What is your dream retirement home? Is it a house by the lake or a cabin in the woods? Maybe it’s a mansion overlooking the sea? What city or country would you want your dream retirement home to be?
For me, my dream retirement home would be a large home but not big enough to count as a mansion. I’d say something along 5000-7000 square feet with around 6 beds and 4 baths. I would want it be near the ocean but not right next to it. As for location, I would want to stay in the US and would pick something along the California coast that is still close enough to a big city.
I love our cabin in the Maine mountains. I hope we can spend a lot of time there. It’s my happy place. No electricity or city water, but we have a propane fridge and stove. DH rugged up a system to collect rainwater in a 1000-gallon cistern in the basement. We have a pump that we can charge off the car’s cigarette lighter. That means we have hot showers, toilet, and sink faucets. We have neighbors but since each lot is about 50 acres, we don’t have to see them unless we want to. It’s heaven. Took us 29 years to get to this point!
Since we’re dreaming, I’ll also have the oceanfront home and a planet where climate change issues aren’t a factor so my home would stay oceanfront and enough money in the bank to pay for the constant maintenance needed on an oceanfront home. And while we’re dreaming, make it so I don’t have neighbors on top of me.
We are exploring different options. The idea to live on a cruise ship for part of the year has come to mind. We do love California and stay here probably is the best for now.
Since we’re dreaming, I’d like to stay in my current house, but add a teleportation device that can take me to any spot on the map instantly (and back).
City apartment. Well-managed building. A block from the subway station. At least a dozen restaurants and a public library and a movie theater in the neighborhood.
This is where my daughter lived her first three years after college. She didn’t especially like it and is much happier now in a house in the suburbs. But every time I visited her there I was envious.
Ditto city apartment. Groceries, transit, medical care, library, rec trails, a park nearby. Walking distance to riverfront or lakefront. Old building, fantastic wood detail, enormous windows, high ceilings, plaster walls, steam radiators and a fireplace or two, subway tile in the bath. Small enough building that my unit would have daylight front and back – end unit since I’m dreaming, or the entire floor to ourselves. Terrace / balcony. Pet friendly.
I’m thinking it would be nice to have one reasonably sized place in a safe walkable city with lots of activities including restaurants and places to bike and walk on paths (maybe Santa Fe or Somewhere around Denver) and another at a place close to the beach and mountains. San Diego comes to mind, or Cannon Beach Oregon, or the coast of Mainenear Acadia National Park.
@ChoatieMom I agree with your choice. I’d much prefer somewhere quiet and peaceful for retirement compared to a crowded and loud city. Yet, I wouldn’t want to be in a fully remote location so I would want something just in the outskirts of town.
DH and I lived on the 30th floor of a brand new high rise on Michigan Avenue with an unobstructed view of the lake right after we were married. He loves city life. Sigh. Clearly, I don’t.
Yes @lookingforward, I read a similar link from another thread. Excellent info! I’m from Michigan. The Tawas light is very interesting to me… Now to hypnotize ChoatieDad…