tracywoolsey Yes, I am living in my forever house. I have lived here for just over one year. My sister bought my parents house that is in e same neighborhood, and my parents moved to a smaller house about .5 miles away. I have done a lot of renovation (fixing ceilings, removing old carpet, refinishing the oak floors underneath, painting walls, scraping tiles off the floor, etc.) because it is a 1950 house that had little maintenance performed in the last 20 years. I see this home that can house my parents in the future. I also love that it has a screened in porch. It was one of my favorite features of my childhood house.

masnis Great article that poses some very good questions. I may not live in my "forever home", but now I am thinking about how I can feel more connected to it. After all, we only have the present.

Virgil Carter Fine Art A "forever home" is certainly a romantic notion and is often an explicit goal of first-time home builders/buyers. It certainly helps to think in these terms as a way to offset the difficult decisions that need to be made when designing or buying a new home.

The reality, however, is often somewhat different. Childless couples build or buy a house only to find it doesn't accomdate a growing young family with the tons of toys, clothes and other gear that get spead over all the houses, particularly the adult spaces. Families with teen ages find that the adolescents want their own private spaces for themselves and their friends. Empy-nesters find that they don't need all of the space and amenities that they used to need. Thus, the "for ever" house is one of constant compromise, trying to support the varied and dynamic changes in life style and preferences.

Then there are the various family changes that may not be planned or foreseen: job change, illiness, death, seperation, divorce, etc., which create another set of challenges for the "forever house".

Real estate statistics tend to suggest that home ownership may change every 5-8 years or more for many people, making the "forever house" one lasting 5-8 years, or less, for many folks.

It's wonderful to think and dream about the "forever house". Just be realistic about the next 5-8 years or less when making house decisions.

daveyola Yup - but we literally reinvented it. From a 100 year old two family to a state of the art single family...we outgrew having tenants and wanted more family space, results are amazing but same place our boys grew up ;)

Rough Linen I told my husband when we married that I would be faithful to him, but very promiscuous with houses - though I have been in this one for eleven years and must be losing my touch. Every one was a forever house, because I cherish their memory forever.

kennedytarheel Tricia Rose Rough Linen: so true! I tell my husband that it is cheaper to change homes than husbands. We're in our third home in 28 years. Each home has added a new page to the book of our family life.

Jamie Edie I have always said that I now live in my forever house. My husband and I built our home 10 years ago and have raised our children here. In that 10 years, we have built an addition with a basement, renovated both bathrooms, changed out flooring, light fixtures etc... (I tend to be a DIY fanatic!) But while the look to my house may change from time to time, the feeling that I get when I walk in still makes me feel like I'm home.

Donald 10 years on in my first house and have no intention of ever moving, it's my "forever home" although I refer to it as the house I'll die in.

katheros99 I spend entirely too much time thinking about a forever house... At this point though the 5-8 years even sounds good! I've moved 5 times in the last 2.5 years, and will be moving again in June. My husband is in the military, so where the army sends us we go. It's been fun decorating our various rentals, but I'm longing to paint a room, plant a garden, and actually enjoy my decor before I have to pack it up again. :-) A forever house? Sigh... Someday...

katebriscoe 'Find a house that's worth buying'. This phrase (from Houzz Ideabook 'What's Your New Year's Resolution for the House') has been going round and round in my head since I read it. This has completely reframed the way I look at my house. And I am now happy in it.

schwager I knew our current home (purchased just six months ago) would be our forever home when we first looked at it and my husband said, "I can see our grandchildren visiting here." Pretty big commitment since our boys are 11and 13! But then again it will take us forever to get through our to-do list. :)

Pamela I hope I am living in my forever home. As of now I have no plans to leave. There is one thing that brings back so many memories in this house and my family home. We have a pocket door between the kitchen and dining room and it reaches almost to the end of closing and it makes this squeaking noise that is really annoying. But as I remember, the pocket door between the kitchen and dining room in my family home made exactly the same sound. So I quess I have brought my childhood into this home and the noise now isn't as grating as it is comforting.

simps214 Yes DH and I are in our forever home. It's near downtown for when we were childless, has bedrooms/nearby school to accommodate all our children and we built a first floor master for the future. I think it can work if you plan ahead.

As for your question, the little details I love are all the built in window seats, the fireplaces that smell like the marshmallows we roast, the large original windows-especially in the small solarium and the little library. Old houses may not have a lot of storage but what they did "build in" is lovely.

robynia I too live in my forever house in Italy, after having moved several times in my first years of married life. We bought a plot of land and it took us years to build it exactly as we wanted it. My husband is an architect and it was his special project.
We already had two boys, but another arrived a year after we moved and it is the only house he has ever known.
Now the boys are all gone we are still appreciative of the space we have and use every single room, including the large downstairs sitting room, especially in winter when we light the fire and roast chestnuts with the boys when they come to visit.
Our parents knew this house too.

tiachocolate After renting for so many years, my boyfriend and I finally took the plunge in 2011. Our hunt for the home that we could afford took 5 years. We are childless, plan to stay that way, and the house we got is what could typically house a family of up to 6. It's 3 bedrooms, 620sq.ft, with a nice enough yard. The kitchen is a mess, as is the bathroom, but when we walked in, we had stars in our eyes. It was OUR home. The night we finished moving (took one day really) I was exhausted, but insisted on getting the bed together. I made it with fresh, cool sheets - he had swept and mopped the floors - and when it was all done, we fell into bed, tired but happy. When we woke up, that's when it hit us. We had found our house. Here (Belize, CA) one buys the house that one plans on growing old in. Our house, dubbed Casa De Pookie, is the only home we ever wanted. It took so long to find it, why think of the 'next' one?! :) every so often, I hug the walls and tell my house how much I love being in it. (yes, I'm a dork)
As for childhood memories, I still have to convince Pookie to let me build a fire hearth (fogon). When that is built, our home will be complete. :)

pariscafe Our current home is our forever home and not just because we are over 50. The house that stands on the block is a very different house to the one we originally bought. We bought this property , which is our fifth house,on first inspection as it just felt right.I know I sound like a stark raving idiot however we felt the old house had a soul but it was the magnificent tree in the back yard that spoke to us. Once inside the fenceline a feeling of peace and calm surrounded all who Iived here or visted here. Friends would remark at the serentity the garden and tree provided. We had to leave our home in 2011 due to flood damage and returned to a newly built house in May 2012. Our tree has since thrown us a party this summer by putting on its best flowering display in memory. I believe it missed us too. Would I leave this place? Not willingly!

midmodfan I know very few people who still live in the house where they grew up. Life just isn't that way anymore, is it? To me, life is transition, and I really embrace change.

When we were young, we moved around the country and the continent (Europe), and when we finally found fulfilling jobs meant to last, we built a two story plus basement house on a large lot in the countryside. Fifteen years later, finding it more and more difficult and annoying to maintain the place, we thought it's time to move back into a big city and downsize.

So we found us the perfect modern bungalow and had it completely remodeled to suit our needs. That's where we live now, overlooking our sanctuary-like 2000 sq.ft. atrium garden, while metropolitan life is buzzing just outside of our little neighborhood. The house never had the chance to be our 'forever home', but I think it will, as we envisioned it, be our 'last home'.

Kathryn Peltier Design Well, since we've been here for over 22 years, I would say this is our "forever" house. We've raised our family here and made many renovations over the years, including a complete kitchen renovation. Our house is an 1890 Victorian on 2+ acres, both of which offer pluses and minuses. We have flora and fauna all around, we have a wrap-around front porch, we have a 3-car 2-story carriage house (which I designed), a full basement (dry and finished - the house was moved to this location in the 70s) - and all of this in a secluded location 5 minutes from major stores and restaurants. What we don't have are walk-in closets, upstairs laundry, open rooms, etc. We also have extensive exterior maintenance. The last time we had the house painted - in 2007 - it cost over $10,000. I am not quite ready to give it all up, but there are some days my husband and I look at each other and say "Can you say 'condo'?"

silverthread53 As a child, my family moved every four years. Always the new kid, I promised myself my children would have a solid home base, and we've lived in our house for over 30 years. It's far from a dream house, but it's an anchor for all of our lives. We renovate, decorate and celebrate our funky old home.

serenawynn silverthread53 - what a poet you are and so very wise... Of all the comments here yours is the one that resonates. Most of us are not in our dream homes, but we're in the homes where we dream

JAN MOYER My parents owned two houses. The first, so tiny three of us kids slept in a tiny bedroom and one bed was a toddler murphy that went up on the wall during the day with a blackboard underneath. The second, much larger!! 1840 sq feet and they stayed for 43 years until a much resisted but necessary move to assisted living. But it's a rare thing today, with mobility for jobs, and the property taxes in states like Ny and Calif. Even well heeled folks to a more fiscally favorable environment in retirement years. I think "forever" today.... maybe twenty five years max? Space, jobs, climate, taxes, one will win out. But it sure is a great thought!!

bourke143 Would love to move this cottage to the beach and it could be the forever house.

yoder178 I am in my forever house. It was built after my divorce, being a single Mom with a young son I needed a home that was more open so I could easily see my son while he was playing and I was working in the kitchen.

