Up here in the Northwest, they are not as vigorous. I have two of them, a female and one perfect flowered at 8 foot spacings. Down south you'd want almost twice the room. I've tried to make it as warm as possible by planting on the south side of a cement wall and adding some black volcanic sand. I think they may just manage. You need to have the pollen source within 20 feet of the female vine. I'd make sure you make a notebook and record which one is the pollen parent and has perfect flowers. You'll want to make sure it reaches over towards the female vine. Keep the notebook in the house, cause the tags always fall off or fade off or rust off.

Wow, am I envious! I live in the Tampa Bay area and we are hoping to come in somewhere about $110-120/ft. Average prices are between $175-300/ft. The main thing to consider is that our building codes are probably some of the strictest in the country due to the hurricanes. The home is built to withstand 130mph winds. It is built from concrete block which definitely increases our cost substantially. As we are the GC, we did hire a manager to over see the entire project (he also did the slab/block/frame). But the money we are paying him to manage is definetly worth the peace of mind! He is very reputable in our area and has many many contacts so we are able to get his pricing. In the end, his management fee will probably wash with the savings. We are also going pretty high end with everything else from windows to appliances to flooring and so forth. In the end, it will all be worth it. However, our cost to build does not include what we paid for the lot. Land is NOT abundant here and you pay for it - ALOT. Our lot had a home which we initially wanted to add on to. But after talking with our architect and engineer, the cost was more to do that (by going up a floor) than it was to demo and start over. We went that route since then we are not limited to the footprint and could then have exactly what we wanted. Our new home is 4000 sq ft living/8900 sq ft under roof incl 1500 sq ft covered lanai/3 car garage/semi-detached 4 car garage. So, with all of this, in the end we should be about $450K (not including pool). For Florida, this is not bad at all.

Thanks everyone for your great comments! Buehl, love your idea but sadly, no, I can not close up that window. It is the window to the street, the porch and I love it. Even if I didn't love it the Historic Preservation people would never let me get rid of it. So it stays. It sounds like you all agree adding the fourth counter makes it too small. What if the counter was 18 inches instead of 24? Would 6 inches help much? I still need storage underneath. Bmorepanic - you are not the first to propose cutting down the other side. A second designer I hired suggested cutting that down to a 15-18 inch pantry only (pantry for dishes, not food - food pantry has a good home) floor to ceiling piece of furniture painted a different color. I actually love the idea but here's the rub...that counter is totally our favorite place to work. Our dishes are in the uppers there and that works with where the d/w is...we hate to mess with that part of the space. I am thinking I could make something that was a pantry-like cabinet but still had a counter...not as deep but we could still prep over there... and keep the 24 under the other window. My husband and I don't love the bigger counter moved to under "street" window because it is weird to face the street while you are prepping...and at night the blind comes down and that is even more strange. At the other counter you are facing whoever is sitting at the counter so that seems a happier place to work. Our goal in adding the counter under the window was to have a place to plate the food out of the oven. We also have to have room to store: all kitchen gizmos, pots and pans (we have alot) but I think we could also hang some. I would also love to have a spice drawer, pull out pantry for oils, and a tray storage. Am I high to think I can get all of that in? I know if I go shorter than 20inches it won't happen. Ugh! I can tweek my plan now but I have to decide by Monday if the counter under the "street" window is 24 inches or less. If it is going to be 24 inches then I have to reconfigure the garden window so the sink can be centered. If it is under 24 inches then I can tell my GC to center the garden window and take another week to figure it all out. But not much more. I would love to hear more ideas - it is so helpful to get input from people who understand kitchens as opposed to someone who designs kitchens. My guy threw boxes and uppers everywhere and now I fear I am cooking in a space the size of an airplane bathroom. Here is a link that might be useful: amacs renovation blog

If you're thinking of this as investment, that looks different. The answer to your "which is better" question is "probably neither." If you build new, I can almost guarantee that you'll lose money on the resale. If you buy existing and renovate, you'll be lucky to break even. And don't forget that every renovation you spend your cash on represents cash you can't invest somewhere else. I'm not an expert on this, but based on what I've seen friends succeed and fail at, there are two ways I know of (there are no doubt others I don't) to make a profit on your personal home. 1. Ideally in a cool market, buy an existing, well maintained home with desirable design in a desirable neighborhood where homes are appreciating. Live in it and maintain it well. Don't attempt any renovations whatsoever. When values are approaching your profit goal and the market is hot, but before the decor and design you bought would be considered "dated," clean it, paint it, buy a new range and a big refrigerator, and sell it. Repeat. 2. Buy a distressed property (foreclosure, estate sale, similar) with fundamentally desirable design in a desirable neighborhood where homes are appreciating. Repair what's broken. Live in the home and maintain it well. When home values in the area are approaching your goal, no sooner, decorate and update based on what's then popular and what's selling. No layout changes, no wall teardowns, no major renovations. Sell when the market is hot. Repeat. Either way, if profit is your main motive, or even a significant one -- from the second you start house hunting, your house is never your home. It's always your potential buyer's home. Don't buy a house because you like it, buy it because your buyer will. Don't change things because you want them that way, change them because your buyer will. If you're thinking in terms of what you need or want in a house (main level bedroom/bath, open floor plan, brick facing, and so on), you're already on the wrong track. I watched that happen to a friend some years ago. She had loads of fun renovating her house, but she got almost none of her costs back when she sold it. She would've been better off to have spent the renovation money on a couple of fun vacations.