I had a mantra for 20 years, starting in college. I wanted a 1929 Spanish bungalow with wood floors and crystal door knobs. I worked my butt off to meet that mantra and guess what I live in now? Heeheehee. I have many house loves still, but I could never sell this one.

Yes, I have one or two.

Just like Allison, we have one where we have met with owners. They had decided to sell after many years in the home. It was a favorite of my DH's when he was growing up. The "XXXXX" house. A fixture in the neighborhood. Beautiful acre property, 1939 built home. We were the first on a list to be called to see the home.

It's in fine condition, but still needing many updates like electrical and plumbing, plus an addition. Story short, the owners were asking too much - over the market for that area. There was no way we could agree on that price and do the work that needed to be done. Broke my heart, because I am afraid they didn't think we loved the home. My DH wouldn't let me tell them why. Anyway, they still live there, and it's still on my radar.

And also like Allison, I have alerts set for that particular area, and have a favorite about once a month that I obsess on for many days until I get a chance to see it in person. Currently have a brick traditional built in 1960. I have completely reworked the layout in my head. Going to see it this week, I hope.

If we were to build again, I would either build our current home, with some changes. Or, our previous home, which I really loved! Or, this SL home which would be more suitable for a couple in their retirement years.

SL House - Camilla

It's so not my style and I never thought I would, but ever since I saw the glass house, I'm dying to build a version of it overlooking a lake as my minimalist "retirement" home. I'd want a little more privacy, but I so loved the simplicity, the openness and the unity with nature. As Phillip Johnson described it, a house with very expensive wallpaper.

One of the many homes that I have tucked away in my 'hope chest' - The Maple Forest Cottage that was one of Dean Johnson's Hometime projects PBS.

http://www.ourmapleforestcottage.com/helpful-links-youll-appreciate/

maire cate that's always been one of my favorites, too. I still remember the explanation of the house (from the architect I believe) and the roof lines. It references cottages in fairy tales with the steep pitch, deep overhang, porches, gables etc - the idea being to create a sense of shelter and safety from things that go bump in the night. That visual reference has always stayed with me and profoundly influenced the design of the house we are building - it looks nothing like the Maple forest Cottage but incorporates that sense of shelter and safety to me.

I have folders of house inspiration that I've gathered for over 30 years. There isn't one specific house following me but there are certainly recurring themes.

I would love to find one of these someplace in S Fl, but the only ones I've found all seem to be in S Cal (and people have cheaped out on the windows at some point):

http://antiquehomestyle.com/plans/radford/1924-radford/24radford-delmonte.htm

Writer, would you consider central FL? There are houses like that in Mt. Dora, Howey-in-the-Hills, Eustis, and Winter Garden.

Mtn Redux, "house crushes" LOL!

There's a house several blocks from us that I have loved since we moved to Winter Garden. I don't know what the style it is, but it's three stories covered with white clapboard, has a wraparound porch, symmetrical windows with shutters, and dormers. It has huge oak trees and is on a corner lot. Every time I go that way through town I say, "Darn! My house still isn't for sale!" I'm sure we could never afford it, anyway.

Donna

Writer, would you consider central FL? There are houses like that in Mt. Dora, Howey-in-the-Hills, Eustis, and Winter Garden.

Thanks, msmeow. Yes, Spanish Colonial/Revival houses are common in S FL, too, just not that particular one. There is a house in Winter Garden that looks like it began life as a Radford but it has been greatly added on to over the years, big two story expansion behind it.

When I was very young we rented a gorgeous little Spanish revival bungalow in Miami Shores for a year while my parents were waiting for our boring mid-century house to get built. I recently went on google street view to see if the house was still there. It is, but I couldn't recognize it, since the coral rock loggia across the front had been ripped off, another story added, and the whole thing given a 90s modern vibe. :(

love that southern living house!

we've looked at so many houses over the years that we have a pretty good idea of what we want in our house... we will be designing the basics ourselves when we build, with the help of an architect!

the glass house picture reminds me- we will have a nice view from the back and one thing we may try to incorporate is something we saw at Falling Water and that's window glass that butts up to each other at the corners so there is an unimpeded view at the corners... depending on cost, that is something we might do!

Writersblock, just outside of Birmingham, AL is Homewood, AL. They have a section called Hollywood that has numerous Spanish Colonial and Mission Revival homes that are on the National Register of Historic Places for those styles.

Mobile, AL also has a lot of Spanish Colonial homes.

I'm the same as Mtn but I go one step further. Every time we go on vacation, I day dream about living there. So of course I look at local listings, find the house "of my dreams," do a drive by, find out where the local grocery store is, or park, or restaurant - and go to it! DH thinks I'm crazy but it's provided us with some fun vacation adventures.