I incorporated a front and back entryway along with a covered porch in the back adjoining with a patio where we could enjoy our beautiful garden. It is my forever house. The only thing I would change if I could is to build in more storage and add-on a few more feet onto the main living rooms.

appytrails Like Silverthread53, I grew up moving every few years, always leaving behind newly made friends, feeling like a "stranger in a strange land" at the next spot. Even when newly married, we moved from rental to rental before this city girl could find her soul in being able to pay out and buy some country acres that were near enough, but far enough, from other city transplants. Just having your own home, as compared to a rental, is an amazing feeling. (A first in my family)
Being young and a teacher, there was little money, so a modest ranch home was built. Over the years it has been improved, and added to, but it was the land, and being able to have horses, and see them out the window, and walk the dog on hundreds of acres of state land that adjoins the property is what makes this home "heaven." Being able to raise my daughter in a forever home, and have her develop lifelong friends from elementary school, as they say, is priceless!!

leslielevin I was 33 when we moved into our home and now I'm almost 61. We have put so much love and living into our home: it has simply grown into our forever house when we weren't looking! My husband says the only way we will ever leave this house is when someone takes us out through the garage to which I reply, "Not unless you clear a path!"

astraea I agree with the comments about a “forever home being a romantic notion”, and is probably rare & somewhat unreasonable in today’s society. Closest I know, is my Mom’s family moving into a house when she was 3, and her living there for 52 years, before buying her own house! I grew up in that house too.

At the other end of the spectrum are many couples you see on HGTV’s “House Hunter” show, where they’re only thinking of their needs for the next 5 years; it’s like they don’t even have to really love the house they're buying .. because they’re already thinking about moving to the next one.

I lived in my first place (condo) only 3 years; decided quickly I wasn’t a condo person. I had my first real house/home for 23 years, moving only because I wanted to be by the shore. I love my current home, but can see from elderly friends, that before I’m 80, I’ll want to downsize .. before decluttering & moving becomes too daunting a task, and I wind up stuck in a house I can’t manage!

While a “forever house” sounds romantic, I think that attitude can make us unable/unwilling to accept necessary change, and focus too much on the material aspect of life.

Inis Lovely We've been in a stop-gap home for almost 6 years while my husband finishes a training program and we wait to see what comes next. Not something I recommend. It feels like our lives have been on a stop-gap, too.

patricia beharry The day I landed in New York, March 1964, I knew I would be going back to my birth island of Grenada in the Caribbean. I moved all over the US including the deep South. Thought I founded my forever home in Georgia. But tragedy struck, and I wanted to leave Georgia, which I loved. At fifty-nine years of age, I decided this was the time to complete the circle; so I bought the oldest house in the best neighbourhood, renovated (actually rebuilt it, but don't tell anybody). I kept my promise. This is my forever home. It is going to be passed on to my grand children. Don"t tell that to my children. LOL.

pabrocb I'm in my early sixties and we've moved too many times. I love houses. We tend to "flip" houses that we live in, after about four years. But we've kept constant a summer house that we've owned for decades. We'll pass that house along to our kids.

catsandroses I am sas to say we plan on leaving our home in 2013. We bought a small home on a great lot in a great town in 1982. Three renovations later ..which took 10 years as we did much of the work ourselves... We raised 3 kids and put decades of money, sweat toll and love into the inside and outside. Many wonderful friends in the area...but now in our 60's, it's a continuing issue of maintenance, high taxes and lots of space we don't use or need to heat. Also not designed for aging in place and I don't want to be stuck inside for months at a time during New England winters nor climb thru Second floor bed room windows to shovel snow off a roof. With global warming, the latter could improve but we are ready to make a move to the Carolina's this year. House is smaller though not small, mostly first floor living with aging in place thoughts built in. Check with me in five years! I know leaving a home I love will be a real wrench but we've given this a lot of thought over the past four years. I know a new family with small kids will love it as much as we have.

Cynthia Dustin I can not imagine leaving our home. We purchased a 26 acre parcel of land 1 year ago and worked our tails off for the entire year. Exactly one year after getting the building permit, we received the occupancy permit. We have cleared every tree ourselves, framed it roofed it and painted it along with everything in between (except for the plumbing and electric and hvac). I can not imagine that anyone would appreciate it the way we do. We have lived there for 2 months now and there is still so much to do, but this is our forever home!

mitchb62 I am grateful that I've been living in my 1889 house for the past 21 years. I still remember the day we drove out to the country and saw it . It needed a lot of TLC but we fell in love at first sight! Needless to say we've done countless upgrades and a kitchen Reno over the years! My house has sheltered my family and many others before us. I hope I can stay here "forever" but one never knows. When I leave I hope a new generation will get the chance to love it as much as we did.

Selfridge Design We built our house 13 years ago, and yes, we intend it to be our forever home. We built the least amount of space for our family at the time, knowing as kids leave space use will need to be adjusted. We have all amenities on the first floor, for future accessability ease. We have passive solar elements that help keep our heating and cooling costs reasonable. We have enough property to add a second garage for our boat, gardens, a porch, as the needs arise.

Past generations did not consider their homes or neighborhoods disposable. Our generation may move back toward that concept due to the downturn in real estate values, a home is no longer a short term investment.

Beth Stark Our forever home that contains wonderful family memories is our summer cottage that has been passed down from great grandfather to grandfather to father to us and then to our children. Our non summertime home changes frequently but we know we have an anchor spot of memories to always return to!! Delightful.

jenberry72 I believe we're living in our forever home now. It's a 1916 Craftsman with a long history of family and living before we ever got there. It's in a walkable neighborhood with grocery stores, restaruants and shops within 2 blocks of getting on the walking trail right next to our house. We're putting in things that won't necessarily be for resale, but for living and playing, like a pool, and it just feels like home...safe, comfortable, warm, cozy.

monkeydragon42 I thought we were in our forever home. We were there 4 years and invested in projects to make it our home. It was our 3rd house and our kids were to an age that we planned to retire in the house. But we relocated 2,400 miles away for a job a little over a year ago.The experience has affected the way I plan and invest in home projects.

terriermom A forever home can be a two-edged sword. I built mine and lived in it for almost 12 years. Then, due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to move. I miss it a lot and I'm not sure another will ever live up to that one and it's memories.

Linda VanGuilder Kitchen and Bath Specialist As a former military wife, it's been hard to think of any home as forever. I can finally embrace the 1850's vintage farmhouse we have been remodeling for the past 15 years as our forever house filled with forever friends!

kelmick Like others, my family moved a few times when I was a child. So when my husband and I bought our first house and remained there for a decade, it was a big deal. It was a real fixer-upper as many starter homes are and just as we got comfy we welcomed our daughter to the world and moved to a larger home when she was 2. This larger home is our "forever" home. We've been there for over 5 years and now we have added a son to the family. We are thinking about enlarging the kitchen and maybe adding another bedroom, but there's no rush. I love our house and its location and the memories we try to make for our children.

