation about the history of the house. The main house was built in 1825 and the addition was added in 1840-1860 (my guess from the type of muntons in the windows). On the brick wall you can see where the old radiator was added (lower left - older paint colors behind radiator - my guess central heat was added around 1890-1910), the output for the old stove into the chimney (circle) and the old floor level (top unpainted bricks). When we remodeled we took out the old floor and raised the ceiling to the new old floor (~1914 or earlier). We'll use those wide pine planks in the bench or kitchen table. Originally we were going to paint the wall but it shows the history plus many types of paint - milk, lead, oil, latex.

Living in an old home we receive many comments on things I take for granted like 6" wide trim, 1 3/4" solid doors, many fireplaces (11 but they were all used for heat before the invention of central heat), etc. I see a lot of it as "work". Restoring an old home is definitely a labor of love.

Ha, my observation was the exact same as BKW.

I really wouldn't tell me people how warm it is, and then tell them the UPS guy came in to "warm up", in the same sentence. :D

I am loving all of these photos. You all are very creative and have some unique things and gorgeous scenery as well.

The dog made me giggle. We have a dog, too, and three feathered conversation starters I didn't think of. I'm sharing one of them. Please excuse the dust in my photos. It's West Texas where it blows all the time and we are experiencing drought as well. This photo was taken in our old home.

Wow, so many beautiful and creative and humorous contributions to this thread! bettydee, yours is the only one that can literally start the conversation himself though, and keep it going too I suppose!

Love all of these, particularly, bostonpam's brick wall, juddgirl's door and floors, Allison's stone, mtnrdredux's stone room, lynninnewmexico's ceiling, and all of the views. Our house is not quite as interesting as it's new construction, but I guess if I had to something, it would be my MIL's paintings. Once people realize that we didn't just buy them, that a family member did them, it always strikes up a conversation about family history.

OT, but, leafy, what kind of dog is yours? Adorable!

PPS7 - really? Lucky you! I am so fickle with art. How nice to have talent in the family. Who is the painter?

Bostonpam - the brick wall is so pretty. Did you have to remove lead paint first and repaint it, or could you stabilize it in some way? I love the way it is so irregular

Allison - what a pretty home. Is the stone local? Is the lake manmade or natural? Nothing like water.

Lynne - did you commission the ceiling or was it there? Gorgeous, and you have the right setting for it too. Do you have more shots of your house? Id like to see the exterior.

Sis 3 - pretty. Is that Allison across the lake? : )

Bettydee- the bale is cool. Did you have to fumigate it?

Susanka - What a soothing view. Are you somewhere remote, or is that view in just one direction. It looks like a long way to the Starbucks?

Bee - So pretty. I hope your buyer comes through. Shows you how awful the market is that people haven't lined up for your pretty kitchen!

Mtnredux - let GW decide for you. I bet you could get lots of great ideas here about what to do with it!

Judd - you did those floors yourself? Excellent.

What gorgeous pets.

Thanks, kitschy. No fumigation needed. It has been ginned and ready for market.

Though we have not moved in yet, there are a few specific things in our house that always surprise people and get them to stop and comment. Oddly, some of the things aren't the things that I would have expected would get the most attention! They are:

The glass mural in the J&J bath:

The giant kitchen island w/ bookmatched slabs and "invisible" granite seams:

The handcarved marble fireplace. This is an old picture because I don't have a new one that shows the detail well:

(newer picture)

The library ladder:

The grooming tub:

Oddly, though, the giant lazy susan in the pantry is what gets the most comments from every single person who comes in!!

Nice! And I would die for that lazy susan.

PPS7, love your MIL's painting--very sharp!

Olliesmom, our dog is a Pomeranian, shown in that photo with her summer haircut. She's 12 years old and 5 pounds. We got her from the dog pound and she's ruled us with an iron paw ever since. The barking! The peeing on things! The biting of small children! The fights she picks with 90-lb dogs! The resulting surgery bills!

You do NOT want one. But yes, she is cute!

If I had that kitchen island, Beagles, I would drag my mattress in and sleep next to it! Really beautiful. And the marble fireplace, yum.
You look like you are getting close!

Bee, we've been getting one whole day a week of very cold weather and strong north winds. He just happened to come on that day. The mailman's done the same!

First conversation starter is invariably the pups, Cooper and Bailey.

And once they get their fill of pats, they allow attention to be drawn to DDs high school oil paintings. old photo- have new lamp etc.

The mailman too?! Oak, I'm not sure your comment is helping your case! ;-)

madtown, that's exactly what I thought!

