It's late getting back to this thread, but it took me a while to catch up with money after the move, waiting an extra month for my job to start, yada yada yada. So now I finally get to order some more roses for spring. I just placed "Part 2" of my Vintage order, and I think this will be all I'm getting from them this year. I have no issues with the company by any means -- I'm just going to try out some east-coast nurseries for filling my new garden here to save on shipping. Basically, the second order is stuff I want but wasn't available on my side of the country, or would have cost more because of shipping gallon-sized plants. Both of these orders will come the third week of April 2013. And I think between the two orders and what I already have in pots, this is about half of the roses that will go in the garden (or in the pot ghetto, or as gifts to friends if there's no more room....you all know the drill). Part 1 Bourbons -- Mlle Blanche Lafitte, Mme Dore, Sophie's Perpetual Hybrid Perpetual -- Souvenir du Dr. Jamain Hybrid Teas -- Crimson Glory (VID), Night (Lady Sackville) Portlands -- Blanc de Vibert, Rose du Roi (original) Tea-Noisette -- Jaune Desprez Part 2 Gallicas -- Belle de Crecy, Duchesse de Montebello, Georges Vibert, Sissinghurst Castle, Superb Tuscan, Tricolore de Flandre Hybrid Chinas -- Duchesse d'Angouleme, Nouveau Monde Hybrid Perpetuals -- Georg Arends, Monsieur Boncenne Hybrid Teas -- Lemon Spice, Mirandy, Oklahoma (all VID) Polyantha -- Marie Pavie Musk/Species X -- Reverend Seidel Currently in pots from last spring are: Bourbons -- Mme Isaac Pereire, Souvenir de Victor Landeau English -- Belle Story (was actually a mistake, but I like it) Gallicas -- Charles de Mills, Cardinal de Richelieu and Darlow's Enigma (be he classed as "hybrid musk" or "climber" or whatever). What's left to order? I plead the fifth. :-) ~Christopher This post was edited by AquaEyes on Sat, Dec 15, 12 at 21:07

Hi all - Thanks for the input. Since I now live in Louisville, KY, my new realtor has been handling the pictures and the property description. I'm not crazy about the "fish-eye" pictures either but I do know that to capture all of the space (especially in the master bedroom with the bathroom), they needed to use it. Not sure it's necessary in more than the MB. As for the property description, I've been told by both sets of realtors that they are allowed only so many words for the text. Not sure why, but they've both said that. Horses are big on the northeast side of Tucson and our side of the street is the only one in our immediate neighborhood that's zoned for horses (specifically horses, not agricultural). As far as I know, our property has never had horses, but it's possible. New carpet - we went round and round on that one. When we listed the house in February 2007, we had older carpet (not awful, in fairly good shape, but dated as we hadn't replaced it when we bought in 2000) and many of the feedback comments from realtors and potential buyers were "dated carpet". We've spent probably $30k since October 2006 preparing for the house to go on the market (new 20x20 Italian tile, new Berber for family room, new windows & doors, etc.). So we didn't want to spend more on new carpet and told our realtors at the time that we knew it was older and would be willing to negotiate with the buyers on that point. We started at $419k which was supported by the comps in the area as well as the general condition of the house (yes, we saw the competition and we were priced lower than the houses with more "bells & whistles" and more than the houses that were of the same age but not fully renovated). We had lots of people through but no offers. After 2 months, we dropped the price to $400k. Still nothing. After another 2 months, we dropped the price to $399,900 (our realtors' suggestion) and offered a $5k bonus towards closing costs. Still nothing. In mid-June, we dropped the price to $385k. We got our first offer and finally settled on $373k. We moved on July 1st so when we left the house, we thought it was sold. That deal imploded (buyer issue - not house or us). Month of July - no offers. Early August, we dropped the price to $375k and finally agreed to replace the carpet. One day after carpet went in, we had our 2nd offer. That imploded last Sunday also due to the buyer and not the house. My husband thinks it's nothing to do with the carpet and it's all about the price. I'm not sure. Pools are used a lot in Tucson (swimming season is May to early September) but either the buyers want a pool or not. Most are not on the fence about it. Our next door neighbor is trying to sell her house for $425k (she came down from $450k) and it's very similar to ours except no landscaping (back yard is dirt surrounded by chain link) and she has a galley kitchen. So far, no offers for her and she's been on the market for 4 months. We have one house in the same neighborhood that's been trying to sell for over a year but it's not been renovated. They recently dropped their price to $324,900. If you want to see what all is in the overall neighborhood, the zip code is 85750. The web site is the Tucson Realtors MLS site (www.tarmls.com). I'm not sure what other sites my new realtor is going to use yet. We've been essentially off the market due to buyer #2 since August 12th so I'm hoping the new listing will generate more interest.

