I have always been a big fan of real estate and maps and everything that would show me how other people live. I would read real estate brochures, developers plans, atlasses etcetera. The internet brought me floorpans, real estate websites from all over the world, maps and everything, a few mouse clicks away. I was the happiest camper imaginable. But it got even better! Then there was Google Maps…. the best invention since sliced bread! Zoom in, zoom out, see how close or how far one lives to a highway or motorway. Is there public transport nearby? Do they have nice views? What’s the garden like? Do they have a pool? Are they close to the outdoors? What type of building is next door?
But the real icing on the Google Maps cake is that I can unleash the stalker in me….With Google maps one can see anyone’s house from above.. that’s right, anyone’s, so that includes celebrities. Yes my friends, Google Maps can let you stalk people from the privacy of your own home. Bless the world wide web, can I hear an AMEN!
Here’s Madonna’s UK hideaway in the English countryside…
Ashcombe House
And here’s Oprah house in Montecito California.
Oprah
Funny thing that… the houses next to hers look tiny yet those must be massive too.
John Travolta really has an airstrip right in his back yard. It’s not an urban myth.
Jumbolair. JT's house
He lives in an enclosed community with it’s private airstrip as seen on the left of the picture. The town is called Jumbolair…. That just doesn’t have a romantic ring to it….
Lesser names seem to do well too. Lori Loughlin has raked in enough big bucks between Full House and 90210 to afford this little number in the Hollywood Hills.
Lori Loughlin
It might look smallish compared to the ones before, but if you look inside you’ll see that is is actually a fairly decent house for an ex Full House star. Jody Sweetin, who annoyed the world as Stephanie Tanner, reportedly lives here
To show you that I am aware it is not very nice to blatantly reveal such privacy sensitive information I would like to share with you where I myself live.
My 'hood'
Somehow everything seems bigger in the States. Often this is in fact the case with the portions of food, the ants, the flags, the cars and very often the people. But with houses it is not neccessarily the case. However, the floor plans of American homes tend to be more clever, more convenient. Even the tiniest homes have two bathrooms or an extra room to watch TV. Also, what we lack in storage in most houses here in the Netherlands, they make up for.. and then some.
Online you can find amazing sites where you can download floor plans to look at and be jealous about. I put one site, this one, to the test.
I pretend to be a husband and father of two looking for a two story 3 bedroom house with two bathrooms. One for the kids, and one for me and my lovely wife Gayle (hey, even gay guys dream of white picket fences everynow and then!). We don’t need a very big house, so we look for a detached house of anything up to 1600 square feet which is about 150m2. In the Netherlands, that is considered a nice and spacious house. In the States is is actually considered small to average. Off course we have a dog so we need a separate laundry room or storage room with direct acces to outside. I am a straight guy in this story, so I like to set things on fire, a fireplace is no luxury. Because we bought a plot with a lovely view towards the front we want a porch in the front of the house for wine and romance on summer nights. Because it hardly ever rains where we live, I don’t need a garage, but if the plans happens to have one, we wouldn’t mind.
Mmm, sounds like a nice house!
Let’s see what the site comes back with…
I like the way this house looks…
courtesy of eplans.com
courtesy of eplans.com
There are two bedrooms with a seperate bathroom upstairs. That would be the kids rooms. Downstairs however a rather small living room and dining room in one means you be on each others nerves the whole time. I guess one could break through the wall between the garage and the living room, but our little pretend family does not have the funds for that now, so… moving on.
I also like this house, it’s very Victorian almost.
courtesy of eplans.com
The floor plans give me and Gayle much to cheer about this time. It has a separate dining room, a breakfast nook, a large living room with firepace and two porches of which one partially screened. Upstairs, there are two bedrooms, one designed to be the master bedroom. However, Gayle and I can sleep downstairs and the kids can take the rooms upstairs.
courtesy of eplans.com
courtesy of eplans.com
courtesy of eplans.com
courtesy of eplans.com
The den downstairs will easily double as a TV room for the kids so Gayle and I don’t have to watch Spongebob all the time. Furthermore, when we have guests they can stay in that room as we will put a sofa bed in there that will fold out to a large queen size bed. They will have to use the bathroom upstairs, but that shouldn’t be a problem. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet for Gayles shoes and dresses. The room itself is big enough for a cosy little sitting arrangement at the foot of the bed. Also, I think we might be able to put in a fireplace as the chimney goes right through the room.
So far for pretending. I am happy with my own beau and my wonderful two story apartment in Amsterdam.
Posted in General living and fun stuff
Tagged design, floor plans, homes, plattegronden, porch
On Youtube there are tons of video’s of proud home owners sharing footage of their humble abodes.
Some are amazing, stylish, chique, trendy, quirky, crafty and cute. Other are.. well, just different…
Borat’s brother?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C5tzhNC4NM]
(somehow the youtube window doesn’t appear, so try copy-pasting the url in yourt browser)
I do like the dining room chairs and, obviously, the pool but the rest of the decor is missing a certain je ne sais quoi..Maybe he just moved in? If not, let’s hope he’ll discover the joys of decorating soon 😉
This house obviously shows massive potential!
I will ask whoever posted it to share the final result with us. The floor and view alone make for a fantastic home. I bet it will look smashing once everything is renovated and done up. Can’t wait!
Then there is this post of someone’s new home in Raleigh North Carolina USA.
The music is a bit too bombastic and, quite frankly, scary for the nice outdoorsy feeling you get from watching the video. I never knew it could be fall like that in North Carolina, thought it was too far south for that. I do hope they put up some sort of sound wall along that highway there. The house seems to be pretty close, and judging from the video the deck is facing the highway.
The street looks like it is a dead end street which will limit the traffic in front of the house. And I think you can walk towards the creek from the garden? The fencing and barb wired structures on that bridge just scream “please don’t jump” don’t they?
Check out Youtube yourself and type in ‘my new house’ or ‘our new house’.
Home voyeurs.... a peek into homes 