paradistoou Most definately in my Forever Home.Been here 17 years this year. Yet, not without it's challenges. From Renovating for my taste 13 years ago toTornado Winds/large hail causing damage and repaired 4 years ago to NOW,the full renovation to how I dream of it being for the rest of our lives and for my son's life. Classic Lodge Interior..Being from the South and a country girl at heart. wood gives me such a warm, secure feeling of being 'home'. All interior walls being Walnut I purchased from a reclaimed 80 year old Amish barn, lightly sanded to leave the saw marks and sealed;new rock wall with full length room hearth ; trying to decide for kitchen refacing or painting and glazing ? With Island redone in Walnut ,definately. To Brown wood on the stairwell wall or walnut, cannot decide.. walnut will be quite dark? Strir treads in wood of like kind as well. Floors upstairs in hardwood.walnut possibly?. not sure with walls being walnut?? need input there. ALL counter tops with exception of kitchen will be rainbow poplar slabs, already purchased.. sanded and laquer sealed 10 coats.. amazing coloring slabs are 2.5 inches thick.. and very reasonable priced.. woodplanet.com. Anyone can purchase. I was elated when i happened across this site.I have specific names as well if anyone is interested..look left column, Open OTS.. (offers to sell) scroll down to Reclaimed woods , which is where I got my 6000 board feet of Walnut.. , .. there is also a column at times for woodworkers.. where i got my Rainbow Poplar slabs.. Amazing prices there and there will be shipping costs but they are minimal if you look at suppliers closest to you. Of course the final work is yours.- The sanding, sealing and installation however, this is all part of the beauty of timeless aspects in a forever home. Or, it is for us. the projects and the good bad and difficult that all surrounds each project. My 16 year old son, who helps amazingly and has become extremely good at all of this, will know he did much of this along side myself and husband , his step dad, and it will mean everything to him as he ages and raises a family here and on this land. We have renovated already a 1,200 square foot older building onto a farm house on more property we have only 30 minutes from here and he was a major contributor in every aspect of interior and exterior for a year which is where we go on weekends or he and my husband go to hunt when my husband is in the country. The renovation bug is in his blood as it is all of ours and we so much enjoy what we do as a family and to see the Gorgeous beauty of these woods go up and see the final outcome.. Amazing...

eCustomFinishes LOVE the kitchen, and the farm table

surfor My mother lived in the same rental apartment for 39 years. She chose not to move because she literally lived across the street from the beach, and lived in an area where she could walk to any store she needed. It was a wonderful place for all of us in the family to visit. The building was in horrible shape - drafty windows, unpainted, dangerous railings and stairs, mold in some areas, but she never complained and always paid her rent on time. Sadly, at the end of her life, her landlord, WEISS Properties of Rolling Hills Estates, EVICTED her.

If she had purchased a home in that period of time, she would have built up equity and would have been able to correct some of the problems that made the apartment unsafe.

It is unfortunate that many people took a chance on owning a home, only to have been foreclosed upon, but the advantages of home ownership make renting someone else's property a short term solution to where to call home.

ceejo I feel like our current home is our forever home...but we've only been here 6 months! We were in our previous house for 29 years! This home has the space we need for all of our extended family needs and it's in a quiet and peaceful location. We just feel blessed to live here and our grown children and grandchildren love it too.

bobbiecohen I was lucky to find my forever house 12 years ago - It was under construction so I was able to make a few changes so I could "age in place". Also, having a forever house freed me up to do alot of happy color - no "neutral for resale" for me!

Casart Coverings I keep counting the years in each comment and so far, I think I hold the record. I've lived in my "forever" house for 51 years. I moved in as a bride and will probably leave horizontal and with my boots on! Through the years we remodeled every room in the house, built an addition, enlarged the garage, added a pool and pool house and it just grew like Topsy. Since the children are all grown and I'm widowed, I'm alone but with all the wonderful memories. I still need the space for when children and their families visit and I continue to change and tweak things. It's not a fancy house but it's a comfortable house that's seen a lot of living. It started its life as a barn and I'm sure when I am gone it will be a tear-down. Besides, right now it's not a seller's market!

alwilson1020 I am 33 years young and some may feel I can't know this, but we do live in our forever home. In fact, it was #43 of homes we looked at over a period of several months. We just knew when we walked in. We didn't have kids at the time, but we imagined what it would be like with kids. Now that we have 2 boys, we imagine what it will be like as they grow older and how it will be when we are empty nesters. We only have plans for a basement remodel and cosmetic changes are always on my to-do list. I love the flexibility in functions of our spaces that we have discovered already. Yes, our lives may change- already we have faced multiple layoffs in 4 years, but when considering all options to reduce our expenses my husband and i were on the same page with staying in our house. It is a house that we can grow and shrink in. I love this house because it is ours!

Mary Kozma I am in my forever house now (retired) and we are slowly making our home 'hold' all our possessions we want around us in a beautiful way. Whatever 'stuff' I keep I want displayed or stored where I can get to it. So, downsizing would have been like living in a storage unit (If I had kept everything from my larger home when I sold it). Downsizing for us, is realizing what we NEED and what fits, then making it integrated with the home's design. This means a bit of remodeling, but our goal is to complete our simple changes and enjoy our home for however long we are blessed to live here.

Comments have provided interesting reading for this topic!

hillonthehouse Lovely post. As a 'house person' I have dreamed of the 'perfect' house and kept files of magazine clippings since the 70's and now pin photos on my computer. But I tend to nest in one place. We now have lived in our current home, in the neighborhood where my husband and I grew up, for 25 years. It was built in 1928 and we are only the third owners, so it tends to be a forever house. It would probably be our forever house if it was in the place we want to be. Alas, it is not. Although it is in a lovely historic neighborhood, my husband and I have always wanted to be in the mountains, closer to nature. So we will be moving to our mountain cabin that we purchased nine years ago. It will be a wrench to part with this house where our children have grown up and the neighborhood we, too, grew up in. But the mountains have also been our dream for 37 years and now we're finally going to make it a full time reality. Would love to think our cabin will be our next forever house, but living at the top of a mountain is not easy, so we'll see. We'll enjoy it as long as we can.

Kerry Arnoldi After years of working in the Oil and Gas business and moving every 2 years, all over the world, the only desire we had at retirement time was our FOREVER house! We found it while we were still working and began to work with a contractor to get it ready. It is an American Foursquare Home with Bungalow Cottage features. It was built in 1935 and is situated perfectly in Tulsa, OK between the Riverside area and Downtown which has been recently rejuvenated, providing restaurants, arts venues and constant events. We were delighted to find a carriage house out back, which had been used for quarters at some time in the past, which our contractor has beautifully transformed into guest quarters with a loft. The same contractor worked miracles on the living and dining room ceilings which had acoustical tiles installed in the 50's, by putting 1X12's side by side and covering the cracks between with moulding, and painting it all white...beautiful! We were extremely fortunate that the previous owner had such great taste and took one of the 3 bedrooms upstairs, combined it with a small hall bathroom and provided us with a gorgeous bathroom with a soaking tub, glassed in rain shower and double sink marble topped antique sideboard! In addition, she made the leftover space into a killer closet with a washer and dryer included! Paul, our contractor, also took our kitchen from a dark swirly granite (modern) kitchen to a beautiful white marble kitchen that would fit in the 1930's aesthetically but has all the technology of the new century. Last spring, he completely updated the exterior with new paint, refurbished the original swirly glass windows, added working shutters on the front porch and awnings on the upstairs windows. Currently, he is adding a screened in back porch across the entire back of the house which will face the Carriage House and allow us to watch the fun and games in the swimming pool between. When that is finished, we will sit in those rockers we have in the attic and have a nice tall glass of lemonade!!
Photos: Exterior, Interior Carriage House: Living/Bedroom and Kitchenette

carrield74 Yes we live in our forever home. There are several projects we want to complish however. We want a back patio with a large pergola and we want to spruce up the front porch, build a barn and I would like to build a unattached garage. So yes to our forever home but there are always projects to do!

bilbosring4 I enjoyed the article very much and have read through the comments, I agree about the changing needs of family.
We just bought our first and we hope last house. 30 years of marriage 25 of them moving around with the USAF I am a veteran of 18 different houses. Moving 4 kids usually two small dogs and various cars was at times a nerve wracking task but we made it into a fun and new adventure each time. I will say when my husband retired last June and we were looking for a job I was dreaming about what house we would finally move into this time with non of the children at home and just our pets.
When he was hired for a job in Albuquerque we both were very excited and when we searched for a house I will say the one we decided on is as close to a dream home as I could want! It is bigger than two people need but with four children and 3 grandchildren at the moment we want them to come and have a place to visit that is both comfortable and enjoyable.
For me the house is only 5 years old the owner/builders painted the interior white with cream doors and trim. So I get to come in and paint it the colors we want, landscape it the way we want and it has enough room to again do what we would really like to do.
I have been that statistic of moving every 2 to 3 three years so getting to do some things in a house that is ours well we are soooooo looking forward to it.

A. Peltier Interiors My husband and I have rented and owned several homes and there are benefits to both. Right now we rent and are really enjoying the break from repairs and updates. We like our home and can be comfortable for awhile but this is not our forever space. Sometimes i think it is hard o find that forever space until you are well into your adult life with children that are older. Things like adding more children to the family, schools, and even bigger dreams can really change your idea of what you want in a home and cause you to move again.

