I must chime in. I haven't had success with QV in zone 6 Pa, but if you are zone 7, and try in ground who knows? My effort was with a 5 footer I brought back from Florida. It was not use to anything cooler than zone 8B, so it was probably doomed from the start. Acorns I tried were all duds from ebay, not a one of them sprouted. You may have a shot in zone 7. I am trying Quercus Fusiformis now, it is zone 6 hardy, it survived 2 months of last winter. I hadn't purchased it until Jan or Feb 2011. It took a while to get leaves this year but it may need some patience because it came from Arizona into my zone 6 yard midwinter. If you fail at QV try Q. Fusiformis. It is slightly shorter than QV until very old but stretches out like southern live eventually. The bad thing about live oaks is if you get lots of snow and the weight on branches. Shingle oak leaves are lance shaped but bigger and Willow oak has skinny lance shaped but longer leaves than QV. The Shingle and Willow oaks are fully hardy and deciduous oaks. I can relate about Q V being special and wanting one in your yard, when you see them down south in their element they are like no other tree. I had heard that there is one in Central park, NYC but it may be the hardier Q Fusiformis. I think someone posted that on this site but not sure. Anyhoo, I would try it if I were in zone 7 for sure, I may still try again here with more northern acorns in a sheltered spot.One discouraging thing though is that on the web site of champion trees for each state has no champion QV trees north of coastal Virginia. Even coastal Pa doesn't have any listed. Temps are warmer now than decades ago when the champs would have been planted though, so who knows. If I hit the lottery for millions I would build a giant green house just so I could have a southern live oak, yes I'm a bit nutty about trees, they have one of those in Germany for a special tree but I can't remember the details, wish I could, I saw it years ago on the web.

First thing I would do is orient the whatever house you eventually build in a more north/south orientation so you get better passive solar heating and cooling. It will save you from brutal heat and light in the rear from the west sun and also help with heating and cooling bills. Avington: It will be dark inside. The porches will limit the light entering the house and especially since it's not a north/south orientation. (see drawing) Notice how little light will enter? Why does not a single public room or bedroom in the whole house have windows on two walls? Windows on two walls allow for cross ventilation and light within. The best space in the bedroom (corners where you can get windows on two walls) are taken over by the closets. Why are there double doors from the bathroom into the closet? Why are there double doors from the bedroom into the bathroom? What is the point of the angled shower and vanity in the master bath? There is a fireplace in the master bedroom but it won't be viewable for one of you because the bed can't go on the wall opposite the fireplace. The master bedroom is up against the family room. Noise can be a problem, especially considering the TV will probably go on the wall that shares with the bedroom. The powder room toilet shares a wall with the master bedroom. With walkways the family room usable space is really only 13'10" x 15'4". The dining room is quite a hike from the kitchen. Now imagine carrying hot food, or a heavy turkey from the workspace in the kitchen to the dining room. There is no coat closet near the front door. The laundry room is quite a hike from the master bedroom and even from the upstairs bedrooms. (see drawing) There are french doors from the breakfast room out to the back. That means 3' of the space is taken but the room is only 8'6" which isn't even really deep enough for a 42" wide table without the french doors. The mudroom is quite small for a family of 5 with all their stuff. Downstairs with the exception of the master closets, there is only one other closet to put things and that's in the laundry room. If you have SUV's that garage is quite small. To get to the door to the interior from the garage means walking around the car that is parked closest to the door. More importantly if you're on 7 acres why would you want the garage attached to the house, where it sticks out in front of the house? If I had 7 acres you can bet my garage wouldn't be the first thing that's seen. I see no mechanical room indicated. The upstairs is actually better but I still see no windows on 2 walls. I'm not a fan of jack and jill bathrooms because someone always leaves one side locked. YMMV. The child in the jack and jill bathroom to the right will hear the toilet flush in the middle of the night since the toilet is on the bedroom wall. I'm not a fan of open to below spaces. It means things being thrown down and more importantly noise rising. Plus it's harder to heat and cool.

@B Wen @Keely Adams @HU-106101956 Currently looking at this plan to tweak myself... Would love to connect to see photos of a finished house and curious the tweaks you guys are making.

Agree with the recommendations to consult an architect….. A). Love the house plan, but really dislike the “weird/small” kitchen, especially in renderings in which the cooktop is sitting in the middle of the kitchen with a metal exhaust pipe going through the ceiling. For me, it completely ruins the entire look of the house…. B). I also agree with the Vaulted Ceiling Comments. I once built a house by a well-known designer/architect that had a completely open 2nd Floor (in several locations)— It was a gorgeous house, but was a monster to heat and cool and I would never do that again. Nine-ten foot ceilings are fine for me…. C). Final Considerations—- Depending on the version, Tideland Haven has a relatively sizable footprint, but has very few “rooms.” For me— I’d expect a large food pantry, butlers pantry/china closet, food prep area and/or Grandkid’s FROG/Bunk-Room for 2400-2800 square feet of heated space…. D). Although it is technically “wasted” space, I do actually like the entry “Wow Factor” and could think of several ways to utilize that space….. E). Would love to see the creative solutions that others have found with this plan since it has so much potential. ❤️