Hi M-I-M... IMO, it's not brevialata but incurvula. I have that one (and it was on my list to send to you, so I guess you don't need that one now, huh!) It's a great little-leaved one. Sweet little flowers. Ann Wayman (who co-authored the most recent book on Hoyas) e-mailed me a few years ago when I found mine and there was a bit of a debate on DG about whether it was brevialata or incurvula and said it was (in her opinion) incurvula. That was good enough for me... Anyway, congrats on your new acquisition! Denise in Omaha

When you say "your building won't allow a venthood", I think what is actually the rule is that your building won't allow you to exhaust to the outside. In other words, you CAN have a recirculating hood. It's not that the building rules are that you must have an OTR MW, but that you must not have something that needs to vent to the outside. My advice is to get a proper 36" hood over your 36" cooktop, and have the hood be a recirculating style hood. Especially given the powerful Wolf cooktop you are contemplating. The problem with any so-called "36" OTR MW", like the models Joboxes cited, is that (A) they are really 30" MW's with stuck-on "wings" to get them to be 36" wide, (B) consequently, they look ugly/strange, and (C) also consequently, you won't get any kind of exhaust function at all. Even a 30" MW over a 30" cooktop doesn't do much because there is very little capture area other than a couple of squares toward the back. And with the 36" OTR MW setup you are envisioning, you will get no exhaust over the front burners AND no exhaust over the sides. This setup would not be a good use of your money, throwing it away actually. You may as well spend that money elsewhere and just open a window to vent for all the help a 36" OTR MW over that Wolf cooktop is going to give you. There have been a number of discussions on this forum about recirculating hoods. You will be much happier, and it will look slick too. Really, if you are going to be spending all this money, plus the stress, of a kitchen re-do, you should not get a 36" OTR MW over that excellent Wolf cooktop. I am linking a search on this Forum where I just typed in "recirculating hood", and came up with a number of threads. I am sure you'll find good suggestions in these threads. Here is a link that might be useful: Search Results for Threads on Recirculating Hoods

thx gobows, i did that & also found more websites through a book about building a small house. i guess i was confused - i thought there were actual brand names, but all i see are websites that sell them. when i asked my GC, he told me look through brochures (w/out giving me any names) i have found a mantel (through a website) that meets my needs & will be ordering this wknd.

I am a fabricator. You are doing the right thing by taking the time to find what you really like. For what its worth Typhoon Bordeaux is one of my stock colors and makes for a beautiful kitchen without being too busy. The only watch out is that the fabricator, if he's good, will involve you in the layout of the parts on the slabs to insure BEFOREHAND that you will find the grain transitions at the seams acceptable. another word of advice; don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the choices and fuss over miniscule preferences of one over another. The reality is that any material, even quartz, is going to look at least a little different than what you expect once its in your kitchen. consequently, agonizing over two or more nice choices is probably wasted energy since any one is probably going to be beautiful.