Elise We have lived and remodeled two homes and after twenty six years in this current two-story home, we might have one more home ahead of us still. Like Kathryn Peltier's comment below, The exterior maintenance of our home is becoming expensive and time consuming. We are talking about a future move to a single story ranch home with a large shop/garage space, where we can utilize all the rooms more effectively and have a more open plan.

Our two story home was great for raising our three children, but the bedrooms upstairs are all too small for our king bed, and we are not able to utilize the full 1700 sq.ft. of our home, so we are living in the 1000 sq.ft. downstairs. When family is here and grandchildren are running around, it feels very small.

My husband and I are considering one more remodel or moving to another home.

Doreen Schweitzer Interiors, Ltd. In my earlier years when I was subject to moving because of my husbands job I still always felt compelled to treat my home like it was my forever home. I have good memories of my children growing up and the projects we worked on. I always felt better when I loved the home I lived in. Today I live in my forever home. It functions perfectly for me and was designed to accomodate my home business. I included a space that is a closet now but could incorporate an elevator if I ever need it.

Shannon Nevin I my house looked like any of these, I'd definitely be tempted to stay. As it stands, I'm afraid that I"m addicted to moving - every few years - and with 3 kids in tow, that might be sad!

puppyfur We do hope we now live in our forever home, after 11 years in a new build in Ireland which we really ended up not liking at all ( the country's meltdown had something to do with our feelings) and which took us 5 years to sell (my fellow Americans, consider yourselves lucky, still, in the selling department even since the downturn). We have moved to rural France, a longtime dream, to a 17th century house with all its original features but with an awful lot of work to do. We did not foresee some financial difficulties, so we hope we can stay put and do the place proud, but it will be nothing short of a miracle:-) These old places are sometimes referred to as PORs (piles of rubble) , but it's our pile of rubble and we consider ourselves lucky just to be here. We are no longer young but while we have the energy and the desire we hope we can make this our final home.

ridesally We are in our "forever home". I told my husband that they will have to carry me out of here in a pine box. Does it have all the items we wished for........NO. We are working on that. Over the past 4 years we had taken off a back addition and rebuilt it, started a kitchen renovation, redone all of the wooden floors, removed 100 years of paint from the stairs, started a vegetable garden, put in a stone patio, built a deck, painted and painted and painted some more. The only thing I am trying to create is a sense of home, a feeling of comfort, a knowing that I belong here. Sure, I try to create gardens from my youth and it helps but I struggle with design and what is actually me or us. I guess I have the rest of my life, until the inevitable pine box situation comes along to figure it all out.

mstj We have lived in our house for 20 years. It had been remodeled with a beautiful kitchen right before we bought it, and we have done quite extensive redecorating and updating over the years. I'm a gardener and have lovely flower beds and a kitchen garden, we have great pergola with a porch swing that we treasure in the summer. We live on a quiet street and are surrounded by green space that has been great for our dogs. Our children are grown but still love the house and neighborhood when they visit. The reality of our situation is we are being driven out of our house and the city because of outrageous property taxes. Our house is a moderate size two story that was built in 1940 with a typical small city lot. We pay twice the property taxes of houses much larger than ours with all the modern amenities that are located in the surrounding suburbs. We have always been city dwellers and can't really see ourselves in the suburbs but we know we cannot keep this house with all the upkeep expenses and the high taxes when we retire in a couple of years. So we'll move on, and what we'll have left of this house are memories of many happy years spent here.

Shannon Nevin I would love to find a forever home. If my house looked like any of these pictures, I wouldn't have a problem living there for a very long time! As it stands, we move every 3 years or so. I think you can actually get addicted to moving! Now that we have 3 kids in tow (11, 9 and 7), I'm not as apt to pick up and go. We've been in our current house for 4.5 years now, but I am desperately wanting to remodel or move. I wish I could find peace in the here and now! :) I loved this article.

stargazer51 We bought our forever house 2 1/2 years ago as part of our plans for retirement. I looked at about 100 houses and this one had everything we wanted: view, privacy/acreage, granny unit for Mom, shop for my husband's bicycles, and a remodeling project for me. It's basically a 70s 3bed/2bath 2000 sf ranch with some peculiar decorating choices by the previous owners. The house had been neglected over the years so was a blank canvas as far as renovation. I've moved the kitchen, created a small laundry room, expanded the master bedroom and closet space, opened it up to the view, but also am keeping in mind that we plan to age in place: higher toilets, grab bars in the shower with no threshold, easy to clean fixtures and surfaces, wall ovens vs range, wider doors, etc. We have 4 children between us and working on the 3rd grandchild so guest space is also a consideration. The living room/library can be closed off to double as a guest room, and and the 2 guest bedrooms will also house the office and art studio if I really do take up painting. We're hoping to be able to move out of the granny unit and into the house this May/June. After moving around all my life, I look forward to staying here for the remaining 30ish years!

Shavonda Gardner Our current home is definitely not our forever home. We were 28 when we purchased our home just under 2 years ago and went in to the purchase with the very clear understanding that this is our starter home. We opted to choose newer construction (built in 2005) in an area we loved for its convenience. We have a kindergartener and a fifth grader right now so being in an area with lots of parks, activities, schools, grocery stores, shops, etc were our main priorities. We are both full time busy professionals so being close to freeways were another important consideration. Our current home is perfect for the lifestyle we lead now and can comfortably accomodate us until our children make it to high school. What we envision for our forever home looks very different from our current home and we are planning to start that search in our late 30's, early 40's just as our oldest is gearing up to graduate. We chose our current home based on the fact that we don't have the time to do a lot of work on a house with young children and busy jobs. Once these days are over we will be able to. That's when my dream of owning an older, character filled gem will come true.

renojean No, we had to move from my forever home which I refer to as the "museum of my fondest memories". It was a Tudor cottage, two story with a basement. I loved every inch of that place. When my in-laws became elderly and needed care we had to sell our home and buy a one-story ranch fixer-upper. This new house and I speak entirely different languages and I have been uncomfortable in here since the day we moved in. It does have incredible views of the Sierra Nevada mountains which are currently covered in snow but it does not have the beautiful walls, trim, and layout that my home had. We have regretted selling our home and moving but could find no other home nearby that we could move my husband's parents into. If you find yourself in our position think carefully before you leap into a move you may regret. We wish we could have rented a place for us all to live in together and used our home as a rental until we could move back into it. Ah, well, hindsight. Maybe it will come back on the market one day.

eikuy My forever house is where my dogs are HAPPY. Houzz has given me lots of ideas for which I am really gratefull...such as kitchen island incoperating their feeding bowls and once that is built i shall proceed with a wet room for them. I also really like the fact that you have lots of pictures of interiors where dogs are in the living-room.

gayle2448 We had decided to downsize and were about to put our home of 30+ years on the market when i was diagnosed with cancer. I found there was no place else I wanted to be but right here at "home". We had raised our children here and I had decorated and remodeled to my taste exactly. In the seven years since, through treatment and healing, there is still no place else I want to be. So, yea, I guess this is my forever house.....although we still need to downsize : )

debbiecz This question should be incorporated into a dating/marriage quiz...do you see yourself living in a home long enough for it to be your forever home. I'm a forever type, my husband so-so. We've gotten around this by having two houses. One was suppose to our vacation then retirement home. But he's now decided its not big enough so he wants to build another "forever" home. I was the third generation in my childhood home and love bringing my kids back to visit "my" home. I want my kids to have memories of their home to pass down but that doesn't happen like it use to. My forever home will have a big covered porch (not a silly deck), a big family room with bookcases & comfy couches, an open kitchen and space to put up tables for big holiday meals, an upstairs hallway that has more than just doors. And as a hopefully future grandma I'd live some quirky nooks & crannies for my grand kids to discover.

maddecorator Regarding the "forever rental" idea, I have lived in my home (which we own) for 24 years. My next-door neighbor has lived in her rented home for about the same amount of time, although she did move from one side of the duplex to the other. She has an enormous garden and, because she's such a great and responsible renter, the landlord lets her do whatever she wants. He even let her dig a large fish pond and put an iron fence around it! She says, "Why should I buy a house when I can have everything I want here?"

