I love how there is a big honking gas-guzzling SUV parked in front of the home. My gut reaction to the photos is not favorable because I hate the color white. An all-white home with an all-white interior is my worst nightmare. It looks and feels like a laboratory. The contemporary furniture is also not very warm and inviting and certainly not New England. Looking at the photos, I don't really consider this home to be that green. As windy as Plymouth is, there should be a residential wind turbine on the property. Solar should be another green component even if it's just to heat water.

It might be a Spark. -- sparkfires.com?

Elmer, you are right, I was searching for the right word and just missed the mark! Thank you! The closeness works for us, but I understand it isn't for everyone. I think it helps make bit that DD is an only and DH and DSIL have common interests. We also each have our own lives and really, except for special occasions, the time together is off and on from 5:00 until about 7:30 each evening., so it's not like all day everyday. The rest of the time we do our own things, like today DH and I rafted and kayaked (he rafts, I kayak) the river running through town and the kids spent the most of the day on their bikes with the baby. I can babysit while the kids go out with their friends and they will dog sit when DH and I are away. Also because we have a party wall between sides, we have double doors and a closed door means private time. Nicole, no AC. It is pretty rare here, usually put in by southerner transplants who can't imagine life without it. Although we are also southerners we've spent enough time here in the summers before we built that we knew it wasn't necessary. We are at about 7000' above sea level in the mountains. To be perfectly honest, there are probably 7-8 days in the heat of the summer that AC would be nice upstairs and but even then only in the heat of the day (at least for DH, I hated AC even in the south). Evenings are always cool. But even on the hottest days, the temps in the basement won't even get to the low 70s (without the heat on, of course). Last August while we were building, I usually brought a jacket to go down to the basement. Nicole, you are also right. While the type of heating is fairly expensive to install, especially using warmboard, it is very efficient and cheap to operate.

With Sophie/Holly playing off against each other like the Patty Lane/Cathy Lane (Patty Duke Show), only in drag. O.o Not sure how I ended up in such august company, but I'm not sure I would make a sufficient foil for Sophie. Lackey, maybe. Heh. I am so far out of HGTV's target market, I can't even see it from my backyard. In fact, we're so far out of that "mainstream" market that we can't even find what we want without REALLY hunting. HGTV shows don't really give me ideas, beyond "what not to do." Whereas I grew up watching This Old House with Dad (a frustrated fine carpenter by nature, systems analyst by trade), and then right into the New Yankee Workshop. Lots of this education has made it into our new build. The fine carpenter on the job is either going to love me or hate me. In my opinion, to answer the OP: Everything you see on HGTV is likely to be trendy and dated. Not a whiff of it respects the era of the house or attempts to convey the solidity of actual craftsmanship. Then again, few people really want that. They want the shinies. It's OK if you're really going to flip or stage a home. (I have to do some serious work on my 1940's cape to sell it once we get our house up. I'll probably actually use a few of the "trends" there to inexpensively make it attractive to Millenials - who are most of our target market for a little starter house). I wouldn't go anywhere near any of it for a house I meant to keep. Everything that looks "fresh" and new now will look old and tired in 5-10.