Essay Wow!

The House Of My Dreams - an essay with notes that illustrates both how such a paper might be outlined and the finished product after composition

The House of my Dreams

The day after I win the lottery, I would begin to design my dream house. I would build it on the barrier Island, Perdido Key, on the Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida to take advantage of warm winters and mild summers.

I would build my dream house in the shape of a saucer, a 360 degree saucer shape with a slight top bulge to accommodate living space, but thematically, it would look much like a classic UFO. I would sink steel beams for the foundation at the center, raising the main structure 12 feet into the air. There would be both an elevator and spiral staircase allowing access, and an opaque barrier for privacy enclosing them within that enclosure would also be hookups to utilities, leaving the look very clean.

The inside would be 2000 sq feet of open concept single room luxury with a riser at the southeast leading up to a faux cockpit for viewing sunrises and the sea. A media center at one geographical edge would be sunken with couches to accommodate up to 10 people to big screen TV and stereo pleasure. A kitchen area would be molded into the wall, featuring cabinets and cooking appliances keyed to a futuristic decor that simply says, “Starship” to visitors.

Bedroom accommodations would be on risers opposite the cockpit area with railings four feet high for privacy and the bathrooms would be enclosed completely.

A balcony molded into the superstructure of the saucer would face 180 degrees of sea and land, but mostly sea. From ground level it would not be detectable by casual glance. A molded stairway would lead to a “Widow’s Walk” at the very top of the saucer, with a 360 degree view for telescope viewing. Molded also, it would be undetectable unless people were there.

Construction material would be smooth and the design would be aerodynamic to the lowest possible drag coefficient for best safety facing Perdido Key’s vulnerability to hurricanes.

Finally, I would commission the construction of a mailbox shaped like a standing Roswell alien. This would be the signature piece to a driveway that leads to a humvee parked under a shiny white UFO.

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Outline and pre-composition notes

1) where would you put the house and why?

2) What shape, size, special accommodations would accompany your house IE: # of rooms, bathrooms, billiard room, home theater room, special porch etc.

3) landscaping, gardens, tennis courts, a motocross track, 20 car garage for cars, special dock for big boat, security fence, bomb shelter, outdoor pool shaped like a coors can, whatever your imagination can conjur.

4) furnishing the house, antiques, modern, lazy boy, big TV, killer stereo, weight and fitness center, all to your taste.

Of course the house being a dream, you can feel free to indulge your imagination but exercise caution as to logic and back up each spotlighted fantasy with a practical application.

Finish off the fantasy house with a fantasy mailbox in the shape of . . . something you really like, guitar, Pam Anderson, Humvee, something reflecting you as an individual.

The capriciousness of the mailbox will add humor to your ending and nail down that elusive “A” from even the toughest prof.

Don’t be spartan, be lavish and put your heart into the paper. Teach will see that and award big points.