Casart Coverings I've read all of these posts which have obviously been penned with a lot of thought and affection. What resounds to me over and over is that your forever "house" is really your forever "home": not necessarily a physical structure but an emotional place where we can dream, plan, and store memories that will always be with us wherever we go.

kpzuk My husband and I thought we were living in our forever house. After 40 years of marriage and living in the same house for 40 years we moved 6 months ago. We moved to Bucks Co PA and have never been happier. I loved our first home and we never stopped working around it. Funny, but we honestly do not miss it one bit. Our home was in NJ and a single home. We are now in a Carriage home community. We absolutely love the home and the community and "our new town". We feel like little kids, pinching ourselves everyday to make sure it is for real!

ranchmaven I think we must be in our forever home. We have lived here for fifteen years. It is a large home on a lot of acreage. We have been through lots of ups and downs. I fought hard to keep my home during the worst of those. It is a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired design three bedroom/ six bathroom home. It has a guest house and a second in-laws house attached by garages, porta-cachere and two driveways. It continues to be a lot of work, but my nine grandchildren consider it home.

Jill Crowe I knew that I had to buy this house, my Forever House, when I saw the big rock in the back yard. It is a miniature, at two tons, of the rock that I grew up with at Laurel Lake in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. My childhood rock is submerged in the lake, placed there by an ancient glacier for the children to play on. You could sit on the rock and play for hours, sitting waist deep in clear lake water. I remember every single facet of that rock. The salamanders that we would catch on the deep side, the four-year old me finally being allowed to go out to "The Rock" with the other kids. I'm 57 now, and I knew I had to buy this house, because of The Rock.

judybath I may be in my forever home but maybe not as the taxes and upkeep may prohibit my retiring and staying in this house plus the size. I am more forever right now. This is my 4th home and my strategy is always to get the big changes I want done right away so I love the house because you never know if you will be there for 5 years or 17 years or more. Holiday memories are what I like best about each of my homes.
For me I go back to my grandma's house and what made it warm and cozy. Clean white sheets, beautiful handmade rugs, comfortable chairs and sofas, lots of room and a beautiful garden with fuschias in the summer. And lots of love.

Debbie Lusk This is so funny! I have a list of things I want in my 'forever house!' Someplace I can move to and never leave unless it's feet first!

Fleurishes I am living in my "forever home". We purchased our home when our oldest was entering highschool. Now we have grandchildren and g.grandchildren here and experiencing the same home that their parents and grandparents grew up in. We have created a beautiful environment inside as well as outside for them to enjoy and make lasting memories..

jmaben When I purchased my 1st home 19 yrs. ago as a single parent with a small child, I loved it so much that I was ready to stay until I died. My feelings have not changed since then--I have enjoyed putting down roots here and in my wonderful community. However, I made a decision to make family a priority, so my husband and I, now empty-nesters, will sell my forever home and make a new forever home with my aging mother in the town that I grew up in and never wanted to return to. My likely future is that in about 15 years I will bury my mother, husband (who's days are numbered due to chronic terminal illness), and dog, then move on to perhaps my last forever home. The lesson to me is, it's all temporary. Our bodies are our home and they are temporary. Our only "Forever" home is in heaven with the God of the Universe. I look forward to that day when I finally go "Home."

thegreenbee This topic really resonates with me. We have moved around several times over the years and ache to put down roots. I'm a very nostalgic person, and I long for a home that my young girls will grow up in and still return to and call home, even when they have families of their own. My husband's mother still lives in his childhood home. I love the sense of time passed in that old farmhouse, and all of the memories- it's very special and increasingly rare. Never having met my late father-in-law, it even gives me a feeling of connection to him, to be where he was and hear the stories. It makes me smile just to think about it.

patricia beharry @jmaben

When you get there, put out the welcome mat, I will come visit.

jessicalipiec My husband and i are breaking ground on our forever home this spring!

Iris Evans Mine is a forever house -- I inherited the house where I was raised. Someone from my family has lived here for the past 60 years. When I am gone, I hope one of my children or grandchildren will continue the tradition.

Lacy I love this post!
We are in our third house, although, we have lived in apartments too. Unless, something dramatically changes we are in our forever home. I certainly wish to stay here forever.

Yes, forever homes are still possible. We live in a rural community where most homes are forever homes.

My mom planted lilac bushes by each of my bedroom windows, because lilacs are my favorite. I wish those mature lilac bushes were planted by my bedroom windows now.
My mom brings me a bouquet every spring from those same lilac bushes. So I really can't complain.

rswisher Talk about a forever house...we've lived happily in our home for 27 years. We purchased it from my husband's parents that long ago. He was raised in this home so it's been a part of his life for even longer. Needless to say, he knows every square inch of it - a real bonus! Many updates have been made over the years & more precious memories than we can count raising our four children in this wonderful home. They want to keep it in the family forever!

meghobbes My husband and I bought what I thought would be our Forever Home, an 1840 Farmhouse on just over 4 acres. We looked forward to growing old together, sitting on the front porch rockers and watching the world go by. But 4 years after we moved in, the Lord took him home at 46 years of age. My husband was a hard worker and had beautifully landscaped the entire property. The youngest of our five children still lived at home with me and between the two of us we tried to keep the property looking as it did when my husband was here. But it became too much work. My son wanted me to sell but I was so emotionally attached to the house and its memories and unfulfilled dreams I couldn't part with it. He began to downsize the flower beds and replace them with lawn and do whatever he could to minimize the outside work. Then, four years later, the Lord gave me another dear, sweet husband--with four children. We spent the first five years of our marriage evaluating whether we could stay in this grand old home. We are getting older and it takes longer and is harder to do a lot of the physical work. When we let our children know we were considering moving because of how overwhelming it was becoming, there was quite an emotional response from them. They wanted their children to enjoy the pool, the large open spaces, the character of the home. So, we struck a deal. They have all agreed to do what they can to help us with the seasonal chores in exchange for memories for their children. Because we made the decision to stay, we took the wall out between the dining room and kitchen and made one large room including a complete kitchen renovation. This past Christmas was the first holiday where we were all together in the new renovation and everyone loved it! They wished it had been done years earlier! So, I am still in my Forever Home, creating new memories with an even larger family, thank the Lord.

Lisa Nelson Mum lived in the same house for 40 years, me my brother and sister grew up there and when Mum passed on and we had to let the house go I revisited to take some photos as memories.
The pictures looked so cold and sad, the empty rooms lacked a 'soul'.
So I broke the snapshots down into bite size pieces.
A close up on some tiles from around the fireplace, detail of a cornice, door handle, wallpaper and Lino long covered over but recalled through childhood memories.
These thumbnails said more to us than photos of the actual rooms and some thing to treasure when forever was not possible.

kathleendici The moment me and my sweetheart first walked into my home I knew it would be forever. That was 28 years ago. The house was sort of falling apart when we bought it. Together we worked room by room to restore the 12 room, now 110 year old house. It took years, lots of money, lots of hard work, but all worth it. We created before and after picture books of each project while in progress. Each time friends and family visited they wanted the tour to see what had been completed since their last visit. I was married in this house and my husband died in this house. I know he is still here with me in spirit and I have vowed to stay here. There is a great sense of comfort and safety here for me. Some of the most precious memories of my life were made within the walls of this wonderful place. So this week on the eighth anniversary of my husband's death I took paint brush in hand to repaint the decorative tin on the walls and the ceiling of the kitchen that we painstakingly hung together. Some would argue a house is just wood and bricks and staying in a house is just hanging on to the past. I argue that this wood and these bricks have been infused with the life events that make me who I am and I will hold on to them as long as I can.

cottonqn Yes I built it with my now ex 37 years ago. My daughter bought her paternal grandads next door and just around the bend a mile away on the same farm, my son his wife and son live in the restored 1800's family home.

cherisw Thoughtful article and comments. It made me realize that my 'forever' memories are always set in a very clear and detailed physical setting, right down to the smells. This thread really encouraged me to get deeper to what were the elements that created the lasting memories.
Thanks to all who have chimed in.

nicolathecat I love my home, it still needs a lot of work, but the potential is there and the size is perfect. It works perfectly for my small family and will still be a manageable size when my daughter grows up and it is just me and my pets. Bonus it has an awesome yard!!!

valerielynn As my husbands job moved us around the country, we owned 6 houses in the first 11 years of marriage. When we finally got to move 'home' 22 years ago we built a house we thought we'd stay in. Nature had a different idea and we lost that home to shifting earth. We then bought a small place on the water only to reluctantly move out 10 years later after a string of hurricanes came through (I couldn't handle the stress waterfront living anymore). Being new empty nesters we decided to try condo living. I was OK the first year or two then I was ready to leave deciding condo living was not my style. My husband however was NOT going to budge. But as fate would have it our daughter and grandaughter moved back home and refeathered our nest. The condo could not accomodate all of us so we decided to buy a place that would. My now forever house is 53 years old with thick plaster walls and shiny terrazzo floors. It sits on 1/2 acre of land with lovely old oaks and is the biggest house we've ever owned. We bought this home keeping in mind that someday we might have to move in elderly parents. It even has a small wheelchair ramp with separate entrance to the back of the house. All the rooms are ridiculously large so plenty of room to move around without stepping on each other. I see this house being a home to our daughter and granddaughter as long as they need and to our aging parents if the time comes when they can no longer live independently.

