I remember what my realtor told me when we bought our house on the steep hill, 1/2 the people will like it/not care the other 1/2 will not like/will care. It's always interesting that we have such divergent opinions on everything! Go with what YOU personally like and try not to be double minded when you hear the opposite opinions. LOL! :)

For the record...I don't mean to be offensive when I offend...and with that in mind, I'm going to now offend (sorry) I have strong opinions on a few things, and one of them is centered around woodwork in a home. Trim and doors should not have great contrast. A little is ok, but a huge contrast (ie black and white) looks to me like you couldn't afford to do all of your trim the right color. Especially in a room like yours Reno, that is full of beautiful white. Now frankly I don't like white trim either :oP But I definately think it looks terrible with black doors. The green in a very soft shade is lovely because it's not such a big contrast, but in looking at that pretty bedroom, the only thing that screams WRONG to me is that they forgot to paint either the door or the trim because they don't go together. IF you think I'm full of hog wash (and I often am) then consider doing a tint de nigre' which is a mix of black and brown. It's more "wood like" so not as stark a mix, and I think it's great with the type of rich colors you like. My whole house is done in it: (The door needs another coat of paint....but you get the idea): And yes...those picture frames are empty. I'm working on it!!!

Thank you again for all your help, everyone. These are great ideas! I have a whole different concept now. My computer crashed completely. I'm having so much computer trouble neither one of us can get any new photos in but here's an old one already in the computer. This is one of the terraces which go up at each side of the flat space in the middle. We've since stained the wood a very dark brown, and replanted the terraces with brightly-colored perennials, and ornamental grasses, which are doing well. The concrete has been replaced with a more natural stone-like look. There is about 20 feet of space between the patio floor and the top edge of the rocky slope; that area has woolly thyme groundcover and low perennials with stepping stones. On the right-hand side we have a very large bowl fountain with two Asian-style herons standing in grasses near it (all taken in for the winter now). porkandham, bleigh, teacats: I didn't think of putting colorful plants on the deck that can be seen from the road. I love the notion of railing planters. They'll have to be very well secured because of the wind, but I think this will be an amazing help. And I think one large metal art piece will be just the thing for that empty spot on the wall, teacats. We're both art lovers. It will be fun looking for just the right piece. jterrilyn, we hope we won't need a new roof for another decade or so! lynxe,cyn, lolauren, oakleyoak, teacats -- I hope the second photo helps. I get your point about staggered heights and placement on the slope looking better than a solid mass of one plant. We don't want to plant anything very tall because the view is the major attraction, but we could plant several large shrubs in a natural-looking pattern. We had the slope shot with wildflowers when we first built the house, but for a variety of reasons they didn't make it. We have irrigation to the slope that we're not using now, so we can reinstitute that. annz, you're right. Because of the wind a row of pots won't work. I love the idea of a retaining wall "bench", but the outer edge seems to be holding fine, and now that the flat space is all planted people sitting on the wall would probably step on the plants getting there from the patio. livewire, cyn, judith, we did have a structural engineer and the County okay the deck. That was when it only had 4x4's. We changed it to 6x6's for the aesthetics, and it really should be okay now, I think. The deck is 24x12. jane, what a gorgeous yard! I love it. We can't replicate that here, as the climate just isn't right, but thank you for the gorgeous photos. I had to laugh at the deer going swimming in your pool. Nobody here has pools, so they don't get that upscale experience! suzanne, we have bears and mountain lions here, so we'd rather not make it even easier for them to get to the deck. Bad enough we have racoons climbing the posts all the time. We're just a bit too low for aspens to do well here; we have some in the front yard, and they're not very happy. madeyna, we thought about cross supports earlier, but it would obstruct the view. So, thanks to you all, we've been able to look at this freshly, and here's the plan: We're going to plant a tree above the right-hand terrace (as you look at the house in the photo view) so that it will appear to be at the corner of the house. It won't be where the view will be obstructed much. On the left side we'll do a similar placement with a large evergreen shrub so that the tree and shrub don't "match", but harmonize. We're going to get some substantial planters which will hang on the deck railing and be planted with colorful annuals. On the slope instead of that green blanket of junipers I was imagining we'll plant a more natural landscape with a few large scattered shrubs, using a drip system and leaving the rock as is. This won't be expensive, as we have the irrigation still in place that we used for the wildflowers which didn't make it and can easily convert the spray to drip. We'll either block in the posts to make them more substantial-looking or perhaps plant a climbing vine on one of them for color. Everyone, thank you again! All of this will be doable, not expensive, and will make us happy with the way our back yard looks. And thanks also for your concerns about erosion and the safety of the deck; I think we have that handled, but I very much appreciate your caring enough to point out potential problems. Now I can't wait until spring!

It's a nice plan. Lovely from the outside, not trendy. The rooms are good-sized, and the arrangement is logical. The whole downstairs is fairly "open", but you have large bedrooms as "retreats", so you have an escape from that open-ness. The simple footprint and (mostly) consolidated plumbing will make it an economical build. As to the slope, I think you need a builder to look at the plan and your land; I don't think we can accurately make any comments here on this board. The only things I'd change: - You have a long master bath vanity with two sinks -- I'd give up some of that space and have a small linen closet INSIDE the bathroom. - The toilet set apart into the shower room is a bit odd, but not a deal breaker by any means. - I think I'd do away with those "computer spaces" in the kids' bedrooms and extend the closets. Big closets help kids keep their rooms clean, and these bedrooms are plenty big to allow desks without the "indent".