Recurring "Old house dream"... turns out I'm not alone!

Ok, here's a couple more...how about:

"Trying to get somewhere specific, but keep running into obstacles, problems, distractions, etc." dream.
Usually I'm heading to work or home from somewhere far away, and I can't find my car, or it's broken, or all I have is a crappy run down bike, and there's always something keeping me from getting on my way.

"Back in school, but can't remember my locker combo and don't know what classes I belong in, and haven't done any homework or attended class for a long time" dream.
When I do find my classroom, I don't have the book or any supplies and it feels like I've been skipping the whole time leading up to that point and am hopelessly behind.

The "I'm not putting up with any of your crap" dream.
Bullies, jerks, douchebags beware! IRL I'm meek and mild, but in dreamland forget it! I'm kicking wholesale ass, Chuck Norris style.


Rarely do I have what I'd consider a nightmare, I'm good at waking myself up when things get too freaky. Worst case for me is I'm running or otherwise exerting myself the whole time in my dream and I wake up tired.

My favorite recurring dreams typically involve being able to fly or breathe underwater, and the cool stuff that happens as a result.

S & F casijones for your thread. I have these dreams quite frequently, but never considered looking into whether anyone else experienced them.

The houses in my dreams are never anything like any house I've ever lived in. Although the houses tend to vary the majority of the time, there have been a couple of them that have returned repeatedly to show me more.

They are generally very old Victorian or Gothic era houses, with lots of polished wood every where, with sliding doors in-between rooms rather than hinged ones. Usually on the main floor of the house one can walk a circular path through all of the main rooms and return to where they started.

These houses are always full of the previous owners belongings as if they had no personal attachments to anything from their lives prior to leaving, not even jewelry or pictures, and walked out empty handed never to look back. Finding all these memories and treasures left behind always sends me on a treasure hunt of sorts, I just have to find out what else they've left behind are they letters, precious gems, beautiful gowns, old games they once played?

If I am able to remain asleep through all of this I eventually will seek out secret passages. Once I found nearly an entire small house behind a wooden panel, something about that made me nervous. I have gone upstairs to find way too many bedrooms each with their own bathrooms, some normal....some weird as if they were alive. Twice in dreams involving the same house I was able to make it up into the attic where I found doll houses, and toys and old discarded things and buried in the middle was the base of a self suspending spiral staircase that was so wobbly and went so high that there was just a tiny spot of light where it seemed to end. Both times I tried to climb all the way up but wasn't able too and I was so frustrated because there was some kind of spindly house at the top and I really felt it was crucial for me to get to it.

Generally the ones that I like most and wish I could extend are the treasure hunting times, it's amazing how many little things they felt no need for and left behind seem so important to me.

Thank you everyone for the replies, this is a subject that fascinates me so much. I love hearing others thoughts on it and the fact that we're all having such similar if not exact dreams.

A few other points I wanted to make was first about the idea that they have to do with dealing with issues in your life. The earliest memory I have of this dream is age 4. So what could a 4 year old possibly be working out mentally?

Also I've noticed a few different themes for the house dream:
Happy/adventurous
Negative energies within an old dilapidated house
Fixing the house or renovations going on

Personally, I've had for the majority of the time the happy/adventurous. Even regardless of how bad thing in my life are at the time. And, the only other person besides myself in these dreams has been my grandmother, whom I adore.

Has anyone had a combo of these themes? And if you do, would you say you have major issues going on in real life or just the same ol same ol happenings?

Pixiefyre

They are generally very old Victorian or Gothic era houses, with lots of polished wood every where, with sliding doors in-between rooms rather than hinged ones. Usually on the main floor of the house one can walk a circular path through all of the main rooms and return to where they started.

If I am able to remain asleep through all of this I eventually will seek out secret passages. Once I found nearly an entire small house behind a wooden panel, something about that made me nervous.

Pixie, have you been dream spying on me

This is a perfect example of why I started this thread. It amazes me that a complete stranger just described what I see when I dream.

My houses are usually victorian as well, which is why I think I love them so much in real life. And, a detail for me that sticks out is the woodwork. Beautiful, detailed stairs, furniture, even crown molding. Never anything modern. (With the exception of the touchscreen desk I mentioned earlier).
When you mentioned the circular path through the main level, I had a flashback to a dream where I was trying to get a group of people (who I don't remember even seeing) to follow me, and show them these great hidden rooms. But they got lost or weren't interested.
I don't understand the parts where I go to enter a room, and I'll suddenly get an overwhelming feeling like I shouldn't go in. If I did, I would encounter the most evil thing I've ever experienced.
I also wanted to ask if you, or anyone else, can remember when these dreams occur. For me, I'll remember a certain dream, but I can't for the life or me remember if I had it last month, or 10 yrs ago.

