I suppose I do have a sense of home that’s different from many other people’s, it is true. And it’ll be a wrench to leave it, if I ever do. But I don’t see my kids taking over the place, it’s just too much for them to handle. Whether I decide to leave this place feet first or not remains to be seen. The cemetery where my parents and a few sets of GGG grandparents are interred is less than a mile away and has spots reserved for me and the Mrs.
But my dad and I carved out the 60+ acres of land and property to suit us decades ago, with trails, streams, clearings, areas where my cousins bow hunt for deer to thin the herd, fields for crops (another cousin rents those fields from us), and wonderful outdoor seclusion for the Mrs. and I when we want it (a drone might find us back in our woods, but a drone might get shot down, too).
I recently added a series of ‘Maze’ trails to an old field I’ve let go fallow, and though it’s only 18 acres or so, some neighbors did get a bit lost in it one afternoon.
The predecessor beachfront home from the 1940’s was a mere summer cottage, and got picked up and moved to another spot on the property where we rented it out for decades, and then finally sold it off this spring when we tired of being landlords.
Then the “dream home” was built in stages by local craftsfolk in the mid 80’s, incorporating/changing features as it went along. Two libraries, including the main one with a rolling ladder to reach top shelves, a Great Room with a cathedral ceiling, two fireplaces made from local stone, a formal dining room, an informal dining room off the kitchen (which is nicely decked out, but is decidedly NOT a foodie’s dream kitchen), the Master Suite, whose bathroom is bigger than my first apartment, a basement theater room and rec/exercise room, the massage suite (both the Mrs. and I appreciate giving and getting a decent relaxational massage), and the workroom, filled with inherited tools that my wife uses more than I do. Add to that two other bedrooms where the kids used to live, and that’s our essential custom abode. Oh, plus the hot tub on the deck, off the Master Suite, so close to Lake Michigan that when the lake is real rough, conversation can be difficult.
My ambition for upgrading my home at this point consists only of wanting to tear out the indoor hot tub (which never gets used now, as the outdoor hot tub is far, far more congenial) and replacing it with an Isolation tank. I love my time in isolation tanks!!! 
We’ll see if it really happens.
Then there’s the guest wing, attached via bridge to the rest of the house, and makes overnight company feel welcome yet gives them their own space (and keeps them out of my hair during prolonged stays). It has two bedrooms, a kitchen and living area, two full baths, and a lounging area.
The original house plans called for further expansion with the construction of the indoor pool wing, but we found our outdoor hot tub (kept running year round) fulfilled our desires for hot water, so no more wings will be added. Dad was getting a bit carried away during that phase of plan development anyway. He eventually gave up the idea of the airport on the back 40 after trying to land his plane on our most level field, but but found he could only manage it with favorable winds. The secret submarine base off his workroom never left the design table either.
The only doper to pay a visit to Stately Mercotan Manor was Broomstick, one fine summer day. She’s got an open invite to return, and even to occupy said Guest Suite if desired. But her work and life events have sadly not brought her back to my vicinity. A pity, as she’s as delightfully quirky as I imagine myself to be, and most agreeably knowledgeable about our mutual interests in aviation, addiction medicine, and food.
So in some ways I’ve customized my home and property to suit myself; in other ways I’ve changed myself to suit where I’m at. But the greatest credit for all that at present goes to the Mrs. who keeps it all running.
And that’s probably a LOT more than anyone really wanted to know about my house, but the question was asked, and sometimes I must answer. 
