My Romantic Four Seasons garden, (to be viewed with the same by Vivaldi): Winter, the entry walkway is in bloom with rows of Sweet Alyssium, and Paperwhite Narcissi, both sides of the sidewalk. In California this serves as a "winter snow-white" theme,in an area where snow never falls. The white Noisettte "Nastarana" and two "Westside Road Cream Tea" roses bloom through December. Dwarf Myrtle along the sidewalks share their fragrance with us when their foliage brushes against skirts and pant legs. Spring: fragrant purple violets, their green heart shaped foliage forms pretty clumps, forget-me-nots will come into bloom with Nicotiana mutabilis, and purple and white sweet peas, Sweet William, that I grew from seed this winter is already blooming. I have great masses of blue flowers that I forget the name of, their tasty black seeds are used on breads in the Middle east. Purple and white Petunias bloom beside "Mlle.Cecille Brunner". Summer: most of my roses are Old Garden Tea and Noisette roses and are pink and or white, so I'm adding dozens of purple Verbena among the roses, peach hued foxgoves and sky blue delphinium for color variation. I plan to plant a row of Pernetiana roses mingled with blue and purple delphinium and Monkshood. For fragrance I have Confederate jasmine, and Poets jasmine, wisteria, honeysuckle, Mexican mock orange vine and lavenders in every part of the property. I'm drawing up plans for a citrus tree to head a fan shaped herb garden and to provide shade for it. I love citrus because it has evergreen foliage and ornamental fruit in winter. I plan to have as many herbs as possible: bee balm, thyme in many forms, basil, lads love, tansy, spearmint and strawberries in crockery pots, English, Spanish and French lavender, parsley in abundance, lemon verbena, purple sage, chamomile, yarrow and an espaliered nobilis bay tree in a pot. Luxrosa

The peeve of mine that gets the best workout has to be improper detailing of porches or porticos that folks are trying to make appear classically-inspired. Seems like most of the time the lintels are larger or thicker than the column underneath - a big no-no. Then, the entablature is compressed to fit under the eaves or second floor window line so much so that the proportions are further distorted. It is also likely that the columns are some mishmash of style, composition or proportion. If the beam is arched, it appears it was cut freehand with a jigsaw, without regard to any evenness or flow to the curving line. The overhanging portions are quite often botched, too. From zero overhang to a fascia that is equal in visual weight to the lintel, we see it all around here. You might expect this on starter homes or where an owner/builder is in charge, but on houses double the median price? I do go on, but I'll finish with this-- good proportions don't cost more than poor ones. Casey

Adkbml, maybe I can help by breaking it down as how an artist would work because the process is really very similar. (And architects please correct me where I'm wrong!) 1. First I will come up with a concept. As I'm a still life artist, let's say I decide I want to create a drawing using peonies in a blue and white bowl. That's the concept. ( I would equate this to the homeowner saying I want a two story house with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, with a game room, an office and my lot is a hilly 3 acres.) 2. Once I have my concept, I set up a still life that recreates the idea in my head. (Here is where the homeowner and the architect/designer get together and the homeowner shows the architect his/her houzz and pinterest images, their want list, their need list, their wish we could have list, and their budget. It's where the architect and homeowner walk the property and where the architect takes notes.) 3. My next step is to roughly block in the image on paper. I'm not concerned at this point with the details or the exact placement, but only the overall placement of the larger shapes. So I'll sketch where the peonies are and where the blue and white bowl is. I might have water drops, but I'm not concerned about them until step 5. The flowers on the blue vase will be defined in step 5 too. (This is where someone like ARG would sit down with the builder and the homeowner and have a design session where he sits and sketches out how the house might look and where things might go. The builder would give input as to whether it's feasible in terms of price, etc and this is where they play.) 4. Once I'm confident my larger shapes are where I want them, I start to slowly define them by blocking in my darks and lights. I am still not concerned with details but only refining them to get shadow and light. So I'll make sure my darks are where I want them, and my lights. (Now it's up to the architect to go back to his/her office and put together a first plan showing the exterior as well as the interior. At this point it may not even be a computer model but just hand drawn or it may be done on the computer. Lots is still up in the air. Changes are made based on the homeowner's feedback) 5. Next is when I start to really define everything. Here is where I refine everything so it really starts to look like a blue and white vase with peonies in it. Here's where I'll define individual petals on the peonies, or make sure the leaves have the right edges. It's here that I'll finally make sure to include those water drops. (Once the homeowner is happy with the overall look, the architect will create the drawings and plans showing all the details in the house. Window placement, kitchen appliance placement. A set of drawings will also show electrical, etc.) 6. Last is where I put in all the small details and highlights that make my drawings glow. This is where I put in some tiny white highlights to bring out the "shine" on the vase, or the translucence of the water drop. It's also where I might put in some sharp lines to define the lines in the blue vase. (These are the drawings that go to the planning board and are used by the builder to actually build the house.)

I love the look of your home to be! I hope you post pictures as your build progresses. Here's a link to another home that I think is by the same builder I posted above; I'm including it for the shingle style (I think?) and some of the features like the cupola and exterior details. I walked through this house several years ago; some things seemed impractical but I like the octagonal dining space and the exterior (although some might say it's too busy) and love the landscaping. The link is to a listing that's 4+ years old, but still has pictures up.