Describe a beautiful house/ home you have been to.
You should say:
- where it was
- how it looked like
- when you visited there and why
and explain why you think this was a beautiful house.
[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]
Model Answer 1:
Thank you very much for this great topic. Rather than telling you about a ‘typical’ home I know, I want to share with you the story of possibly the most amazing house I’ve ever been lucky enough to visit.
So, the story was, I was travelling in Australia. An elderly relative of mine, now living in the UK, had spent many years working there and was really keen I look up an old friend of hers who lived in the rainforest in a quite remote part of Queensland, near a coastal village called Cardwell.
After a few months or so, I arrived at her ‘house’. Oh! my. I have never seen anything like it before or since! Imagine a little wooden house, raised up on stilts, with a veranda completely encircling the structure, a rather crude slatted wooden roof and wooden interior walls. Imagine all of this, but with no external walls! It was as if the property had just grown organically from the forest floor.
The weather was warm year round in this part of the world, and clearly, my host felt very safe in the forest. Rather than have a barrier between her and the forest, she chose to have no exterior walls, her living space merged with the plants and animals that surrounded her. I think there may have been a low wooden fence at the back of the property, but really this was mainly to stop things falling off her platform, rather than give privacy or security!
What did I like! Well, the feeling of being a part of the rainforest was the most amazing part. It was an unobtrusive dwelling, probably we would call it ‘eco-friendly’ in the language of today. She told me that sometimes she’d be having an early breakfast on her porch and see cassowaries wander past. They are incredibly shy and rare so that is a remarkable thing. I loved the quirkiness of the house, the minimalism of her furnishings. You really don’t need very much in the way of material things to have a good life. Also, I suppose there’s a very little point in having lots of possessions when the rainforest might encroach on you at any moment. The house is a physical reminder of a memory that otherwise seems almost too extraordinary to be true!
[Lucy Marris: Careers Adviser (UK), TEFL teacher (Vietnam)]
Sample Answer 2:
Living in an ordinary neighbourhood has its disadvantages, and some advantages as well. But, when I visit some really rich neighbourhood houses, I look at them rather closely and appreciate their elegant and beautiful features just like I did when I visited one of my friend’s houses to attend his birthday party about a few years ago.
The magnificent “row house” was conveniently located at one of the beautiful suburbs of my hometown which was only about a 15-minute drive away from my rather “modest” looking home.
As soon as I entered the house, I could see a small but finicky garden, flaunting right at the entrance in order to impress me. After entering the house, I could also see an elegant living room with which is attached a rather stylish and “chic” family dining space. Adjacent to the “munching” area is a healthy kitchen which is really fashionable with enough empty space in it. The house has three graceful and fancy bedrooms with the master bath on one side and the other two bedrooms on the opposite side of the house, with just about perfect proximity to each other. There are translucent curtains, running throughout the entire house, which is painted in a light champagne tint, bringing in the required brightness and airiness in perfect measure.
Anyway, the house was really beautiful mainly because it was neither too big nor too small where all of its furniture seemed to have fitted just perfectly. Another distinct but equally elegant feature of the house was that it could receive enough air from virtually all directions. Besides, I also noticed that the entire lighting system of the house was very much in harmony with the paintings of the house interior. Finally, I thought that it was a really beautiful house also because it was surrounded by beautiful nature with some beautiful trees and the chirping of the birds on them which I could enjoy by sitting in one of the balconies of the house anytime.
If you prepare for the cue card topic “Describe a beautiful house/ home you have been to”, you should be able to answer the following cue card topics as well:
1. Describe a memorable place you have been to.
2. Describe an unusual place you have ever visited.
3. Describe an interesting place you know about or have been to.
4. Describe a place far away from the locality.
5. Describe a memorable trip you have had.