;-)

Forgot to mention the doll bed earlier - so cute. Love the family history tied to it.

Also love the painted brick wall.

Family artwork is always interesting to see.

Poor Oakley. Y'all must not be from the South, where we are kind to our UPS drivers and USPS delivery peeps... so get your minds out of the gutter! lol We've had the same two (both women) for 6 years now. Almost family! ;D

Kitchy_kitch, thank you. There are two lakes in my community. Both are man made but spring fed. They are small compared to the other lakes in our valley. Our community does not allow motor boats, only trolling motors on fishing boats and canoes. No swimming, so it's nice an quiet.

The stone used is a mix of three stones - all local to the state. I showed our stonemasons a picture of what I wanted and we went from there. It's a limestone, river rock and one he called chocolate rock mix.

kitschy-Kitch - thanks. Our lake is 9 miles long so doesn't quite stretch to Allison's house! We have sailing, swimming, fishing, motor boating and water skiing on our lake, we can take a trip to a waterside restaurant, and friends visit by boat. It never gets noisy though and mostly there is just the abundant wildlife and peace and quiet.

KitschyKitch, we are pretty remote (3,000 people or so in our valley). We live at the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado, so Starbucks is about 35 miles away. We can see five mountain ranges from our house, although with the view from the LR the mountains are more remote. I never tire of the views; we're on a ridge, so we see down into the valley and over to a lake; it's why we built our house here. But I would like to drop in for a spinach croissant at SB once in a while! Big snowstorm here today, I can see it coming over the mountain. But despite what we think is a million-dollar view, I'm sure we could never get out of our house what it cost to build in the current econony. We don't have a mansion, just a pretty ordinary 2600-sf house.

Wow, Sis3, that is a beautiful lake - reminds me of the movie "On Golden Pond".

re: Oakley's UPS/Mail guy. . .ya'll just don't understand Oklahoma weather. . . 40 - 50 degree swings from one day to the next are not all that uncommon!! It may be mufflers and boots one day and shorts and flip-flops the next!!

Same here. It was 71 today!

LOL! I think a big part is that we live in the country and we get to know each other. Local gossip...a few years ago a married lady left her dh for our ups guy, and then married him! And he is the one who came inside last week but my dh was home. Darn.

Although our home is very modest, it's got to be the Big Chill Fridge! Even the Orkin and Stanley Steemer guys comment on it. Some people have hugged it.

Sorry, I know this pic has been posted a lot.

I would definitely hug that fridge. And our UPS guy too. Gotta love the brown shorts and the bright shiny truck, and all the boxes of baubles he lays at my feet.

Cooperbailey, I love your daughter's paintings and the way you have them displayed.

Mtn, back when I was pregnant three of my besties were also pregnant. We had THE hottest UPS guy ever. So we told our hubbies he was the father of our babies. :)

I love that fridge! I wish it didn't cost an arm and a leg to get color like that! I want very pale yellow appliances.

Love that fridge- wow!

Our Ups guy just leaves the package our front porch.

Our UPS guy is a girl. :-/

lol allison!

My company just switched from Fed Ex to UPS (most of my deliveries are work-related), so I am missing my Fed Ex guy. Haven't gotten to know my UPS guy yet....maybe I need to order some stuff and get the ball rolling....

UPS guys wear shorts

just sayin'

I rarely get a package delivered but today, not only did the UPS guy deliver a package, I had to sign for it! I hope I didn't laugh out loud when I opened the front door to find a really cute UPS guy standing there.

Some very interesting conversation starters shown!

Most people coming to our house for the first time comment on the view. Once inside the architectural style of the house itself often gets a "Wow" as from the outside the house looks like a typical 2 story traditional farmhouse but inside it is multi-level with beams and cathedral ceilings.

Here's a fall view -

View at sunset. This is facing north so the sunsets are not as vivid this direction.

Recent pic just after a snowfall. Should have waited another hour to take this as the sun came out and the sky was blue. These pics were taken from my back deck - in the views from the dining windows the lake shows more.

My clock wall. The one thing every single person who comes in comments on.

My great grandmother's vase collection in her cabinet:

My backyard with little organic garden and greenhouse (not in pic):

Thank you leafy and gail. We love our views too.

So many different and interesting conversation starters! Variety really is the spice of life!

More stunning views! I'm envious. I love every single one of the photos in this thread. I really liked seeing the collections. I have to say I'm a little partial to the garden photos. I love to garden. Great job!