Cap Cod or Log Cabin?

Why is the last thing you think of often the most important?

When my husband was looking for jobs I completely forgot to take into account my preferences for residential architecture. And wouldn't you know, what I like isn't common in our soon-to-be city or surrounding cities. And I should know I lived there once and have now seen hundreds of homes. Nothing has changed!

Imagine you dreamed of a house on the beach - the cute ones with stilts, painted in vibrant seaside colors and your own private deck through the tall grasses and out to the golden sands. But you end up living in the mountains where all the homes are brown timber frame with no water in sight and trees for as far as the eyes can see.

Or maybe you wanted a traditional colonial home on a tree lined street with a wide and gracious lawn and a circular drive, but your city is dusty and filled with spanish pueblos and desert landscaping and water saving plants.

The igloo you were dying to build in Alaska so you could teach your children to hunt and fish - not going to happen in a big city high-rise with no outdoor space. A dream for another day. Maybe retirement and you can teach your grandkids.

That English Tudor that you have designed and decorated with the help of Pinterest over the last 5 years in reality will be impossible to find in South Florida. And if you can find it the neighbors probably have called it the eyesore of the neighborhood because it doesn't fit in with the rest of the street. They not-so-secretly wish a hurricane would take it out.

I always wanted to buy an old 1800's farmhouse and have the boys from "This Old House" come and restore it to it's former glory. I love you Tommy Silva! But where we are moving people weren't even settled in large numbers at that time let alone building homes of that quality and style. They were still living in dugouts and tents.

I could go on and on.

There are so many different types of architecture you would think it would be easy to find what you are looking for. NO! Not every style is compatible with every climate, geography, or city/state culture.

It is abundantly clear that my taste in architecture doesn't fit what is "normal" for my city. I have found a handful of homes that are similar to styles that I am drawn too, but they are very few and far between. The overwhelming majority of homes in this area are exactly the kind of homes I don't like.

Sure we could always build, assuming we can find a lot that doesn't have restrictions on size, materials, style, etc. Building usually means living out of city limits and a longer commute, which we are trying to avoid. Or they are in town but ridiculously expensive.

I know exactly what I want, and where I want it, but does IT exist? Maybe it's time to think about compromising.

Oh, but remember I am not in the market to buy a house. This is just research for the future:-)