What's new

What makes your house unique? (1 Viewer)

Jay H

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 22, 1999
Messages
5,654
Location
Pittsfield, MA
Real Name
Jay
Just miscellaneous ramblings on a cloudy tuesday afternoon.

The Small House link that I was checking out and the Small House Society that I found from the tumbleweed link I posted below led me to muse on unique houses. What makes your house unique?

I'll start with mine:

In a sea of aluminum/vinyl siding and modern 2 story houses, mine is log-sided.

Mine is small and cozy.

The previous owner had a "laundry chute" in the kitchen which basically was a hole in the tile (with lid) that led to a laundry bin. The washer/dryer happens to be below the kitchen so that is why it's there. To me, it made more sense to be a "garbage" chute so I removed the laundry bin below and left the chute in and basically put my garbage can below, so to take the trash out, I simply bag the garbage, tie it up, and slide it through the chute. To sweep the kitchen, I simply open the chute and use a broom to sweep all the detritus into the garbage can. Voila! Pretty handy and it's a great idea. I love the thing in fact, think it's a great timesaver and convenient. It's a small chute and probably wont work with large garbage bags but I use those plastic grocery bags and will toss often.

Jay
 

Steve Ridges

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 26, 2000
Messages
180
So, do you have to go into the basement to retrieve the trash from your chute? Seems like that would just be an extra step to taking out the trash.

I do like laundry chutes though. I just installed one in our new house. The kids get a kick out of dropping their cloths (and other toys) down it so it actually helps them keep their rooms clean.
 

mark alan

Supporting Actor
Joined
Nov 19, 2002
Messages
620
I love my house. It has 12-15" thick stone walls, tile roof, a great basement with knotty pine panelling, a wood burning stove insert that heats the entire house, arched doorways, an arched wooden front door that would be perfect for a medieval castle, and a laundry chute.

Best of all, my 80+ year old house is in an entire town of 70+ year old houses, no two of which are the same.
 

Jay H

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 22, 1999
Messages
5,654
Location
Pittsfield, MA
Real Name
Jay

Well, in my town garbage pickup is tuesday and friday and since I'm alone, and very environmentally conscious, I recyle/reuse a lot so for me to fill up a small 30gal garbage can, it would probably take a month. So I usually take out the garbage once a week (lest it smells). I haven't gotten into composting yet (I don't have a garden to use it in) but when I do, I'll even have less garbage. So, no, once I throw it down the garbage chute, it goes right to my garbage can which on garbage day, I can drag to the curb. The basement in my house is unfinished and since I don't have a garage, it basically is my storage for my bikes and tools and stuff. So it's not like it's living area...

Mark, That sounds wonderful, I hate many new developments where every house looks the same or purposely looks a little different because of the develpment rules. My house I think dates back to the 50s but it's been somewhat modernized on the inside though and it was expanded at one point to include the dining room area. Used to have a propane stove and an oil tank but it was converted to gas for heat and cooking sometime long ago.



Jay
 

Michael Warner

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 24, 1999
Messages
737
Real Name
Mike
Well my new house is a bland cookie-cutter number but it's all I could afford out here on the West Coast. I do like the two massive skylights. On clear nights I can lay down on the living room floor and see the Big Dipper and Polaris. I've been known to fall asleep like that a few times.
 

MarkHastings

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2003
Messages
12,013
My condo is also a 'cookie cutter', but one neat thing about it is, the windows are HUGE! They start at about 1.5 feet off the ground (just below knee level) and stop about 1.5 feet from the ceiling (just over my head).

I really like how low they come. It's neat to open the blinds all the way and have this giant/practically floor to ceiling window pane of glass.

My living room window is 66" wide by 64" tall. :cool:
 

nolesrule

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2001
Messages
3,084
Location
Clearwater, FL
Real Name
Joe Kauffman
While my house is one of three cookie cutter designs in my neighborhood, as of today I can boast as having the newest water heater on my street...unfortunately, the old one cracked this morning.
 

Jason Kirkpatri

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 6, 2002
Messages
389
It's the only place in the world where I live. Sorry, couldn't resist. :P

Seriously, not much. When you go downstairs there's a squat rack and about 500lbs of plates on one side and a nice HT on the other. With a computer in the middle. What more do I need? ;)
 

Michael Warner

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 24, 1999
Messages
737
Real Name
Mike

Well if you're going to be snide I'll just have to offer another feature since indoor stargazing doesn't appear to be your cup of tea. My house is built at the terminus of one of the major fault lines in the Seattle area. When you superimpose the geological map with Google maps the little dotted line ends right at the entrance to my street. Woo-hoo!
 

Ruz-El

Fake Shemp
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2002
Messages
12,539
Location
Deadmonton
Real Name
Russell
The accute urine smell. Nothing quite like it in any other house I've been in, and most certainly unique.
 

Philip Hamm

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 23, 1999
Messages
6,874
Another dog owner....


The cool basement with a home theater, wet bar, and pool table (but conspicuously absent is a bathroom!) is what makes my house cool.
 

MarkHastings

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2003
Messages
12,013
Hmmm, my old band used to practice in our singers moms house...it was one of those dingy/dark/musty basements and with the cat litterbox down there, the smell was ATROCIOUS! We actually considered calling the band "LitterBox", but our singers mom was kind of offended that we were making fun of her basement...and considering costs of band rooms, we obliged by not naming the band LitterBox. :D
 

Julian Reville

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 29, 1999
Messages
1,195
What makes my house unique is the amount of dog hair deposited on the floor daily.

Who woulda thought 3 short-coated dogs would shed so much?

It was worse when I had 3 Huskies. I actually had one fiance leave after saying "I just can't live like this." :D
 

Michael Warner

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 24, 1999
Messages
737
Real Name
Mike

Hmmh, do they still have their cookies with them? Might be worth breaking out the sledgehammer for some vintage Samoas.
 

Dennis Nicholls

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
11,396
Location
Boise, ID
Real Name
Dennis
Mine's unique because the one and only Fluffy Pumpkin lives there (along with Katie and Susie).

I also have various metal artworks created by my grandfather the blacksmith hanging on the walls.
 

Henry Gale

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 10, 1999
Messages
4,628
Real Name
Henry Gale


...then I should also contribute.

My house has a system for capturing rainwater from the roof, charcoal filtering that water, and storing it in an underground cistern. The most recent green building? Not really, it was installed about 70 years ago.
In the barn I have twin log corncribs. Those date from the 1880s.There aren’t many around.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,804
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top