Back to the real world, I've had a crush on this house for awhile. So we are selling our house and building an inspiration of it out in the country. That house, on acreage with a big barn for DH, chickens and goats for me.

Thanks, Alison. Yes, Spanish style homes were very hot in the 1920s. It's just that there are hardly any examples of that particular house. I'm guessing because those windows must have been super expensive even back then.

There's another model that is very similar only the bumpout for the dining room is on the other side of the house and it has three separate arched windows instead of the big window, and the little wall you see on the left side of the Radford wraps back around a little terrace to the front door. (Surprising how such minor differences can make such an ugly change.) I've seen plenty of those, but only two actual Radfords.

Great thread! I like them all. All are out of my reach. I obsess about homes for sale locally, but living alone in most of them is beyond my reach for a variety of reasons.

Before the internet, I used to have a couple of old house plan books that I would look through, and daydream about the houses, to relieve the stress and demands of small children. I'd modify the ones I liked, to suit my needs and whims, but when the kids grew up and I realized I'd likely never build a house, I donated them to the used book store and concentrated on making my house suit me. I think I'll be here until I can no longer take care of it myself, or longer, if my daughter and her family decide to stay long term.

One of my favorite plans was one called 'Pondicherry Lodge', more of a cottage than a rustic lodge. I don't know which I liked more--the plan or the name, although I've never been a dedicated Conan-Doyle fan.

I did the same. In fact, from a young child on, I wanted to be an architect. I bought a huge graph paper pad, and my Dad gave me his drafting tools from his Navy days. I would sit for hours designing homes. Some of them were pretty outlandish! I never ended up following my dream, but when the kids were little, I would occasionally get that pad out. My son took to it and started designing his own homes, and cruise ships! lol Even today, I have a pad handy. I did design two of our homes and had a draftsmen draw them up.

Annie - Your glass house reminds me of the movie with Sandra Bullock - The Lake House. I loved that house!

The Lake House trailer

The glass also reminds me of the back of the house that we are going to see on Thursday night. Has a lot that I would be partialy filling in with wall. Too contemporary for me, plus we would need some wall space. Here is a snippet of the living room and sunroom. Although the ceiling in the LR looks pitched, it is not. I believe that the porch is. And it has flagstone!

Magdalena,

I adore your inspiration house, just flat out adore it. And I would totally vacation with you! DH would probably be game if I wanted to spend vacation looking at houses, but the three kids ... mmm....maybe one of them has the housemania gene.

I forgot to add, back in high school my best friend and I (okay, in between picking up college guys) would find neighborhoods to drive around in and "house drool" as we used to call it. Just for fun. When I first moved to the NYC area, I had a town I loved to drive in with beautiful old homes set on a hillside. I bought my first home a few years later. And it was a grand 3 story brick Georgian in that same town.

But I still have a soft spot for my high school favorites. Not one house, but a tree lined street of charming cottages, all with glass front porches. At the time, I think the area was considered marginal; even today they seem cheap to me, ie https://www.redfin.com/PA/Philadelphia/311-Wellesley-Rd-19119/home/38246225

ETA - see pic 22 for a shot of the street ... my other photos didn't post!

I don't have just one house that follows me, although there is one nearby I love. I know the owner and I can't stand her, sadly. However, whenever I drive around here and see the old stone colonials, I get a physical tug at my heart. I get the same feeling for some of the houses I see on Cape Cod and in the Chestnut Hill section of the city. Alas, it is not meant to be so I try to love my Brick Box. I am very grateful for it and the equity I have built up, but it has never been my true love.

Mtn, maybe we should vacation together and leave the guys behind!

I kind of did the same thing. Went to college in a small town and one day, between classes, I decided to drive around and stumbled upon a "secret" neighborhood. Or at least, secret to me! I fell in love with it instantly and thought some day I would love to live in this neighborhood. 15 years later I did.

Nothing specific but it will always be Spanish style. Also I love them even more when there is a courtyard..And if it has gardens too..I fall hard for such houses.

One place we looked at was tiny, and very dated inside. But the garden around was totally dreamy. The house itself had this fairy-tale quality.. no-worry feel, like the walls were whispering "You'll love to grow old here and to die here too.."

I almost lost my mind and bought it. Had to remind to myself we're five people in the family, and not two..

My DH would find it claustrophobic, but I've always loved a Craftsman bungalow.....

ETA- There's a forlorn one a couple streets away that I thought I could buy and restore if I won the lottery ;)

When buying my first house, I looked at a brick bungalow that was, as the realestate listing said, "lost in the mists of time." It had the original bathroom with the black and white octagonal tiles on the floor, and all the original room configurations, fabulous woodwork, plus a double lot for all my gardening obsessions, and a sunroom. But it also had a mysterious hole in the bathroom ceiling, an unfinished huge attic which would have needed to be made into some kind of useful space for modern needs, and a dirt floor basement. And it needed a new kitchen to take away the brown plywood, harvest gold appliance and vinyl flooring nightmare left over from the 60's. Not within my budget or skill set at the time. NOW, yes but too late, I live halfway across the country from it.