Happy to see this subject brought up although I'm sure most building new, didn't make it this far. I think the OP got "shorted" but no worse than most building new in this current building climate. With such a hot market one has to be careful they don't spook the best or only opportunities. I think it's important to get a 2 stage system as a minimum. Getting a properly sized system is much like getting a building envelope to perform at current levels of international energy code. For most people, the best chance is to hire a design and building team who already understand the details from past projects. At this stage of the game it's often too late. Ductwork in a vented attic or low levels of roof deck insulation can effect cooling loads as much as western windows depending on the details. Martin Holladay has the best articles on this topic. Calculating cooling loads and When do I need to perform a load calculation? are free while Who can perform my load calculation? is behind the paywall but relevant here. When builders get experienced with a particular plan, the need for load calcs diminish. For custom designs costing hundreds of thousands, using a third party to help with design, sizing and commissioning can be a wise investment. Some architects and builders include this with their services. Energy Star is the most common way to achieve a better level of verified performance. This goes beyond energy use to include comfort, indoor air quality and durability. The program ensures bath vent fans, outdoor air ventilation systems and kitchen vent hoods are installed properly. With a reported energy savings of $300 a year, simple paybacks are reasonable. Not all HERS raters do load calcs but most can point you in the right direction. If you only care about HVAC system design, hiring the right 3rd party can help. If building in the south, try Allison Bailes with Energy Vangaurd. He has influenced the need for better rules of thumb, like 1 ton per 1000 sqft for homes that meet international levels of energy code. This can be useful when comparing results to what the HVAC contractor wants which is typically closer to 1 ton per 500 sqft. I find HVAC contractors more willing to install smaller systems when they have stamped letters from a mechanical engineer, which in our case is the HERS rater.

Life won’t throw us a curveball on more kids, I promise! We have severe infertility and it took many thousands of dollars to conceive our twins. Famous last words! I don’t have the redrawn plans for the playroom yet. But basically we would ditch the linen closet, scoot the wall from the family room to the left three feet, and lose some mudroom space. I would like to keep the powder room though so that when people come over they don’t have to walk by the playroom mess when they need to use the bathroom What I hear you saying is that you're turning this area from a bedroom into a flex room /den. It's nicely located for that purpose ... but it is unfortunate that the flex room /den will receive nicer natural light than the family's main living space. Question though: Why do you need a downstairs playroom AND an upstairs loft? Are you building a room you don't really need? Another question: Are you saying you're going to build the powder room in the foyer AND a second powder room in the playroom? That's an expensive choice while building, and it'll mean more cleaning every week. Cpartist , stop with the pathways. they are not a good representation of wasted space. don't believe me? I kinda agree. For example, the foyer, of course, is nothing but a pathway ... but the floor space in the powder room is NOT just a pathway; it's used for, um, bathroom purposes. That's just an example ... other parts you've identified in red are used for more than "passing through". The whole “best houses” thing does make me chuckle a little in good fun. The best house is the house that’s best for the owners. Maybe no "best house" exists, but "best practices" and "standard rules" that apply to essentially everyone do exist. Sometimes it makes perfect sense /is even preferable to break "the rules", but -- when /if you do -- it should be a decision made carefully /thoughtfully /taking into consideration all the ramifications of skipping over the "best practices". What isn’t easy about the mudroom? I’m missing that. My only criticism of the mudroom is that -- being in the middle of the house -- it'll receive no natural light. Are you planning to harness the storage space under the