House Renovations And Adds: Ideas, please.

[Howard Treesong]

Clan Treesong has finally picked out a house. It's potentially a nice property (across the street from a lake up here in Minneapolis) but it needs a ton of work because the bank foreclosed on the prior owner and he tore it apart somewhat before he left. The most significant problem is that in needs leveling (pun intended) as the upstairs floors are as much as 2.5" out of whack. We're also likely to expand/renovate the kitchen. We therefore need to tear it largely apart before we move in. As we do so, I thought we should take the opportunity to upgrade or add things that we might not otherwise be able to do. Thus, I solicit the El D forum's sage guidance with respect to ideas for the new chez T. Whimsical and amusing suggestions are welcome!

Brag: the house vintage 1905, three stories on top of a finished basement, enclosed back yard, four-car detached garage, wraparound porch and upper deck with lake views.

My initial ideas:

A garage heater that's tied to the Web so I can fire it up when I leave work and can arrive to a warm garage;

Life-sized statues of the paradigms of the human condition, Patrik Antonius and Jessica Alba;

A suit of armor in the dining room;

Heated outdoor pathways so HT doesn't have to shovel stairs in the wintertime;

Blown insulation wherever possible;

An Astroglide-type home theater;

etc. etc.