Yeah, I tried to take the survey---it is so poorly constructed, the average home owner cannot answer the questions---because of the subject matter or how worded. I finally gave up after the fourth or fifth step.

What age and how many kids are you working with? I think that makes a big difference. We did some benches with each student painting an unglazed ceramic tile (thumbprint animals on pastel backgrounds for the kindergarten). We outlined and glazed them, then the art teacher helped us fire them in the kiln. I saw another project that was great and could be done on benches -- each child drew their own version of something. I remember one was apples. Each apple was stylized, patchwork or had doodles and details. Some were short and fat, others were tall and narrow. I think one of the others was hearts and each heart was shaped and decorated the way the student wanted. The were very colorful and remind me somewhat of the animal bench above. They work best with smaller classes. We were doing entire grade levels and had to get more kids on one bench. The smaller classes had some fillers -- shapes we made from clay, cut out painted and glazed (suns, moons and rockets on the space bench, umbrellas on the beach bench, etc.). Others had mosaic pieces -- snakes and bugs on the garden bench and such.

Wow, you do have a tricky one. Unfortunately, it's most likely not going to easy to find a town within commuting distance of the kind of major city you are looking for where you can build such an "unusual" (ultra-green/chemical-free building is b*tch expensive) structure on that budget. Maybe Midwestern cities like St Louis or Kansas City where an hour out of the city you're dodging cows. (Or that was the case when I lived in central MO, although that was - man, I'm getting old - almost 15 years ago.) I can tell you it's pretty much Not Gonna Happen near Boston or NYC. I live an hour outside of Boston and a half-decent building lot by itself is almost your entire budget, forget your site work, bringing utilities in, etc., before even getting the house framed you're well over budget. But one phrase jumps out at me: "young scientists working in academia" - aren't there quite a few big universities that are NOT in major metro areas? Two that come to mind are University of Wisconsin in Madison WI and Purdue University in West Lafayette IN (which is far enough "out there" that cheap land/homes should be feasible). Consider private schools as an option for your children as well - this may open up some more locations where the jobs are available, the land is available, the neighborhoods are to your liking, but the schools aren't quite up to par. I do have to ask, though, have you considered an older existing house with minimal restoration/modernization? Materials 75-100 years old would have done all their offgassing decades ago, and the materials used would have been less likely to offgas in the first place anyway - no plastics, no plywood and particleboard, etc. Then you can do the needed restoration using safe materials. There are lovely houses in the suburbs and exurbs of Midwestern cities that would be WELL within your budget even accounting for some immediate restoration costs. I think you do have one idea that is totally erroneous - most Americans don't have anyone to help them out with down payments either!

keep it warm and humid. They'll probably need some shade, they're understory plants. And they hate wind. good luck!