Thanks to everyone who contributed. I have to say that I'm very pleased with the answers from everyone and that Emmachas was reading my mind. I am going for a Louisiana style home based off of the designs by the Louisiana home architect A. Hays Town. No offense to those who don't like the design but it doesn't bother me. Everyone has different tastes. I just wanted to see if the home conveyed what I wanted to express and it appears that it does. My wife and I are from LA so just like this home we are a mixture of several different cultures. I'm half French acadian with a 1/4 English and 1/4 Scottish while my wife is 1/2 Irish and 1/2 English. I think this home is a perfect proportional mutt just like my family. It takes beautiful designs from all the contributing cultures and matches them in a way that works. Worthy's post made me smile not only because of his backhanded insult but because my lot is a wooded lot and I'm glad he could see my home in such a setting. Seeing that he is from frozen Canada, I couldn't see him appreciating a home designed for the hot and muggy Louisiana climate. It was also interesting to note that the posters from up north thought the house looked odd and out of place while those from the south thought it was a beautiful design. It makes perfect sense considering no one in their right mind would build a house like mine for a northern climate and if they did it better match the uniform culture of the area. This house with it's tall ceilings and large overhangs is for the deep south and the multi cultural elements point to Louisiana Thanks for all of the help and interesting posts. I'm very happy with the results. Here are some pictures of the home again and of the 11 acre lot on which I plan to build. By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-10-05 By bb19 at 2009-10-03 By bb19 at 2009-10-05 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-10-06 By bb19 at 2009-10-05 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-08-25 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-08-25 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-08-25 By bb19 at 2009-08-25 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-08-25 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-08-25 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-10-06 By bb19, shot with Canon PowerShot SD790 IS at 2009-10-06

FlGargoyle, thanks for the VRBO link. I will check it out. We have that house in Massachusetts, of course, which some might consider a nice place to get away and in New England not far from Boston. Many residents work in the city, in fact. But our experience loaning it out to a couple was less than ideal, so we are very reluctant to take a chance on something bad happening. But we did stay in a glorious 3 story home about a block off the beach in Virginia Beach. They had a whole book for us to take heed of, and in order to get our deposit back, everything had to go back in the proper spot, according to photos of every drawer in the kitchen identifying each item, and the linen closet, and the beach chairs and boogie boards and such. Very smart they were about running such a rental space. Whether that is common way that rentals keep track of possessions in VaBeach, I do not know. But it made it easy for the home to be ready for the next set of vacationers--who were lined up at the office waiting for the keys when we dropped our keys off at the end of our week. BTW, the kitchen was on the TOP floor. So was the living room with a huge TV and stereo. In short, all the expensive appliances were above flood level. The ground floor was constructed in what we call "breakaway walls," so that only the ground floor might be damaged by hurricane surges. No carpet, just cement floors, and they were painted like beach sand, with crabs and shells and seaoats and green sea water all around the two bedrooms and a bath down there. It was a lovely home, fully equipped, and had a gorgeous outdoor shower which I fell in love with.

Napili Kai Beach resort in Maui is wonderful. In a quiet area north of Kaanapaali Beach, not cheap but not expensive either. They have several pools, a large whirlpool, a putting green, beautiful beach, weekly luau andmai tai parties, etc. Lots to do and a fabulous restaurant on site! Just down the beach is Napili Shores Resort, too. Not as many amenities, but less expensive. Do make sure to drive the Road to Hana while in Maui....scenery is to die for! And in November you may be able to go on a whale watch cruise....highly recommend it. The Pacific Whale Foundation in Lahaina has a great line of whale watching and snorkeling trips to choose from and they do a fabulous job!!!

Sleevendog, this "hit" a tastebud nerve with me. A few month's old thread, but for SEAFOOD or SAILING, I must respond. I'm a long time member of GW/H but have long stretches of inactivity. But you did say SQUID! I've read (as you also must have) that the cooking of squid (for tender texture) needs to be either quick/just until cooked), or long (until some squid seized something breaks down...). I am always too hungry to wait for the long cook. My dearest other is not crazy for squid (or any non-fish non-fried seafood) --- all the more for greedy me. I was not always a fan because the word "squid" is too close to SQUIRM, SQUISH, SQUALLOR. "Calamari" has a more acceptable tap on the eardrum -- until some well intentioned soul explains that it's SQUID! Locally, there is a Vietnamese restaurant that offers "Crispy Calamari" salad under their appetizer menu. I am addicted, but also pragmatic. I have made numerous attempts to duplicate it or to arrive at an acceptable facsimile. I don't have a photo of any of my experiments, but here are a couple of snapshots of the Vietnamese restaurant dish. (There must be a bunch of kindred spirits out there, who, join me in photographing delectable dishes, running them through our olfactory mass spectrometer, then attempt to duplicate or better the dish. Yes??) Next year, sleevendog, please take me with you when the squid is brought aboard. I just remembered this--one year (late 50's or early 60's) hundreds of squid were run ashore and were stranded all over the ledges in our cove and the bay. I was very young and so didn't appreciate what a windfall that was. But lobster, clams, mackerel, and haddock (and crab) were so abundant in those days. (Crabs would often be tossed back into the bay.) So, Sleevendog, tell me what delectable dishes you' e created with all that squid.