woodsy gnome homes, pirate ships aground, elfdwellings

i am obsessed with this old book right now.

i think about my "dream home" way too much. and i've come to the conclusion that there may be no reconciling the different versions of my dream home. spanish villa with courtyard, tiled roof, fountains, goats, bougainvillea. ancient victorian gingerbread house with gables and a tower and secret passageways and nooks and crannies.

or, this.
handbuilt wooden cabin in the forest.

straight out of a northernlands fairytale.
coziest room on earth?
woodbeam ceilings, hanging herbs, macrame plant holders, ferns, candles, rustic chairs.
lofts up wooden ladders, old moroccan rugs, fringed shawls, paper lanterns, indian blankets.
dream bedroom. imagine if it were snowing...is there anything more romantic than snuggling in this bed with a fire in the woodstove?
the most beautiful staircase i've ever seen. and built in shelves and nooks, homemade stained glass windows, sunlight streaming in.
can you imagine having tea in this cozy tearoom suspended over the creek?

okay, so i love to dream.

meanwhile, my sister is moving back to town and check out her new place!

it's totally an enchanted forest gnome home...being inside brings to mind an old pirate ship. it even has a hanging wagon-wheel chandelier!

and a porch with built-in bench that wraps around the entire side of the house.
so lovely inside. why are houses usually so square? when curves are so much more inviting and cozy! it's like a giant hobbit hole in the pines.

but best of all...addie's back!

Comments

Unknown said…
How incredibly beautiful and peaceful. When I look at that kitchen table I can't help but think of Mrs. Weasley... It reminds me so much of their house!
March 4, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Kelsie Lynn said…
have you ever posted anything better than this?
this is as good as it gets. life itself.
oh.my.gosh.
March 4, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Amy Beatty said…
Heather. you can't talk about cute homes when I'm moving into a brick in a few weeks, well it looks like a brick. We will try and make it as cute as possible so we can get you to come stay a while.
March 4, 2010 at 1:41 PM
moonshinejunkyard said…
amy i can't wait to see!!! it is really happening that soon. and bricks are beautiful! i know it is going to be the most cozy homey honey lair and i just can't wait to come crash there and use it as a home base for adventures!
March 4, 2010 at 2:59 PM
Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said…
Oh. My. Gosh. Beautiful and rustic and peaceful. I am in LOVE!
March 5, 2010 at 9:41 AM
DIANA said…
This blog is amazing extremely vintage and quaint I love it sooo much! This house would be my dream house!
But yes it takes time and $ to get this beautiful home!
I usually have amazing luck when I go to antique shops or vintage shops I find amazing items for my place!
Love this post♥
March 5, 2010 at 4:06 PM
Missa said…
I have this book! It's one of my most treasured thrift finds of all time. I found it for a dollar along with a few other home books from the 70's including a second book put out by the Handmade Homes guys called The Craftsman Builder. Another of the books is all hippie houseboats, so amazing, I could not believe my luck when I scored these books!

I've been meaning to post pics from them for the longest time and haven't gotten around to it but I will definitely do it soon!

Your sister's new place looks awesome and reminds me of a funky cabin in the Redwoods that we lived in years ago off Joy Rd. in Occidental. It was built by a ship builder and was crazily shaped with lots of windows and a little spiral wooden staircase that wound up an old burned out tree trunk going up through the middle of the cabin to the sleeping loft.
March 5, 2010 at 10:48 PM
moonshinejunkyard said…
Missa, that is amazing! I love Occidental so much. we lived in sebastopol in 2003-04. i worked at both screaming mimi's and slice of life and we both went to school at sonoma state. it is a great place to live, especially since we lived on an organic apple orchard. anyway these books are so wonderful. i have seen the second one you're talking about, but never been able to find it to buy. scoring at for a buck would probably make me cry with joy!
March 5, 2010 at 11:03 PM
marya said…
yay! I'm pretty sure a) that this books is in my parents' library and that b) it was one of the inspirations for their own crazy hand-built house (though they used concrete instead of wood)
March 6, 2010 at 1:32 AM
boots said…
WOw what an amazing hide away! i cant get over it! your sister is so lucky to have found such a cute place. i need a place like that.
March 9, 2010 at 7:00 AM
AdieSpringB said…
Bunder, I LOVE THOSE PHOTOS. And meanwhile, can't believe I got a home so crafty and like-ish to those others! Oh to dream and then to see them come true. Only the ones who believe ever dream what they see ever dream what comes true. I want to hear that Beth Nielsen Chapman album now................
March 12, 2010 at 4:45 PM
Jolene said…
I, too, have this book of Homemade Houses. It is what started my obsession with living this way...that was many years ago. I continue to have my dream which IS going to be REALITY some day...I want to live in simplicity...So cool to know someone else has this book...
January 30, 2012 at 4:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesdays in my Town - Buck's Bar on the Cosumnes River

Image
Okay, not to turn this into "my favorite river spots" or anything...but it just hit 100 degrees here and i had the pleasure on saturday of going with some of my favorite people to one of our...yes indeed i can't resist.... favorite river spots .  since i talk about the river a lot, all summer long, i figured i'd go ahead and show you all this particular spot for this week's "Tuesdays in my Town." so, my town placerville (aka p-ville, peevs, and infamously "old hangtown") is actually located between two beautiful rivers coming out of the sierra nevada mountains: the american river to our north and the cosumnes river to our south. my friends and i have spots we prefer on both rivers, depending on the day, the kind of hike you want to do, and the month of the year. on saturday we drove out toward somerset down buck's bar road to the bridge and hiked out to the perfect june swimming hole in the cosumnes river, which, by the way, i r...
Read more

"I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin..."

Image
I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belong to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. It struck me, when I read Song of Myself several years ago, that thirty-seven years old , that magical Whitmanesque age, was still in the future for me. How exciting that felt! To know that this wonderful age that was such a pure and boisterous beginning for the bard, was something I could look forward to. To know that I could set forth on new adventures, and sing the praises of the earth, and be wild and merry and voluptuous and bold. Now and forever. and especially at 37. And so suddenly I am here! That lu...
Read more

handmade homes take to the open road

Image
i want this to be us so bad...rollin away in a fairytale bus made of wood and wheels, porch and books. this is from another book in the series of rad 70s handmade house books that i've written about before and missa wrote about here  ( raddest houseboats ever, ever, ever ) this one is all about handmade hippie houses on the road. we have it at the bookery in the locked case; it's a collectible and thus way out of my price range. but i still get to look at its gloriousness. these photos of the pages look much better than mine, found in this wonderful little delight here , check these caravans out: standing in the mist with its little terra cotta pots and windowpanes, killing this fairytale heart a mine. i can picture joey and emily in this one, our neighbors. and this one can house addie and art, and we'll drive cross the prairies together. this covered-wagon one seems the most fun of all. roll back the canvas and sleep ...
Read more