Is it views? A sense of privacy? Three Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Property Specialists share the intangible features that turn a house into a dream home.

A dream home is a place that meets your needs, but also exceeds the needs that you didn’t know you had. It reflects who and what you are, but also how you want to live. A dream home fills you with a sense of calm and satisfaction. In other words: once you have it, you stop dreaming.

Dream homes are, of course, as unique as their owners. While there is no single defining characteristic that unites all dream homes, there are certain intangible qualities that many dream homes possess. For some buyers, it's a beautiful view. For others, it's privacy or the quality of construction materials and finishes. We talked to three Luxury Property Specialists affiliated with the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury® program to explore these intangibles in more depth.

The Dream: Tranquility

New Jersey-based Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Property Specialist Joshua Baris knows that buyers look for a sense of serenity in a dream home.

A home is a refuge, so it makes sense that one of the top features buyers yearn for is a sense of relaxation and serenity. There are a multitude of ways to achieve this in a home, but according to Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Property Specialist Joshua Baris, the space should be a haven for the resident and evoke feelings of peace. “The home must provide a tranquil feeling like being on vacation,” he says. “A place where one can get away from their everyday stresses and simply relax in a carefree environment.”

Baris’ listing at 887 Closter Dock Road offers more than 35,000 square feet of privacy.

According to Baris, privacy goes hand-in-hand with tranquility. In the highly-populated New Jersey area, where he’s based, privacy can seem hard to come by, but it’s not impossible. One of his listings, 887 Closter Dock Road, is shrouded in privacy, surrounded by mature trees. Only minutes from New York City, this eight-acre property is situated in one of New Jersey’s most exclusive neighborhoods, Alpine.

Featuring a spacious indoor basketball court, this home provides a relaxing, vacation-like environment for its residents.

The Dream: Emotional Connection

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Property Specialist Tonya Hamlin is based in the greater Sacramento area.

From a buyer’s ideal layout to their must-have amenities, one’s idea of a dream home is about as personal as it gets. So, according to Northern California-based Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Property Specialist Tonya Hamlin, finding a “dream home” is all about how the buyer will feel and live in the space. “Everybody has their own dream home,” she says. “Yes, features are important, but honestly the location of the house—as in what community it is in—is really important.”

One reason a home’s surroundings are so important has to do with the view from the home. When people think “view,” they typically picture oceanic scenery or high-rise city views, but it goes far beyond that. “I think what’s important about a view, to me, is that it's very emotional, and even someone's backyard can create a feeling of joy or calm,” Hamlin says. “One has to think: ‘How does it make us feel?’”

Overlooking the spacious backyard, this home’s primary bathroom is complete with a rain shower with steam, a stand alone shower with a ceiling spout and heated floors.

It’s all about finding a space that makes the buyer feel something and picture their life there in an emotional sense. To discern whether a home provides that feeling, Hamlin suggests that all of her clients see the home in person and imagine what living there would look like. “When you walk into a house, there's a feeling that follows,” she says.

Along with the view, some of the features that contribute to the emotions a home evokes in a potential buyer include ceiling height, layout and the practicality of the space—which can only be experienced in person. “There are functional aspects that make people feel a certain way,” Hamlin says. “Potential buyers can walk into the kitchen and think ‘I'm gonna cook here. Let me stand here. This is where I’ll make my famous lasagna.’”

From the lush trees to the tranquil water features, this backyard is a stunning view in itself.

One of Hamlin’s recent sales in Roseville, California, 1460 Aberdeen Circle, shows how even the view of a backyard can make an impact on a home’s “dream” factor. Featuring a Geremia swimming pool, hot springs hot tub and large, lush patio, this oasis evokes feelings of connectedness and serenity for the viewer.

The Dream: Easy Living

Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Property Specialist Tracy Allen is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

A dream home also must make your life easier at the end of the day. According to Honolulu-based Coldwell Banker Global Luxury agent Tracy Allen, smart home features address this foundational need by taking luxury and comfort to another level. “A ‘dream home’ is one that thinks for you at the end of a long day,” she says. “It offers an array of smart features, from the rise of the lights that greet you and your favorite song playing as you walk through the door, to the shades drawn and pocketing walls of glass all harmoniously coming to life.”

Complete with a plethora of custom built-in features, Allen’s listing at 280 Poipu Drive has an ideal floor plan for entertaining.

Although these features are tangible in and of themselves, they elevate an owner’s overall experience of their home – making their lives more comfortable and convenient, creating peace of mind and increasing feelings of well-being.

Other features that help make homeowners feel happier include in-home gyms, spa and wellness rooms and sizable swimming pools with built-in hot tubs.

This home is a true oasis with a spacious pool and patio, gym, massage room and home theater.

Her 280 Poipu Drive listing is a perfect example of a dream home that is filled with custom features and amenities that, when combined, create a relaxing resort living experience. Complete with a theater, pocketing doors for effortless indoor/outdoor living and entertaining, a detached pool house with a gym and massage room and a 900-square-foot garage with hydraulic car lifts, this high-tech smart home leaves no stone unturned. And one shouldn’t discount the views: you can wake up to mesmerizing scenes that stretch across the Pacific Ocean, coastline, Diamond Head and mountains. If owning a piece of paradise isn’t considered a dream, then what is?

Find your next dream home at coldwellbankerluxury.com.