I know we're all thinking so nonchalantly, oh yeah that's cool, we have similar dreams. But really, really think about that for a second. We all probably have different views on religion, life, ethics, politics, etc.
Yet we share an amazing experience that can not be explained.

WHY?? How??

tjack
Ok, here's a couple more...how about:

"Back in school, but can't remember my locker combo and don't know what classes I belong in, and haven't done any homework or attended class for a long time" dream.
When I do find my classroom, I don't have the book or any supplies and it feels like I've been skipping the whole time leading up to that point and am hopelessly behind.

Yes!! I've had a handful of these dreams. Like you described, I can't find my locker, and when I do I can't get the lock open. I usually have to go to the office and request a copy of my class schedule because I can't remember where I'm going. When I get there I feel embarassed because people know I'm late and not prepared. Sometimes I end up leaving the class early and exploring the school like I'm going to the bathroom, but really I want to see what else is going on.

virraszto
I dream of houses too, but my dreams seem to be different from yours.

Mine are Nightmares.
I've got a collection of about 5 houses, none that I've ever lived in, that I've been
dreaming about for years.

I don't have feelings of curious excitement, but instead absolute terror and fear.

Unlike most of you who find new rooms to explore, my houses are exactly the
same every single time, and I know what awaits me behind each and every door of
all 5 houses.
It's like a horror flick being replayed over and over again only I'm not watching
it, I'm living it and the amount of terror never diminishes, it only seems to
get stronger. I cannot change a thing, I must go through the motions exactly the same
every time. And even though I know everything before hand, it all seems NEW, if
that makes any sense.

The moment I lay down and see one of my dream houses I know I am in for a terrible
night.

I don't mean to sound harsh or insult you, but are you currently taking any medications? And if so did the dreams start afterward?
The reason I ask is because a lady I worked with a few years back told me about how her husband would wake up screaming from nightmares after he started taking chantix to quit smoking. I know a lot of antidepressant type pills will give you recurring nightmares.
Also, I met my boyfriend a few months after he came home from iraq, and the VA had him on seraquil (sp?).
I was experimenting with pyschedelics at the time and loved them so thought I'd give half of the seraquil a try. I fell asleep and had a horrific OBE where I woke up in my dream, looked over, and saw a childlike doll laying on my pillow. A sense of dread came over me as it opened its eyes and sat up, then my bedroom door came off the hinges and came down on top of me so I couldn't move or breathe. When I woke I filled with rage, which is very unlike me.

I have had many similar lucid dreams. One in particular I remember vividly is spending what felt like 2 weeks wandering through a maze of dilapidated houses, something like a nuclear test site. I still remember the musty smell of the rotten linoleum.

NeuronDivide
I have had many similar lucid dreams. One in particular I remember vividly is spending what felt like 2 weeks wandering through a maze of dilapidated houses, something like a nuclear test site. I still remember the musty smell of the rotten linoleum.

You have me thinking.. I don't think I've ever smelled anything in my dreams! Always just emotions and sight and telepathy... I had a dream about being in Iraq once and felt intense heat, but that's it sensory wise.

Any ideas on why I'm always renovating the kitchen? I have my own, but would like to hear your thoughts.

reply to post by virraszto


Unfortunately I too fall under this type of reoccuring nightmare. It always involves the same old house for me, never any others. On the oustide it is a home from my childhood although on the inside it is not familiar and impossibly huge. I have had this dream pretty regularly for the last 10 years or so. Pretty freaky in that I have casually brought up reoccuring dreams with firends and co-workers and no one else has ever admitted to something similar so I thought it was just something quarky about my brain. This thread has really peaked my interest and has be re evaluating my dream. Thanks!

i have reoccurring dreams about houses with hidden rooms. i probably have one every other month. they aren't ever the same house but they are typically older homes. usually having a second floor. there is never anything scary about the homes..... just mysterious and i'm one of the very few that know about the secret rooms. many times the bathrooms are very large and sometimes have odd features like extremely large bathtubs and more than one shower (all in one bathroom). i really like these dreams. i'm usually disappointed that i can't live there.

tjack
reply to post by casijones

 

Had a similar one just last night. Found a door under some wallpaper that led to a large room (think basketball cout sized) with neat old timely gadgets in it.

So weird to wake up and read your post! And yes , it has been a recurring dream theme for me for decades.

It's so weird...I've had a very similar recurring dream.

Usually the door is in the closet and we (I'm usually with other people) have to do some climbing and squeezing to get through...but once we are through we are in room filled with very cool antiques all over the place.

