As a southerner I've been through Opelika many times and have friends that are from there. Your love of it is understandable. It is a wonderful town, beautiful old homes and if I had to relocate it would be at the top of my list.

@ worthy Thanks for your insights. We discussed the possibility of adding transoms above the bedroom doorways to bring more light into the hallway. The concern was the expense of adding more height to the second floor. A solar tube (not visible from the street) might be a cheaper option, although I always worry about roof leaks. I have mixed feelings regarding a basement laundry. I like the separation from the living spaces to minimize noise and potential water damage. However, I agree that bringing laundry up and down flights of stairs can be annoying (this is our current situation). At our next meeting with the architect we will reopen the discussion of laundry room placement with the options of: 1) keeping it in the basement; 2) moving the guest bedroom to the basement to make space for a laundry room on the second floor; and 3) using the suggestion of @MrsPete to install a dumbwaiter. Regarding the house footprint, we have tried to be as efficient as possible with the space available. With a narrow city lot (80') in the historic district (zoning requires two story) the house footprint is constrained. We also really enjoy the backyard for gardening and kids play and do not want the house to swallow the entire lot. Overall, I think we have achieved a good balance of a nice size home (3,000 sq. ft.) with most of the features we desire, that also blends into the existing historic neighborhood (the newest house on the block is 100+ years old).

Blocking is great for keeping joists in line and needed on large spans, but relying on them as "nailers" for the decking is asking for trouble unless you are willing to use hangers on every block in order to keep them from moving with use of the deck. If you simply nail the blocking, eventually they will settle and the decking will follow the blocks leaving a roller coaster deck surface. I think you would be better to run girders every 4',the girders attached to the planned 2x12's and ledger, and joist opposite/inbetween using hangers attached to the "girts". The girders can be doubled up joist material same size or larger,(2x12's same as your header/ledger).

Do you have a budget for the following: --Double or trip window for that middle one with gray shutters and lined up with the front door --gray shutters for top window as well --Paint front door gray from roof color --Victorian style pillars --Victorian style porch railings painted white --Or if budget allows, a complete ictorian porch redo with a pitched roof that echoes the other roofline.