Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Human habitat; dreaming out loud

We took a little different approach in choosing a home to build. We searched for plans from the inside out, looking at floorplans before looking at the outside since you spend most of your time looking out rather than looking in. We loosely based our house off of these plans.
http://www.dreamhomesource.com/Plan.asp?...=10&RecordN= 18 The floorplan had several things we desired: 2 story home, 1st floor master sweet, floorplan allowing easy circulation, 2 story family room w/loft, lots of windows, and energy efficient. My wife wanted formal living and dining rooms and I wanted a beakfast nook just off the kitchen. It was also important that the downstairs half bath was located so you couldn't hear someone doing their business while in the dining or family room. I also wanted covered porches because of many fond memories of sitting in the swing with my grandparents on their old porch. We live in a farming community so the farmhouse exterior seemed logical. I wanted low maintenance so everything is concrete, vinyl and aluminum. My wife took a risk with the red siding but it seemed to fit in nicely.

We're pretty happy with how it turned out and our utilities only run about $120/month on average even with 6 exterior doors and 32 windows. The cost to build the house and pond including some minimal landscaping came in under our budget of $300K. My only regret is not building a bigger pond!

BTW We love our hardwood and tile floors, about 1500sqft worth. They are tough and super easy to clean. Our oak floors have an aluminum oxide finish, this stuff is as tough as nails and a must if you have dogs.