[September 16, 2006]

Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Del Stone column: The dream house for Mom will be nothing more than that

(Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 16--I will never win the lottery. I know this because I don't buy lottery tickets. I can't bring myself to join that sad fraternity of hopeful souls -- the ones who don't have two nickels to rub together but nonetheless drop $10 here or $20 there on accordion bundles of lottery tickets.

I wonder how much money they'd have in the bank, or food in the refrigerator, or dents in their rusty old Buicks if they spent that money on something other than the lottery.

Still, I sometimes dream about winning the lottery. Rather, I dream about what I'd do if I came into a sudden windfall of $5 million. I'd put a million or so in my 401(k) so I could sleep knowing I had money to retire on.

With the rest, I'd build my mom a new house.

Mom lives in a small, tidy house in a quiet Fort Walton Beach neighborhood. It's nothing to sneeze at, but it certainly isn't extravagant. The house is situated on a huge lot populated by oak and hickory trees, which guarantee that at any given month something will need raking.

I've already designed Mom's new house -- in my head. All I need now is about $3 million to make it happen. Once I get that, Ty Pennington watch out!

Mom's house will be a huge rectangle with an open air courtyard in the middle. The exterior will be brick, which is low maintenance, and the roof will be metal so that when Hurricane Armageddon roars through she won't have to scrounge for unreliable roofers.

The roof will be cantilevered to shelter an around-the-house deck. The deck will be interspersed with ramps to make it easier to carry in furniture and appliances on a dolly. The deck will be wired for sound, with built-in speakers divided into zones so she can hear music at any spot on the deck without entertaining the neighbors.

The roof on the inside will also be cantilevered to shelter a deck that surrounds the courtyard. Most of the courtyard will be occupied by a swimming pool, with a supporting sun deck and an outdoor kitchen for grilling and entertaining. A built-in natural gas connection will ensure the grill always has an ample fuel supply, as will the wrought-iron gas lamps ringing the perimeter of the courtyard.

A hallway will run the length and breadth of the interior along sliding glass doors facing the courtyard. Louvered shutters designed to offer protection during a storm will be anchored from the ceiling of the overhang and can be dropped at any time, should it become necessary to shade the hallway.

The front of the house will be occupied with an entryway and an open space that can serve as a living room. The back of the house will contain the kitchen and dining room. A kind of "den" will abut the dining room, where the plasma-screen TV will be located. Bedrooms, a media room, and bathrooms will occupy the sides of the house.

Every room will have a shielded telephone line and jack, and a cable drop. Every four feet or so I'll have an electrical outlet installed.

Appliances will be simple and basic. I think it's foolish to install computers in washing machines, or TVs in the doors of refrigerators. Like Jay Leno once observed, are Americans so fat and lazy they have to stand in front of the refrigerator to eat and watch TV?

The house will be rigged with a built-in generator that kicks on when the power goes off. And all the plumbing and wiring fixtures will be built into special access ways with removable panels, making repairs a snap.

Best of all, the house will be entirely paid for. My lottery winnings will foot the bill.

OK, so it'll never happen. But it sure is nice to dream, isn't it?

Daily News Deputy Managing Editor Del Stone Jr. can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 433, or dels@nwfdailynews.com

Copyright (c) 2006, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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