large switchback stair? It may only be "half height", but it's a lot of space. You're paying for it, and you shouldn't box it off -- this'd be a great space for Christmas stuff, though I'd probably opt to use it for something I'd access more often. Some people dislike the idea of walking through the mudroom to reach the bedroom, and some people dislike the idea of a bedroom being off the kitchen /compare it to a maid's room. Oh, I do see another problem with the mudroom: Imagine you're bringing a sofa or other large furniture into this space ... how will you navigate those corners? Of course, you might be planning a sliding glass door into the back yard ... that would fix any bringing-in-big-furniture problems. Covered porch is big for us because we like to eat outside and this gives us a way to do so in blaring sun or drizzling rain. It will, however, make your living room dark. You could eliminate this problem by placing your covered porch on the SIDE of your house instead of the back. What about the laundry room, that would be a nice room to have on an exterior wall for natural light and a short run for venting. Our laundry room is about that far from our bedroom and I can hear the washer or dryer if I am trying to fall asleep. Yes, washers /dryers are vastly better on exterior walls. They're cheaper to install /easier to clean the vents /more fire safe. All of these are personal choices. So if you prefer as you have, do it that way :) I just wanted to bring up points that would matter to me. I would prefer the bathroom to have natural light over a closet if I had to pick one since I never go to my closet at night when the natural light helps. :) Yes, personal choices ... but never allow yourself to become so attached to a plan /an idea that you aren't honest with yourself about how much a certain issue will matter. Recognition of circulation patterns is a very useful trait to develop and use. Agree. Do not want windows in the master closet because I get dressed in my closet (I suppose this is weird haha) Plus windows in closets = faded clothing. We have a skylight in our current master bath and we hateeeee it! Different strokes for different folks. But I’m big on the “show me a skylight that hasn’t leaked and I’ll show you one that will leak” mantra. Yes, a skylight is a bet with nature. Your wager is a hole in your roof, while nature's contribution is the willingness to work 24/7 to defeat your man-made materials. Water wins 100% of the time ... maybe not this year, but eventually. I think it’s pretty melodramatic to say no light will enter the great room. No it’s not going to be the brightest room in the house but it’s not a pitch black cave But more light = better, and bringing in more light would require very little effort /no additional money. hummingbird, we have a ventless in our apartment and they take 2-3x as long to dry. I have no experience with these ventless dryers, but common sense says that the dampness has to go somewhere, and if venting isn't possible, more electricity /more time is going to be the answer. This does not sound appealing at all. On the subject of the laundry, note that you'll have to pass through a "bottleneck" in the laundry to reach all that storage ... this'll be difficult with big things like artificial Christmas trees. Also, I'd lose the sink in the laundry room. It's the only water-item in that wall, so it'll be relatively expensive to plumb it ... and new washing machines have pretty much eliminated hand washing. My random thoughts: - The overall layout looks okay, but it doesn't seem to be anything special. - I can't quite make out the doors to the backyard. I think the breakfast nook has windows /not doors ... this is good because once a table is placed in this space, doors wouldn't be useful. Is that a door near the fireplace? I'd think a door nearer the kitchen would be more useful, especially since you say you enjoy eating outdoors ... and that makes me wonder if you enjoy grilling. You don't want your kitchen and grilling area too far apart. Be sure the door is hinged in the direction of the kitchen for easy use. - I like the butler's pantry area. The cabinet on the right will be ideal for self-serve drinks or dessert at parties. I'd put pegboard on the flat wall of the pantry; that would be very useful. - I don't like anything in the master bath. Wasted space in the middle, too-wide shower, expensive bump-out for the tub. You have so much space here ... you could have something so much nicer.