Recently my idea of a dream house would something in the traditional Japanese style with wood, tatami, shoji, and a beautiful garden. I remember being really blown away by the Nomura house [1] in Kanazawa many years ago.
Of course I would probably want to update it with better insulation, air conditioning, and more glass/screens to let me enjoy the views of the garden while keeping the bugs out.
The best part is you don’t even need to break the bank to get something like that. An old abandoned Japanese folk house can be purchased for next to nothing and completely renovated for less than the cost of a 1 bedroom condo in the Bay Area. [2]
[1] https://www.kanazawastation.com/nomura-samurai-house-garden/