April, you really are me! I love courtyard homes

I have memories of a family friend's house I haven't been in since I was three years old. Not Spanish, but vintage with interior French doors. We have four sets of interior French doors.

Did I tell you I live Spanish with French doors?

Yeah..I'm also thinking of adding French doors to our new place ..why I didn't think of it before escapes me..it came to me only when the place started taking shape, was dry-walled again, painted, and I began thinking of window treatments...then I slowly realized the door is looking too bland, too industrial..then I thought "OMG. French door!" Slow ignition..:)

Pasadena Architectural Salvage has a ton of doors. We purchased several for our remodel there.

Wow, this site is amazing. Thank you so much.

I have a feeling though the doors are not double-pane..they're too good-looking:) we need double-pane unfortunately.

anyway..that's a great source. Pity I haven't seen it before.

We added vintage doors to the interior. I had a Santa Barbara door for the back kitchen door, but title 24 had different ideas for any exterior door. It needed to be double pane. The interior doors are not. Our contractor found a new Santa Barnara door but it was really expensive.

I found the vintage one in the neighbor's trash and still think about replacing the current door in the future.

The Santa Barbara doors are great because the window inside opens with a screen so you can keep the dog inside and still get a breeze coming through. I really don't want a full screen door.....

MtnRdRedux - Looks like a little town in Europe, perhaps in Germany or Estonia.

There is a house about 25 minutes south of me that I can't stop thinking of. There is no logic to it. The home needs a lot of work and is on the cusp of a not nice area. Still, I just love it.

I love that house!

I'm blessed and cursed to have the house I love be owned by a dear friend. Although I honestly love many, many styles of homes, I just love storybook-type homes the most. That's what my friend's home reminds me of . . .https://www.redfin.com/OK/Oklahoma-City/1212-Boulder-Ridge-Way-73130/home/78529608

I love that house, too, justerrilyn, but I'm scared of the historic specimen lofty fig in the backyard. I've actually been looking in LW, but that tree is a monster and I'd like to be able to garden a bit.

ETA Here's a pic of the front, which is really charming, so you can see how big the tree is:

Hi Writer, yes, I think that banyan is the reason that house is still on the market. Lots of $$$$$ I'm sure in foundation problems. Did you see the house in LW near the public golf course? I'll see if I can find it. It's an original owner with lots of character. Small though.

Edited: Here is the link. Tiny cottage that needs work but could be even more charming.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1603-N-Lakeside-Dr-Lake-Worth-FL-33460/46825756_zpid/

Edited again: Pay no mind to the supposed golf course view mention. I mapped it on Papa a few months ago and you would have to be perched on the roof. I think the reason it's still on the market is the price. I drove around there a few weeks ago but didn't see the house but the area near was tidy.

Did you see the house in LW near the public golf course?

I've seen several, but I'm not sure which one you mean. I saw the most perfect little triple-gable cottage that had never been mucked about with inside, still had the built ins, side stairs to finished attic, etc. but it was on J st backing up to the back of a Chinese restaurant on US 1, alas. So many of the ones that come on the market have been destroyed by reno work.

Oh lol I think I was editing an update above as you were posting. Tiny cottage.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1603-N-Lakeside-Dr-Lake-Worth-FL-33460/46825756_zpid/

Thanks, justterrilynn. What a cute little house. I think another reason it's still on the market is that that far up you're really in WPB for all practical reasons (no walking to Lake Avenue, for sure), but you'd still have to deal with the LW Utilities, which are, well, as someone put it recently:

Sure, you need an economics degree and spelunking equipment to navigate your utility bill, but the customer service people have gotten so much nicer!

I wish the price were high, but that's actually not outrageous right now, alas.

Yep, more of an eleven minute bike ride to town. I like that it's not far from downtown WPB and the airport. I think but not sure that the cottage is just barely out of the historic district.

I'm sure you already know this info from your LW searches .

https://www.lakeworth.org/business/historic-preservation/

Yeah, it's one of the things they keep talking about fixing (why you have to ask so many questions and why the answers usually don't make much sense), but so far it keeps getting shoved onto the back burner.

Are you interested in the area or just like looking at houses?

I'm kind of hoping to find something in Mango Groves, Parrot Cove (though I doubt I could afford it), or Downtown Jewel. Jewel looks the most raffish from a car, but I don't think I've walked around any other neighborhood in any town where every single person I passed wanted to stop and talk or invite me in for a beer. :)

This house on Palmway is actually my dream house, but I don't think it will ever be on the market. Doesn't look like much from the front but inside and the back yard/pool are utterly charming:

I'm just always looking at houses. I'm in PBG's and often crave a home with real character. You know that there is not much of that here ( as far as ole Florida charm). However, I do love everything else about this area. And, one gets spoiled on being able to leave your neighborhood and walk around in relative safety surrounded by nicely groomed streets and yards. In my price range with going south the homes are on a cusp where I would almost feel I needed a carry permit .

