1. Enough window that the light from the sun can come from outside (that you won't need so much electric light inside), and where they do not add additional lights outside in the night time, so that only the light of moon and stars can be seen.

2. We should also avoid (and undo) the noise and pollution. The weather and birds and animals can be heard better too, then.

3. We will have electric power but should not overuse it and should not overly rely on it. If the power is not working, then the things can be done without the electric power, too.

4. Outside, there will mostly be the trees, flowers, insects, etc. (There can also be grow vegetables at the appropriate time of the year.) Also sun dial; when walking outside (or if the electric clock doesn't work) you can see the time by sun dial, too.

5. The other places that you can walk to, rather than needing the car and bus too much.

6. Don't be too hot/cold.

7. If the stuff is arranged well then hopefully it should not need too large amount of space. You also shouldn't need too many rooms; some rooms can be used for multiple purposes.

A small (not tiny) apartment with a tiny (that yes) garden/outdoor space in Tokyo. Murakami describes something similar in “The Wind Up Bird Chronicle” [0]. I want a small kitchen corner and a spacious and luminous living room for reading and listening to music. As minimal as possible.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11275.The_Wind_Up_Bird_C...

I'm actually torn because in Brazil almost everyone that can would choose to live in a condo, due to security. The downside is that you need to follow a bunch of rules and get much less square m2, and likely worse locations... but you get into some kind of "social network" (depending on the house price) and your kid can walk to the neighbors by himself.

Probably something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_UHTgGFTX8

But in Hudson Valley New York instead of Newcastle Australia.

I didn't watch the entire video, but from what I saw by scanning the first couple minutes, it looks quite similar to the house in Ex Machina.

It does look that way but the house in Ex Machina is a Norwegian resort: https://juvet.com/en/

What do I have to do to have that kind of money. Damn. A boy can dream.

My dream home would be one that is fully paid for that my family liked.

It would have a separate machine shop with 3 phase power and a floor thick enough for a forklift or pallet jack.

I love how this response started with a very pragmatic checklist and then quickly turned to some very specific and personal wishes. What would you be doing with that forklift and/or pallet jack now that the house was paid off?

You need to be able to move stuff around in a machine shop. I'd make gears and things for fun. The last job I had was very satisfying, but the pay and commute sucked. Doing it for funsies in my own shop would be awesome.

I'd start with my current harbor freight lathe and work my way up to building a cnc tool cutter and then gear hobbing, shaping, skiving, machines, all open source. I've got ideas on how to skive straight bevel gears, which is currently impossible because the pitch varies across the tooth.

Then on to photolithography, atomic force microscopy and eventually high vacuum systems.

location:

1. < 40 min from at least one major airport 2. < 30 min from downtown of a tier 1/2 city 3. Multiple seasons

house: 1.Open layout with tons of natural light 2.Fully private backyard

bonus: 1.Ability to add Rooftop Solar with decent MWH generation 2.Additonal underground water source

3 miles from anything that makes any noise or pollution - roads, neighbours etc.