Mansions, Houses, and Earthships

     Who didn't have that dream house when they were little? Be it a house on the moon, a plastic bubble under the ocean, a house on the clouds or the large home down the street, every kid had their idea of what they would live in when they got older.  For me this was the Richy Rich mansion/house.  Dubbed so by myself because on the ornate double gate blocking the drive way are two elegant R's.  So like any child who has had their fair share of classic cartoons I would give the house the name of the one character we all know of that shares those initials.

     As far back as I can remember I recall being excited every time we drove down Skyline Drive, staring out of the window to catch the glimpse of the most gorgeous house I knew of.  Besides the winding driveway with the gate the property boasts of a beautiful pond, a wooden bridge over the water, trees blocking neighbors away, and the most classic and sophisticated house I could only imagine in this setting.  I'm going to get all stalkery here and tell you to google map these coordinates 41.036828,-74.250077 and street view that house.  Just tell me you don't like it.  I dare you.

      And if the owners of this house ever do stumble across this blog I apologize for creeping on your house like this, but it's the house I've wanted to explore as long as I can remember.  If you had an open house I would deff come back home and pretend not being a poor college student just so I could see the inside.  Your house is amazing.
      And because of this obsession with this one house I've found it impossible to see myself living in almost any other.  I've fantasized about many futures and tried to see myself coming home to countless houses, but feel repulsed when considering many of the ordinary homes that line most of the streets today.

     This summer I found the second house I could see myself in, smaller than the first but the architecture and impression it left on me was astonishing.  My family might recall the house I obsessed over when we were on our drive to trap shooting.  And now thanks to 25 minutes of searching street-view on google map, I give you these coordinates to also stalk. Give or take a few houses, it's the one with the cobblestone driveway and two white statues flanking the door. 40.875744,-74.315764  Now is that not also an amazing house? And again, if the owner(s) of this house come across this blog, your house is awesome and I love it.  Seriously. No weird stalkering feelings intended.

      And then on September 19th I found the third home I would love to call my own.  On Superforest Jackson published a post about earthships and was just as confused as you probably are now.  Earthships? Like spaceships?  Not really.  As I take this from the earthship website:

"Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills."

 These are homes made to work with mother nature, to help get yourself off the grid and depend more on yourself.  How amazingly awesome is that?  Whilst searching the site, I found this one particular earthship out in Taos, New Mexico that I have fallen in love with.  At a selling price of just under half a million ($440,000) it seems like a deal to me! (keep in mind I don't have any clue as to what would be a good or bad deal. I just insanely love this home.)  Click the link.  Look at the pictures.  Watch the video if you're up to it/ got the time.  These earthships are simply amazing and I would love to find my future self living in one of them.
Peace out.