On Aug 11, 6:37*pm, "Leon" wrote:
Currently My wife and I are preparing to build a new home. *Certainly not
high end but it will most likely have most of what you have mentioned. *I
suppose it is all relative as a for instance your mention of 10' ceilings
being in lower custom homes. *Our 30 year old "starter home" has 10 foot
ceilings. *Rounded corner sheet rock has been the norm in all new
construction for 15 + years. *Hard wood trim is common but typically a
marginal up grade. * What is a Pot Shelf? *Skupltured/stepped ceilings and
crown molding are available in starter homes. *Fancy front doors are common.
Starting to see fire places offered in the back yard patio. *Granite is
common place and a 3 car garage is becoming a common neighborhoow sighting
for homes in new neighborhoods. *Our new home will have a 3 car garage.

You mean a 1000 SF workshop, right? Or is SWMBO reading over your
shoulder?

At the moment the home we are most interested in and appointed the way we
want will have, 10" ceilings, Island kitchen, extra study room, 3 bedrooms,
formal dining, breakfast nook, 3 car garage, brick 3 sides,

What's the fourth side?

If I might make an observation about siding...
Around here you'll see some homes which I call Colorform homes.
Remember those plastic sticky things where kids would put a sticky
dress cutout on the two dimensional figure of a girl? They were just
applied. When they do that with siding - just apply it like it's
painted on - it becomes analogous to a Colorform toy.

Brick and stone are the bones of the house and usually show the best
when they are designed to work that way. Some house styles, like
Federalist houses, pretty much require all brick veneer. But if the
house is not such a style, having the brick/stone closer to the ground
and edges and corners, then transitioning to another style of siding
(such as stucco) between and above the brick/stone, can look sharper
and more distinctive than just having it all one way of the other.

Tudor houses, when well done, are good examples (though this link
isn't the best it does give the idea)
http://www.tulsapreservationcommissi...s/mcbirney.jpg
This is a remodeled box of a house that's been broken up with the
stone - it's on the way, but not quite there yet.
http://www.peakstuccoandstone.com/im...-SandStone.jpg
and another from that site:
http://www.peakstuccoandstone.com/im...MtColumbia.jpg

Here's a what not to do picture - too busy and arbitrarily done
siding:
http://gzcontracting.info/images/stu...wood%20str.jpg

R