Actually...I liked my vinyl. You never have to paint the house again (first time I had it painted, the stuff started peeling after 4 years) and the insulation sure did cut down the heating/cooling costs.
Best move we ever made was putting the vinyl siding on this house. We had masonite siding which was rotting out from under us. The house looks good, and other than an occasional power wash the siding is maintenance free. I'm hoping next year we can go ahead with vinyl windows.
That said of course, my preference would have been brick. But for our house that would'v been a bit to spendy.
Oh, I know vinyl's practical, but since I'm talking about my dream house, and I probably won't even have a starter house for five years or more, I can be as impractical as I like, right?