For some reason when I have these dreams, I'm always both excited and a little bit scared...but I don't know what I'm scared of.

Except for one version of the big house dream...I know why I'm scared...it's because we are looking for a cat that we know is somehow evil...that dream creeps me out....because sometimes it turns out I'm the cat.

reply to post by Raxoxane

There was a man outside the circle,and he kept shapeshifting into a cat.After all these years I could still pick that face out in a crowd,if I ever had to see "catman" in real life.He would hiss as he shrunk and became catform+back to human shape,I recall he was furious because I was inside the circle+was safe from him as long as I stayed inside it.

Well that is pretty damn weird.

I swear I didn't read your reply before my previous reply where I talked about being in an old house looking for a cat that had this "evil" feeling about...and then sometimes I would realize that I am the cat or I turned into the cat. I don't remember any circles though.

I have had a recurring dream about a particular detached house all my life now. It appears as a tall rectangle (no pointed roof) where the left half side is completely glass with a beautiful spiral staircase in the middle (from floor to ceiling) then the right half side is a very modern brick, wood and stucco architectural artistic-type look. Anyway, the dream always starts off with me on the street looking at it, then I go in through the front door and begin climbing up the spiral staircase. I recall the last time I climbed quite high up, but what stopped me was the fact that everyone outside could look in, so this created a privacy issue for me, so my thoughts turned to trying to design curtains that would let the light in, yet provide me with adequate privacy...then I woke up. I never looked up when on the staircase, so I don't know if it has a roof or not.

They theorize if you dream of the same house, that house is really you, or rather your self.

reply to post by casijones


I have been having this dream my whole life, on a regular basis. It is always one that is familiar and comfortable. The house is an old Victorian that my grandparents used to live in. It is 3 stories tall with long, dark, narrow halls and staircases. There is one secret passage in my dream that runs from the basement all the way through the third floor and opens back up in the formal front entryway off the covered front porch. I also feel a bit bummed to wake up from is dream, knowing that I want to keep exploring.

I had no idea that it was such a common dream. It is nice knowing what it means. Thanks for sharing this. S&F

I have dreams about Bob Vila but never about an old house.

Did any of you (in childhood) wander through old abandoned (country) houses/mansions? Perhaps they are dreams including memories of those occasions?

I know as kids a bunch of us would break into old houses (often the doors were open) and wander within them (cannot imagine how we weren't injured by doing so).

Grew up in a small town though where there were lots of such properties to find. I assume Detroit will be a hotspot soon for ghost hunters and perhaps dreams of that sort.

reply to post by Lolliek


Well, I've only researched dream meaning a little bit. From what I understand the renovations mean you're working on fixing something in life, or its something you should be fixing. If its the kitchen, I want to guess maybe a change in eating habits? Maybe you need a change of diet, like become gluten free? Haha. I could be far off on that but it makes sense to me.
If the house represents the self, attic being your head/mind, main floors being your body/organs, basement I think is your subconscious?? Maybe you have some health problems you don't know about, like stomach problems or something in the intestines?? I'm really just throwing stuff out there, but hope it helped a little.

reply to post by casijones


I used to have this one more often as a little girl, not since i was about 14 though.

Running through the neighborhood, I believe either knocking door-to-door or trying to open them. And at the last house on the block, we (cannot remember who is with me) get into the house and know, somehow, to run upstairs. And we're looking out the window at the cul=de-sac below. I remember it being so so stormy, but I can't remember a tornado...the dream ends when the house fall flat over into the street, as though it were just flipped.

virraszto
I dream of houses too, but my dreams seem to be different from yours.

casijones--- I don't mean to sound harsh or insult you, but are you currently taking any medications? And if so did the dreams start afterward?
The reason I ask is because a lady I worked with a few years back told me about how her husband would wake up screaming from nightmares after he started taking chantix to quit smoking. I know a lot of antidepressant type pills will give you recurring nightmares.
Also, I met my boyfriend a few months after he came home from iraq, and the VA had him on seraquil (sp?).
I was experimenting with pyschedelics at the time and loved them so thought I'd give half of the seraquil a try. I fell asleep and had a horrific OBE where I woke up in my dream, looked over, and saw a childlike doll laying on my pillow. A sense of dread came over me as it opened its eyes and sat up, then my bedroom door came off the hinges and came down on top of me so I couldn't move or breathe. When I woke I filled with rage, which is very unlike me.

The only med. I take is adderall, but my dream houses started years before that. I did try Chantix years ago for 2 weeks, and it made me cry at the drop of a hat. ;(

edit on 8-11-2013 by virraszto because: (no reason given)