I made the mistake of asking readers what proved to be somewhat of an unfocused question:

"If you could build your own dream house, what would it be like?"

Roeper Reports' pollster Bob Pares said recently that his surveys showed a wide gap between consumers' dream houses and their current ones, and that's what my rather unscientific poll also confirmed.

I also learned that what constitutes a dream is so individualized, I couldn't quantify it. I don't know how the people who come up with trends come up with them.

One reader would forgo a formal living room and dining room, but another wanted one of each.

One needed electrical outlets under each window for Christmas candles.

Still another would love a front porch, a back porch and a sunroom.

A reader saw himself relaxing in a mahogany-paneled library, complete with floor-to-ceiling bookcases, hardwood floors, marble fireplace and coffered ceiling.

Although they differed widely on the ingredients of a dream house, readers didn't skimp on details, including several computer screens full of wishes and diagrams.

One detailed a "Quiet Zone," a 900-square-foot section of the house that included the master bedroom, office/library/computer room, and guest bedroom.

Another asked if there really was something called a "dream house," and proceeded to list any number of things -- central vacuum system and a shower with seamless sides and door to prevent mold buildup and for easy cleaning -- that needed little or no maintenance.

"I think architects should take into consideration, or think more about how people live, how things are kept up and cleaned rather than making it pretty architecturally," she said, adding that the house would be pretty, if architects "thought from the inside out."

Most respondents said they preferred new construction to reworking an existing house. Some were perfectly content with what they have, but sometimes...

"I live in a wonderful 72-year-old house that we love and have added on to and updated in the 21 years that we have lived here,'' one woman said. "However, I do have a dream house. "And it is a dream house, because whenever I tell my husband about it, he says, 'Dream on,''' she added.

While I couldn't pick out any real trends, there are any number of common threads running through the responses.

One is location. Only two mentioned the importance of schools and proximity to services in terms of location. Most are concerned with the amount of location -- the site.

"The home would have to be a single on one to three acres of land,'' said one.

Another wanted her dream house "in the middle of a forest-like lot, in the middle of the lot, way off the road.''

Some other common threads:

• Stone exterior with large, wraparound porches.

• Side- or rear-entry garages that fit at least two cars.

• High-end kitchens with an island. As articulated by one reader, "SubZero refrigerator, freezer, two microwaves, two sinks and two dishwashers, along with a hardwood floor and granite countertops.''

• Formal living room and dining room. The national trend of dropping the formal living room from house plans doesn't play in a lot of regions around the country, although one reader said that the amount of time spent in these two rooms did not justify the amount of money spent to furnish them, "even though we did a fair amount of entertaining over the years.''

• Tile or hardwood floors.

• Finished attic and basement .

• Large master bedroom and bath -- a master suite -- on the second floor.

• Four or five bedrooms, three baths.

• Laundry room, walk-in closets, home office, entertainment centers.

• Central air conditioning, zoned heating, gas heat, two-sided gas fireplaces.

• A greenhouse.

Only one reader came to close to articulating what his dream house would look like. His had the finished workshop, the bathroom in the four-car heated garage, the cherry-paneled billiards room with wet bar, the movie theater with the kitchenette, the "safe room'' easily accessible from the bedroom in the event of a burglary, several first-floor powder rooms, and plastered walls and ceilings.''

"This is what years of reading Builder and Professional Builder magazines and watching Bob Vila have done to me!'' he wrote. "Now, if I could only win the lottery.''

Which, of course, brings us to price, which only one reader was willing to address in a letter that was one sentence long:

"I want my dream house to be paid in full.''

Published: March 25, 2004

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Al Heavens writes about real estate and home repair and improvement. He is the author of What No One Ever Tells You About Renovating Your Home: Real-Life Advice For Hassle-free, Cost-Effective Remodeling.