Becky Only my husband and I live in our forever home now, but we look forward to filling it back up with grandchldren and family/friends in the years to come. Our home was built by my husband's grandfather and is where my father-in-law grew up. My husband has many memories of coming here with his father and siblings to work in the yard and help with the house when his grandparents were living. Along with grandma baking cookies (raisen cookies disquised as chocolate chip - as he would say) and many holidays. We bought the house from his grandfather 22 years ago and moved in on the day our daughter was born. Shortly thereafter we put a 1600 two story addition on to the original 1500 sq. ft. cape cod (new kitchen, bathroom and mudroom downstairs and masterbedroom/bath, laundry room and a bath off the guest room upstairs. We had our dream home, a son and daughter - we had it all! Our daughter soon became ill and passed away 5 years later. I would never leave our home now - I couldn't leave the memories. Fast forward thru the school years with our son and his friends and on to college and his new friends (our home was always open). Our son graduated from college this year and now has a new job and a home of his own! (Such a mixture of emotions - he's accomplished so much and landed a great job and is totally financially self-sufficient BUT we miss him and his friends!) We are now remodelling our master bedroom - putting in wood floors, finishing the brick for the fireplace and finally buying new furniture) and we thought - do we need this much room? Of course we do - because we still have family and friends that visit and one day grandchildren. I can't wait util they get to sleep in their dad's room or play in the back revine where their dad spent so much time. Yes, things change but what's wrong with holding onto the comfort of great memories?

sprigsntwigs I married a wonderful man almost 6 yrs ago that had a habit of remodeling and moving. He moved into 5 houses in 7 years. At this point, he and I have worked on 3 houses and moved. We are ready to move to our "forever" house. Remodeling ideas, doing the hard work then packing to move on is soon to be our past, I hope. But home is truly any place that hubby and I are happy, warm and dry!

trixylarue In the middle of Iowa cornfields with 7 acres of pine trees is our forever house! We bought it five years ago in an unfinished condition. Slowly we are making it ours. On our list of "we would like to have" besides all the trees, was a bedroom on the southeast to watch the sunrise, a circle driveway (reminds me of happy growing up memories), and a great room so family gatherings would be ALL TOGETHER! We like our *found treasures* and have put reclaimed wood floors in our master bedroom, hallway, and guest bath. Our Ikea kitchen has a wainscot cupboard from a school music room. Our garden pond is a popular spot for birds and even deer. Our view is absolutely breathtaking...we don't even take vacations now!

saell I was always quite sad that I could never visit my childhood home (as my parents moved several times) . To have that delicious comfort of familiarity, stability and so many memories. For this reason I was determined to have a forever home. We built our home 2 yrs after we were married - 29yrs later we are still Here. Huge compromises had to be made originally - however over the years it has changed and grown, along with our family. It now holds cherished memories and all our treasures that we have collected over many, many years. I love my home, because it has been created by us alone. The children, although all left home now, love to come back often. None of them want us to sell and move - as they long to bring their own future children here so that they can spend time within the memories and experience rural life.

charlenek2 I am lving in my dream house for the past 51 years! More than that, my husband was born in this house some 73 years ago He has never lved anywhere else. It is on the farm where his parents and grandparents lived. Our house has seen many improvements through the years and is always a welcome retreat to our children who love it too.

betsy9796 I am from a family of "forever homeowners". My mother still lives in the first and only home she ever owned. That is 44 years. My grandmother who is 99 still lives in her first and only home she ever built. That was in 1935. There is something so comforting about that. My husband and I moved into our home 20 years ago and he called it his dream home. We raised our children here and our daughter plans on buying the house from us.

tariawilson after 24 years our house could easily be our forever house but the neighborhood has gone to pot around us. we've put in a lot of work making the place our own but are moving on. there are a lot of places in Ca. that just won't be safe for generations. pretty sad. dd says home is where your stuff is.

Stone & Land, LLC Nice article Laura, it seems to really have struck a chord. So far we're in our forever house, almost 12 years to the day. It's not fancy, just a production home from Ryland, but we really like our neighbors and community. It's not the THINGS, but the PEOPLE we surround ourselves with, and the events we shared. After struggling to keep up with payments during the downturn, we feel quite blessed to still be here. Best wishes to all.

Laurel Ennis No. Our house is great but the lot is too small and noisy for a forever home. I dream of more distant lots with absorbing views. I've been designing dream homes as a hobby. They all contain the following must-haves for my dream home:

front porch
back patio
huge pantry
butler's pantry with lots of dish storage
a wooden screen door that slaps shut
place for a grand piano
a covered dog run off the mud room for wet days
a large library with fireplace
a banquette bump-out in the kitchen with a fireplace in the corner
big windows for said view from living, dining, kitchen and master
a place to play chess, like on generous a stair landing
a place to wash the dog
and why don't architects get this...a laundry room right next to my closet
a walk-in cedar linen closet
a cloak room (a 1/2 bath, fronted by a 8x4 hall with an 8' closet wall opposite)
a huge kitchen with a fireplace in the corner fronted by rocking chairs

Amy Donaldson We have been renovating our forever home for the last 10 years...and we will be here when we die, because the renovation process is killing us! :) it is hard to be both in love with the home and memories we have here, and yet also be voyeuristic and creative and wanting a new challenge and project on another house...always looking and dreaming...but forever thankful for where we are!

Dennis D. Crowley Construction INC First of all, let me say I have enjoyed this article immensely. What I would like to add, is when searching for your "Forever House," or a home you wish to "age in place" in; what's important, particularly if you are at the time of consideration on a tight budget, is location. Additionally, if you hope to expand the home outwards, find out in advance, what your setbacks are for the property. Virtually any home can be improved, even if doing so means literally leaving only a few walls standing. We have done some amazing things with homes here in MA. so I've seen firsthand what a skilled builder and remodeler is capable of. So, in short, find your dream location and start small if you need to, but keep your dreams in focus and enlist the services of a reputable re-modeler who understands what your goals are and will work with you on a strategic home improvement plan. Continue to follow your plans, purchase your materials at the most opportune times and have your work done during the off peak seasons with your builder/remodeler, to curtail costs. This is the way to make your "Forever House" dream a reality. Should you require services in the MA area, or any other area for that matter, please don't hesitate to call me, at 508-291-4902 or email me, elizabeth@dennisdcrowley.com. From framing to custom finish work, I'm sure we can assist you in making your "Forever home" dreams a reality.

maddecorator So true! People are making a lot of good points here. We bought our house because we had to get out of university housing when I graduated. This one was cheap and immediately available, so we took it, intending to stay only until we could find what we really wanted. Because we had no plans to stay here, we didn't do anything to the place for the first few years. We spent a lot of time looking for rural property, but couldn't find anything affordable, so we finally gave up and started fixing up this place. Now we are in the unenviable position of nearly having the best house on the street and the neighborhood view is depressing. But now we have put so much work into fixing up, building a shop, cabin, potting shed, fish pond, garden, etc., that we can't bear to think about leaving. It's a love-hate thing.

sartarehare I like what Virgil had to say. My husband and I bought our current home when we were indeed childless, thinking we'd move or add on if the unexpected happened. Though we were not expecting to have a child for quite some time, we got one a bit earlier than we thought and quickly outgrew our 620 sq ft space. With our new underwater value, adding on was not an option (throwing good money after bad, as they say) so we're working on a Plan B with the help of a family member to buy our "forever" home. We're thinking about houses very differently now.

helenefroula Yes, I'm pretty sure we are living in our forever home. When we moved here, my husband and I had three small children. It felt enormous to me. I couldn't believe how lucky we were to actually buy a house! Since then (over 16 years' time) we have had seven more babies, and it doesnt seem so big anymore. But we have finished off the basement, fenced in the yard, put in all new flooring everywhere, painted (and repainted) each wall, landscaped, put in a brand new kitchen AND paid off the mortgage. It would be hard to leave all these memories behind. My husband always dreams of something bigger, better, and elsewhere. But I am pretty sure we are staying right here! Thanks for a really fun article!

okeden I think a forever home isn't so much a house that you actually live in forever, but one that you live in long-term. The kind of home where you raise your kids. Maybe you'll move after the kids are out, but I still consider it a forever home. My parents (I am in college) have owned our house for almost 16 years now (since my siblings and I were very young). It's the only home any of us remember, and even though they are thinking of moving once we're all out of college, I would still consider it a "forever" home. On another note, my grandparents have lived in their current home for over 50 years and the only reason I can see them selling is if they decide to go to Florida year-round. And my parents recently bought my dad's grandfather's house (which his dad grew up in), so I think that's sort of a forever home too.

sewnutzcl1 I am quite sure we're living in our forever house, even though we dream of a log cabin or cottage in the country! My grandparents bought this house in 1914, my dad grew up here and so did I. My widowed grandmother raised four children here and after she remarried, she sold the house to my parents. My dad died at a young age and my mother raised my two brothers and myself here. She remarried and moved in with her new husband, leaving my oldest brother living here for a couple of years. Then my husband and I were looking for a new apartment with three children in tow, when my mom decided we should have the house. So out went my brother and in we moved, that was 30 years ago, and my youngest who just turned 21 was born here. We have made improvement over the years and made it our home, turned a blank back yard into a fabulous garden, laughed, and cried here. It will forever be our home. Someday maybe even one of our children will own it and raise their children here too.

