A number of years ago, something similar happened in an office I worked in. The people left town without letting the agency know (this was before scheduling companies). They had 2 indoor cats & they had had a big dog, but it had...something. died, kid took it to his new place, something. In-house agent shows the house one day & there's the cutest little dust mop of a dog inside, friendly as all get out, bouncing off the walls, wagging, etc. Cats are under the bed. Agent notices the water bowl is empty, so she fills it & writes owners a note, something like: "Congratulations on your new dog! showed house, filled water bowl, picked up pillows off floor." Homeowner returns, flies into a rage, demands agency pay for the damage caused by... somebody else's dog. That's right. The dog was a "neighborhood" dog, & of course after this nobody was claiming it. Broker declined, said homeowner hadn't even told her they were going out of town, & agent did not let the dog in. There was no way to find out who had let the dog in. Homeowner said her insurance company told her "they're gonna make you pay for it", especially since agent had written a note "admitting" that the dog was in the house. Broker contacts liability carrier who says: no dice. Brokerage had no way of knowing that a dog inside the house was not the homeowner's dog. Adjuster said it would have been worse had the dog belonged there & the agent had let it out. What you have to do, I think, is communicate *everything*, even if it seems like you're overcommunicating. Tell agent you're going out of town, post placards on doors ("Dog in backyard is friendly but jumps on people" etc). & realize that sometimes stuff just happens, & nobody's going to pay you for it. The cats walked in like they lived there. The dog walked in (probably) like it lived there. Everybody lived over it. & we did sell that house.

Thanks for all the help everyone! I will use this thread as a reference over the coming months as we work through our plans with the architect and builder. trail, I had put only 1.5 baths on my "critical needs" list, and 2 bathrooms on my "desirable wants" list. I'll switch the 2 bathroom to the need list. Counter space. I expect this may come down to - do I have an island (or peninsula or something) for extra counter space, or do we use the dining table as prep? Looking forward to hearing any more advice you think of! angela12345, we may rent the place out to friends or acquaintances once in a while, but primarily it is just for us. Great advice about noting the things we use frequently in our primary kitchen, I'll do that. Sleeps 26, holy cow!! Our place won't be nearly big enough for that, but I do want to be able to sleep 8 comfortably, and up to 10 or 12 on air mattresses or pull out couches. For the next few years the most likely over night guest scenario is one other couple and 2 to 3 additional kids (in addition to our two). We will need one bedroom big enough for a couple of bunks I think. I agree about small bedrooms otherwise. If DH and I do end up living there semi-permanently after the kids grow up we could consider merging two bedrooms to come up with a more spacious master bedroom (if needed). dilly - absolutely! :) Thanks again rainwood. Interesting that your LR is the smaller space. We frequently have 'girls' weekends at various cottages off season, usually spring or fall. That is when I find we need the bigger living space - usually there are a few of us playing games at the DR table, a few reading magazines in the LR, a couple napping, etc. Usually we are 8-10 women for these weekends. We will have a screened-in porch and will likely either be out on the lake or on the porch from May to September. But off season people seem to like gathering around the fireplace/stove and chatting/reading, etc. Hopefully our architect will be able to create multi-functional spaces for us, given the small(ish) overall size of the cottage. maire-cate, great space saver recommendations, thank you. Noted! kaismom: I think your recommendation is closest to what I had in mind - abundant comfortable seating, large communal tables open to the kitchen. Most kitchens I see with this sort of open/communal type setting are unfitted. I'd love an unfitted kitchen (like mtn is considering) but I assume I need at least one very efficient fitted run (galley like) given the small space we will likely be looking at. No doubt the architect can help with this, but I do want to give him some preliminary guidance. During summer (only about 4 months here) we will cook and spend almost all time outdoors. We'll use the bbq for cooking for about 7 or 8 months a year probably, but will likely eat indoors off season. Unless we put an outdoor fireplace in our screened-in porch and make it 3-season friendly ... but that is a big maybe and probably a few years off. The pantry is on my "critical needs" list for the architect. Rosie - "What I'd really want if I could have it, though, is a rectangular window seat with a fabulous view of the water and goings-on inside and out, like our friends. Everyone always wants to sit there, and it's the most valuable real estate in the house--cantilevered off its side." - sounds like a great area. You don't have a pic by any chance? It sounds very intriguing. Crockpots are a good idea. They just take up space though, but I can bring them up for the big cooking weekends (which will likely only be 2-3x per year). localeater - that is DH's only point on our "critical needs" list - an area for kids that is away from the main living area for those rainy days, esp. in spring or fall. I agree that open loft spaces aren't ideal given noise issues, so we are probably looking at space in a walk-out basement. Our site is sloped so a walk-out makes sense I guess (I didn't want one originally, but I'm coming around to accept it). Given our budget and the site, the basement makes sense.

Update: the Home Depot delivery guys said it was an "extremely dangerous" delivery to take it up to our third floor (note I already have full size GE stackable up there. They said it was probably brought up via magic-really!). They made a big stink and said they may drop it and put a big hole in my wall and they went on and on about possible injury to themselves. However, they put it on us to decide whether we wanted it delivered and said we would have to waive any damage. I sent it back. (More drama with other washer they were delivering to the basement I will spare you.). Home Depot was great but I had to call them and have them call delivery company to get workers to leave other washer. It was very complicated and stressful. Two hours of back and forth about it! So I'm back to square one with the third floor washer. I'm thinking I will shop at local appliance store so they can advise on the delivery and won't subcontract. (They are the ones who suggested Electrolux for third floor but I went with Home Depot because of better price). What are your thoughts on a "compact" washer/dryer. Bosh has 24in. Electrolux has one too. It will be easier to get it up the stairs but I know nothing about "condensing" dryers. Note we have new large capacity washer in the basement so I don't need to do super large loads upstairs. Thoughts? Thanks!

I'd dress it up more Mediterranean/Spanish style. Keep those arches...red tile roof...cream or white paint...black wrought iron hardware...(faux stained) wood garage door...bougainvillea (only with gardener. Otherwise ouch.)...I could spend a lot of your money! Google images for "mediterranean ranch homes" or "spanish ranch homes", possibly with "california" thrown in. It's what your house WANTS to be.