Wallpaper gang rise up :pimp:

Even bare brick for a wall is nice. Like it has a bare bones, urban, industrial aesthetic that feels more wholesome than the sanitized suburban vibe of paint or wallpaper. And the chaotic texture of the brick mixed with the structured design of brickwork is very satisfying.

Brick houses are better than vinyl siding too. Vinyl siding is ghastly.

I'm not sure that we've ever agreed so much about anything before, Batlord!
Times 100% for everything you say.
In fact there's a kind of rule in architecture about honesty of materials, about seeing the material for what it is and what it does. Even breeze block walls can look ok, but they have to be built with extra care to look attractive, and that for me is the problem with vinyl cladding. It says, "The structural workmanship here is so flimsy/sloppy, we're covering it with plastic."

Castles are the only homes worth buying. Otherwise you might as well rent.

Well, that was short-lived. :( now we are back to not agreeing again.

Live in your shack then, peasant.

I like what OH taught me about a moral approach to owning property: there might be enough for everyone if we limited ourselves to something of modest size. Not everyone can own a castle, or even less, needs to. To OH, that kind of property ownership is immoral.

I'm not advocating for the building of new castles or that one should want a castle-sized home but castles already exist and are aesthetically desirable so it's perfectly reasonable to want a castle.

The perfect solution is to forgo buying them and live in them communally which would open up the morality of building new castles which tbh is the highest aspiration of any society.

Yes, that's fair enough, though it's never been a dream of mine. Castles look great in daylight, but they're cold and creepy at night. I wouldn't like to live in one myself, although if it was smartened up with some nice vinyl siding, I might consider it.