Rio Brewster We may be in our forever home. 6 years ago we sold what I thought was my forever home in CA to move to Austin, TX. The move was a good one but that house was special and we both miss it. We remodeled it almost completely and I was working at an EXPO design Center showroom so the finishes had all been thoroughly vetted before we put them in.
We sold it for almost twice as much as we paid.

But even so, that house wouldn't really work for us now. There were a lot of different levels inside the house and it was on an acre. Now that we are older, it would've become very impractical. (Actually it would've become impractical for our senior dogs even before it became impractical for us.)

We just moved to our second house in Austin - downsizing again to a single story this time. I do not miss the stairs, but I think I will always miss that sprawling house in the hills.

lovejay I'm renovating and repairing my forever home - my sons were born here and the first time they'd ever lived anywhere else was after Cyclone Yasi. As part of the repairs I had the pencil marks marking the boys growth engraved into the pole and varnished over as a permanent memory.

bzee We love our redwood house here in Iowa, having moved here 20 years ago from Texas, and our two children grew up here. It has been a beautiful home for raising our kids, now adults with their own homes, and we look forward to having grandchildren experience the magical woods at the edge of our backyard, the gardens I created from a yard that was nothing but grass, the cozy woodstove in winter and screened porch in summer. Would I love a bigger kitchen? Yes. Would I love a bigger laundry room? Yes. But after visiting the native people, who live along the Amazon in Peru, in their "forever houses" which are huts on stilts, a small fire area for cooking, and all living in one room, I came home to what they would consider to be a palace. I have viewed my home as a palace ever since.

fredericklc I don't know if we are in our forever home. We've been here for 12 years and have put more money than we should have into it, so we are probably here 'forever'. We both dream of a big white farmhouse, with a wraparound porch and huge flat yard; but most likely that will remain a dream; and that's OK. I love my house, and will be happy staying here forever. Home is, after all, where the heart is; and mine is right here within these four walls.

carrolyn I would love this to be my "forever home" but it is two story with no downstairs bedrooms. What about personal elevators to overcome mobility problems in the future? Any ideas about this issue?

Carolyn Zone9alady Yes, my husband and I are definitely living in our "forever home". After moving around for 20 years in the military, we planned and looked for that special piece of land for 5 years. Had our house built 10 years ago in a 10 acre forest and have been adding on ever since. We expect to live here until the good Lord takes us away. Then we hope that our daughter moves in and then our grandchildren.

Carolina Zarate fortunately, I'm living again in the home I grew up. The difference is that today I hace the chance to make it my own space now. It has all the space, distibution and warm memories from the past and all the opportunities of renovation I please :D

ms_m_l_e What an amazing response! I love hearing that people are in their forever homes, perfect or not. We are in our forever house, but my husband is keen to move again already. With two young boys i want them to have a secure base to grow up in as i never had that myself. I think that love and family makes a home so it doesn't matter whether or not your forever home is perfect, mine is not!

antipodean I moved just before Christmas into my ‘forever home’. This is the home that my husband and I instantly knew was perfect for raising our family. It is not the first house that I (or we) have owned, but it is the first time that I have not been able to see a house working merely for this particular phase of life (i.e. the next 5-8 years). In fact, this home felt so right that when we originally missed out a year-and-a-half ago and it sold to another buyer, it became the yardstick against which everything else in our house-hunting (and, failing that, our subsequent exploration of renovation options for our previous home) was measured. Eventually, I just knocked on the door and told the new owner that we’d like to buy the place if he ever wanted to sell – he asked us to make an offer, and now here we are!

Our four boys are aged between 8yrs and 18mths, and I can totally see them growing up here. It is a solid oak-tree of a house that will endure many a makeover and weather all the commotion and roughness of growing boys and their friends. It has a great layout in classic villa style, with lovely character and traditional 1920s features, but at its heart a modern kitchen and dining space. Cleverly-placed doors allow for rooms to be open to one another, or closed to form more-private spaces. Once they have left the nest, I hope that our children will continue to feel at home here, to see this as a safe haven if they need it through any tough time. I can’t see why we would want to downsize in retirement – we’ll need all the space for our boys to bring their partners and children to visit!

cstar The love of my life and I are living in our forever house right now. My parents bought it when I was 1, I spent all of my summers and weekends here as a kid, and three years ago changed my life completely to be able to live in a remote location full time. Every day we celebrate our home, and the life that we have made together here. (And when the ferry occasionally comes through the pass and we can see the flashes from people taking pictures, we just grin at each other and say "we live here!").

The view is spectacular, but other than the sunroom, the house is a nightmare. It's terribly laid out, with no real storage and a lot of work that needs to be done. We will slowly chip away at it, and eventually it will be just right for us. Meanwhile, we just revel in our good fortune and dream of what we can do with the space.

roxanneroxanne Renojean, we bought the first place we lived in together then rebuilt it entirely for what we thought would be our family of three. When the third became twins, I finally realized that living in the Hollywood Hills might not be entirely practical. Our next little house's planned remodel fell through due to the downturn, so now we've been renters for three years. Imagine our shock to see the house we built come back on the market last year! But then we realized that our needs *had* changed, and it couldn't be a forever home for the 6 of us. What we need is a place for our growing kids to bring their friends. Just read an article by a houzzer about this very thing. It made me cry -- http://www.evergreencarriagedoors.com/articles/carriage-doors-when-money-is-tight.htm Hoping 2013 brings it to us! Thanks to everyone for such thought-filled comments

alibonelli I feel as passionate about my home as Scarlet did about Tara! I wish everyone could have that feeling.

aabbcc9 I am definitely in my forever home. We've lived her since 1981, two sons were raised here and both want our home when and if we decide we no longer can maintain our home and garden.

paradistoou I Love the statement by --alibonelli.. Of feeling as passionately as Scarlett did about Tara. I feel EXACTLY the same way and love the comparison statement. Love it...To say I am emotionally attached is an understatement..Our renovation is being done for my forever taste but also as well as fitting for my son and his family to live in for many years to come..

risswish yes, I am. We moved into a house we had built on a bare block of land 3 months ago. I'm all about the garden, plants and trees create a beautiful atmosphere. I remember being intrigued by Balsam flowers (impatience), their seed pods curl into a caterpillar shape when you squeeze them. So I will be planting some of course...I'm most excited about creating a magical garden for my kids to get lost in...

hopesilver Thanks for a thoughtful article. The house I am living in now was a complete horror when my husband and I bought it 25 years ago. I am a designer, and demolished one room per year to make it my own, and the entire house, although not in a perfect location by any means, is very nice, and is considered the family home by the entire extended family. I never thought I would live here very long, but the thought of living elsewhere becomes less enticing as the years move on. My husbands father lives with us in an addition that is self sufficient. I have a large studio, a beautiful kitchen and an amazing outdoor space. Sometimes we need to learn that enough really is just that.
And, we have a beautiful view. I'll send photos and our story soon.

Linda Kurth When we retired, my husband and I downsized and moved to be closer to kids and grandkids. While we love our new city, our neighborhood--both the location and the neighbors, and had hoped to be here until carried out feet first. But we've become disenchanted with our supposedly one story house. With its raised living room, two level decks, and narrow hallways, it's not the kind of place in which to grow old. So this spring, we'll be looking once again, for our forever home--someplace the grandkids will have fond memories of.