EDITED TO ADD: The differences in cusp areas of WPB crime and Lakewoth crime are vastly different. In WPB's cusps you can see the potential danger in that the crooks often have a just out of prison look. In Lake Worth you can throw away any profiling. Regular looking people will carry on a perfectly normal conversation with you as they are lifting your wallet out of your purse.

i have many dream homes that are just off Flager in the Lake Blocks of W.P.B. I should have bought there in the late eighties when house hunting but didn't as at that point the remodeling that was needed was overwhelming . I only had one minor remodel under my belt then.

i have many dream homes that are just off Flager in the Lake Blocks of W.P.B.

Yes, that's a great area.

I know what you mean about safety. I'm up on Hutchinson Island and it's about as safe a place as anywhere one could live. No question that LW is still scrungy and mostly pretty unsafe. When I first moved up here, for 8 years I lived in a place where you couldn't lock the front door. It would be quite a readjustment to move back down to PB county, but I lived in Miami Beach's Middle Beach when SoBe was just becoming SoBe and I figure it can't be worse than that was. Having to go out early every morning to see whether the car had a battery or not, and you couldn't even call in a stolen tag since they had too many calls.

How adorable, schoolhouse!

Every time I see a photo of a white Cottage-y type of home with a long, covered porch, I sigh and get dreamy-eyed. They always remind me of my family's summerhouse growing up. Today Prariemom posted a few pics of her home over on the "Show Me The Front of Your Home" thread, and it truly epitomizes my dream home. Of course, hers is not on one of my beloved Michigan lakes, but she does have one beautiful home.

I love this one. I like the colors, siding, details and the grass-less lawn.

Where is that Celia? I really like the colorful foliage and wonder if it's in an area where it will stay colorful year round. I'm trying to do my landscape like that except I have grass as well.

I just saw this topic. Oh yes! I am a stalker of this house. It's in another town but I drive by it often. I'm dying to see the inside.

From the front it's nothing special.

The side of the house is another story.

ETA: What I found interesting, I had to look at it on Google Earth and the town it's in is rather small, with not many pictures. Except someone who must like this house as much as I do, took pictures of it. lol

Not a specific house, but this, the Cotswolds, UK, with the English countryside surrounding the village.

I adore houses! I actually toyed with getting my real estate license a few years ago so I could take clients around and look at houses! Luckily for me, a realtor friend gently explained the reality of the profession, and I was dissuaded. :) Some of my favorite vacations are not to typical destinations, but to places where I am surrounded by lovely homes and gardens. Bonus points if in a leafy area! When we visit Charleston, we always stay at 2 Meeting Street Inn because it is really the only hotel smack dab in the residential district. I love jogging those streets & picking out houses. And dh knows why I always want to go to the Cloister for trips with the kids....it is because I simply love running on Sea Island & looking at the glorious homes! Natchez was another wonderful house city...and bonus, we got to tour many!

We custom built our house, and I adore it. I can't imagine moving, but never say never. I continue to go on all local home tours. While I enjoy the builder's showcase homes, my favorite are the tours of homes people are actually living in that benefit local charities. They are lovely, and I love seeing the personalities of the owners in each home. So much fun! Totally lol'ing at "house promiscuous," Mtn!

My favorite home was a George Washington Smith home with views of the ocean. My mom worked for the owner and I spent many many days there. It was not his traditional Spanish style but more a French provincial style. It was shaped like a dog bone with the kitchen/dining/ garages in one end and the master at the other end with a library and living room one room wide that you walked thru to get to the other end. I loved seeing the mountains and the ocean from the same room. Upstairs had a second master over the first and kids and servants rooms over the kitchen/dining/garage area. A tv room and massive bathroom took over the "skinny" part along with the hall and service stairs

one garden was like a baseball diamond surrounded in roses. The terraced gardens and brick patios were designed by Lockwood DeForest.

Of course a Santa Barbara /Montecito home like that had lots of Santa Barbara doors.

The house was sold for cheap. And the new owners started on a remodel befor the Feds busted them for something and the house sat open to the weather for a long time while the mess was in court. It broke my heart and I have never gone back to peak and see if the latest owners did a nice job with the update.

I don't think it was ever featured on books on GWS

I'm pretty consistently drawn to white siding and black shutters as well as red brick homes with black shutters. Gray or black roof.

All you who love front porches (I do too) but I owned a house with one for a short time and didn't like not having direct sun in my rooms behind the porch.. Do you get enough sun in your rooms behind the porch?