I am so tempted to rip this up just to check if the roots/rhizomes are viable....I posted earlier a few weeks ago...it was bought and planted in mid january or so, but we've had some freezing temps....Its supposed to be a P. Nigra, but its fadiing in color..there is some tinge of green towards the base....its not much of a picture, but all my other bamboo have give me a shoot or two, so..... The first shot, sorry, I didn't flip it, but you get the point... http://s179.photobucket.com/albums/w287/utuss/?action=view&current=DSC00557.jpg http://s179.photobucket.com/albums/w287/utuss/?action=view&current=DSC00555.jpg

Leslie, you need a flat bottom boat, I guess it would be sorta like running a trot-line. I am Sorry for all your mud, but we all may be want some of it before long. My wife told me that some area in northwest Ar. received almost 7" yesterday, we got a nice shower south of Ft. Smith. Larry

I don't know how long you plan to live there. But if it is for the long term, I wouldn't want a 2 story if I was on 15 acres. In the master bath, I assume that it is a doorless shower. If so I would also make it a barrier free entry so it could double as handicap accessible if necessary (make sure doors are wide enough). Also, on the showers check carefully where the showerhead is and make sure there is enough room so that water doesn't splash outside the shower. I'm not a big fan of having the dining area between the kitchen and family room. One advantage of having the open kitchen is that you can talk to people in the family room and can watch TV if you have one there. With the dining room in between it is hard to talk to people in the family room. Do you not have a pantry? I couldn't see one there. Also, with a nice sized utility room I would put the freezer there instead of in the garage. The office is awfully small. Is that large enough? Can 2 people work in it? I had a very narrow office at my old house and it was nice in some ways. However, if anyone came in to talk to me they couldn't sit down as there was no room for a chair for visitors (in practice, they would just sit on the built in desk which wasn't ideal).

OK, I am sorry that I have to be so blunt here, but the present placement of the porch fireplace and required chimney stack really bugs me! I'm glad you posted the elevations but I think you need to ask your architect to do a more accurate one of the porch side. The front drawing shows the porch chimney stack sticking up above the ridge of the house (as it properly needs to do for good draft and safety), but the elevation of the porch side doesn't show it sticking up anywhere near that far, perhaps because if it is shown correctly you will have the same aesthetic objections that I do. I have looked and looked at the porch elevation to see it is just a perspective problem, but I don't think so. If it was shown correctly the chimney above the porch roof surface would completely dwarf the part below the porch roof. It will assume a smokestack appearance. Frankly, having the FP there just doesn't work for me anyway. Can it be moved closer to the house (which will improve the spatial relationship between the parts of the chimney above and below the plane of the roof) and place it where it will not block the center view of the porch and second floor window? Perhaps closer to the DR and Game room intersection? That would also balance the chimney locations a bit better. I think your drawing shows that the fireplace may be two-sided which will have to change if the FP is moved closer to the house wall, but the disadvantage of where it is now is so extreme it seems worth it to me. I can see from your inspiration pics that the TX Hill style orginated from German immigrants' stone houses which have distinctly balanced, almost 18th c. proportions, with evenly spaced fenestration and lower roof profiles. It's a very attractive interpretation of a vernacular style and I find it very appealing. Is one reason to have the porch FP where it is to keep the radiant heat away from the main building during the outdoor grilling season? If so perhaps a different, more projecting porch pattern could be designed that would move the FP even farther away, reducing the need for the chimney to be so high. If not, maybe it could be joined to house near the game room ell, making it convenient to kitch and DR? I think you loose so much of the very attractive open veranda feel of that fabulous porch by having it where it is sited now! If you are quite dedicated to the FP placement where it is now, please feel free to assume I just don't get it! But if what I've written causes you to review the placement while it's still on paper (and cheap to change), perhaps you'll come up with an improved design that you'll like even better. L.