Rebecca Berger I'm just refering to the house we're in as my last house. My husband recently retired from the military. We've lived in some interesting places and in some "interesting" houses. We have also had 9 moves in 15 years. Our 200 year old house suits us just fine. So now it's time to bloom where your planted!

effierose 10 years ago We had to sell the house I grew up in and lived in for 20 years, and that my father also grew up in, after my parents divorced, and decided to drive by a few months ago to see how it looked now. We were horrified to discover that the new owners had ripped out all the gardens, including huge trees and the flowers and plants that I had planted with my parents as a child, they had subdivided the entire block and knocked out the sunroom where so many beautiful memories were created, and the entire property looked unloved, uncared for and totally generic, sitting in a plot of sand with no greenery or warmth. It is heartbreaking seeing how much a seemingly 'forever home' that has spent so many years being personalised can be torn down.

astraea @effierose - I can relate to that! When I sold my home of 23 years a few years ago, the buyers said they loved the treed & natural property, with deer wandering thru. They loved the birds & squirrels, and I even left a feeder for their kids. When I drove by a few months after the closing, having moved out of the area, I saw that they'd clear-cut the trees in the back yard .. had to be 30 to 40 trees there. I really hated them for what they did .. I think they just said those things to "soften me up" for their offer!

maddecorator A close relative of mine and her husband had a nice home in a nice neighborhood for 20 years, during which time they remodeled and added a beautiful fireplace and other amenities. When they relocated and sold their house, it was only a few months before they found out the house was condemned because the new owners had a meth lab!!! Sometimes I think it's best not to know what happens after you move out.

appytrails Wasn't there a TV show about three sellers/buyers who visit their previous house while the current owners watch on closed circuit TV and listen to what the former owners think of their renovations/decorations?
For example, a former owner might say "I'm glad we put down that new tile in the kitchen. I know they're going to love that"... Cut to the current owners ripping it up with comments iike "So glad that awful flooring is outta here. Who BUYS stuff like that?"
@astraea, What those people did was disgusting on so many levels.I am so very sorry.....

debbiecz We've been visited by the previous owners and the son of the original owner. The previous owner seemed a bit stunned because of the renovations we had done...attic conversion to a bedroom, new bathrooms, enlarged kitchen. All within the original footprint. They had moved because they thought the house was too small. They just didn't want to live thru a renovation! The visit by the original owners son, he was born in our home, was sad for him and a bit for us. He had a few pictures of the house and many great stories detailing the original features. Unfortunately someone long before us "modernized" the house and removed many of the unique parts of the house. But I often think that Mrs. C, the original owner, is looking over my shoulder and approves.

astraea @appytrails - Yes, there was a show like that, but I don't remember the name. When everyone was in a warm, fuzzy mood during the closing, the buyers invited me back to see any changes they made, but I think that was just meaningless chit-chat. The main bathroom had blue fixtures & white tile with blue trim, and although they had 2 little boys, they thought that was "too blue" for them. I'm glad I wasn't invited back.

Doreen Schweitzer Interiors, Ltd. Amazing the comments this post continues to draw. Just goes to show when it comes to our homes we are emotional. It stands to follow as a professional selling interior design we must strike an emotional chord with our clients. I think there is material for a book here.

snross My "forever" cottage was located on a little island in So. Maryland. I lived there for close to 20 years. The floors were wood, probably pine, arched doorways, maple trim, and a fireplace. After a little renovation, it was the perfect cottage for a single "girl". It was on a third of an acre with a water view of the Potomac River and St. George's creek in the back. From my deck and screened porch I enjoyed wildlife, salt air, and well tended yard. After Hurricane Isabel forced my mother to rebuild, I decided it would be prudent to sell my cottage and move into her new house. Unfortunately, I didn't have much input on "amenities" but it's close to a "forever" cottage - a screened porch, deck, it's on the beach with a "creek" in back that's perfect for an afternoon of fishing....and just enjoying life.

Christine I have my forever home in NYC but my hubby has us living in our Florida home now almost full time. I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH IT! We are young, and I feel like life has gone from being a bouquet of flowers to a 2 dimensional picture. I can't understand the appeal of Florida? You drive everywhere many of the old folks are cranky and the homes need nothing but your furniture to be done. My eyes bleed over so much beige and flamingo and bronze yard statues While Florida has some nice things to recommend it but it is nothing like the buzz I get in NYC.

Our home in NYC is da bomb. It's a fully renovated 4 story brownstone in Brooklyn. My kitchen is a full tuscan kitchen with a commercial stove and fridge, 2 sinks, italian wall tiles the works, My top floor is our media room where we have curled up and watched so many movies. My bedroom is delicious and cozy and the other rooms are spacious and inviting. My small backyard is lush and colorful and we feel so blessed have one in the city. Our friends pay high rents for small apartments and then complain we don't go out with them as much when we are there in NYC but when they stay the weekend they get it! I have everything I need in my house. I love my old radiators, my wood floors, my marble counter-tops in my kitchen my original plaster ceilings my statuary marble mantles, the way the floor slopes in one spot of my living room. The sound of quite in the evenings (yes Brooklyn is quiet). One of the things I love the most is when I garden in my small front yard in the city that my neighbors walk by and chat and strangers say they love my house. I miss that and going back for summers is not enough. I miss Yankee baseball (except the did not do that new stadium right). I miss walking the bridge from Brooklyn to City Hall. I miss spending a Saturday walking from 14th Street up to 59th. I miss jumping on a train and getting where I need to go. I miss when it snows and everything is so pretty in Prospect Park for a few days. I miss planting new tulips and crocuses for the spring. I miss Buttermilk Channel restaurant. I miss Shakespeare in the Park. I miss Columbus Circle. I miss 5th Avenue. I miss Court Street and Staubitz Meat Market. I miss Atlantic Antic. I miss going to the flea market at 1 Hanson. I miss schlepping my groceries home from Pathmark. I miss Love and Duane Reade stores. I miss the Village Halloween Parade. I miss watching the Fireworks from Willamsburg (though they are screwing that neighborhood up but good with those stinking high rises). I miss going to the Fabric district and getting any kind of trim and button I could imagine. I miss sitting on the steps of the TKTS booth in Times Square with some hot Fries from Micky D's and seeing the Naked Cowboy stroll by. I miss seeing a Broadway show and not the travel shows. I miss walking. I miss knowing it's spring because you hear the b-ballers talking smack and the thwack sound a handball makes when it hits the court wall. I miss the slightly malodorous smell of NYC in the summer and I miss the organic grocer around the corner from me that makes THE BEST Po' Boy sandwiches. I miss the hot yoga studio near my house and I miss the Dominican chicks who can do a blow-out like no one's business. I miss a house full of friends and neighbors running mad. I miss MY FAMILY. But I miss my forever house the most. I will be back there soon and not just for summers and holidays

appytrails @Christine - I'm a Brooklyn girl who lived on Ocean Ave and also directly across from Prospect Park. Went to Erasmus Hall HS. I moved to Woodstock, NY on 16 acres and don't miss much about the city. I always lived in apartments, never feeling that pride in ownership that you have, and unlike you, I am so happy to be out of the city. (I lived in Manhattan, too)
It must be hard to be so homesick for a good part of the year. I totally get what you're saying about Florida...
Hoping you can make peace with where you are when you're there, and get back more often to your "real" home.

astraea @appytrails - I grew up in Brooklyn too .. Bensonhurst! My aunt & uncle lived on Ocean Ave .. right across the street from the Waldbaum's that had that terrible fire, where the roof collapsed! Went to FDR H.S. .. first year it opened! Also love Woodstock; would always stop there, on the way home from visiting the Catskill Game Farm.

patricia beharry @Christine I can relate. I lived in USA for over forty years, then moved back to G'da. People still cannot understand. I also lived in Brooklyn for awhile, Flatbush and Maple. Then moved to Queens, then to Georgia, but I had to come home.My son and his family live in Florida. HATE IT.

vgunter "Forever House" what a wonderful topic. I moved into my forever home 14 years ago. The place looked absolutely horrible. Every room had a different color of carpet on the floors and all of the rooms were painted a different color. However, I knew the moment I stepped into this house that it had so much potential and I would make it my forever place to live and exist in the years to come. After tearing out carpet to find beautiful honey oak hardwood floors that needed to be refinished I was more than delighted but over joyed although I had no idea what a task refinishing hardwood floors could and would be. But after the years have passed the many changes I've made have changed this house that I once said looked horrible into a beautiful loving home. Thanks Laura for putting this subject out there to remind so many of us what the true meaning of a forever house is. A loving place that we take the time to change and embrass to fit our needs.