When I dream there's only a faint visual component, there's no color or detail.
Also, when reading fiction, I never have any use for the long-winded descriptions of a place and a character. I don't picture the scene or character, but I create my own "space" where I can place the characters and the action, and I can feel beeing there. This "space" can have details, but usually not a lot.
Recalling memories are similar. I can vividly feel the moment, and I can remember a lot of non-visual details, and often some distinct visual details. But I can't really picture it.
Same, and oh my goodness did my teachers in High School chastise me for not wanting to produce those same strings of adjectives in my own works. I fundamentally could not understand why someone would want to read that much description about the appearance of something.
My guess is that kind of "untrained intuitions" about drawing require two preconditions:
1. Having seen lighthouses or buildings and paid attention to how rust/marks/decay and the interplay of light and shadow looks like.
2. Being able to visualize this when drawing.
Otherwise, how can the drawing (without a photo reference) be anything but idealized and abstract?