Some gated communities require you to use one of their list of approved builders. In others, all the available lots are already owned by builders so if you find a lot you like, the builder who owns it will usually only sell it to you IF you enter a contract to let him build the house. In still others (like mine), you can buy a lot and then choose whomever you want to build it for you. Please be aware that Texas is a wonderful place to live BUT there if very little regulation of the building industry here. Every town/city/county has its own building code... and in many place there are no building codes at all in effect except those governing septic systems which are required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. There is no statewide regulation of builders at all. No requirement that builders be licensed, bonded, insured, or show that they have any knowledge of home building or even of common business practices. At one time, Texas had the Texas Residential Construction Commission "TRCC" which was supposed to regulate builders and ensure some level of consumer protection for homeowners. However, to become a licensed builder under the TRCC, all one had to do was fill out a one page form (basically swearing that one had never been convicted of a felony) and pay a $500 fee. A week later, you were a licensed builder! Kind of getting ordained in some bogus online church so that one can perform marriages...except that the potential HARM is so much greater! Anyway, the TRCC was totally hijacked by unscrupulous builders who turned it into a "builder protection agency" that forced homeowners to jump through additional legal hoops before they could bring suit against a builder that ripped them off. The TRCC had no teeth to require builders to actually FIX any defects in a house but they could make the homeowner withdraw a lawsuit if the homeowner hadn't gone through all the TRCC hoops before filing suit. And TRCC often dragged its feet until the homeowner's right to sue the builder for building defects expired due to statutes of limitations. The TRCC was such an embarrassment that even Republican Carole Keeton Strayhorn said "if it were up to me personally, I would blast this TRCC builder-protection agency off the bureaucratic books." . Well, the Texas finally legislature got the message and closed TRCC down a couple of years ago. TRCC has not been replaced with anything so today, Texas builders don't even have to bother gettin a "mail-order license". As far as the building industry is concerned, Texas is still totally the "wild, wild west." Anyone can be a builder! Go get a magnetic sign to stick on the side of your pickup truck, print up a few business cards and start handing them out and VOILA, you're a Texas builder. Yes, there are some marvelous builders in the state but, I fear we also have far more than our share of the fly-by-night rip-off artists plus an overwhelming number of good-ole-boys who probably got into the business with the best of intentions (at least initially) but who simply don't have the brains to handle the complications of building. Or running any other kind of business for that matter. They make bad decisions, get in over their heads, start trying to cut corners to stay afloat and pretty soon, some poor customer is left holding the bucket on a very expensive lemon! And, while there are some very minimal laws in Texas regarding the warranties that a builder must, by statute, give you - be aware that, if at any point after building your home, your builder decides to declare bankruptcy, those statutory warranties will do you absolutely no good. The builder's statutory warranty obligations are wiped clean in the bankruptcy along with all other debts he might owe...including any legal judgment you might have gotten against him UNLESS your legal judgement recites that the builder defrauded you and the judgment is for damages flowing directly from that fraud. I tell you this as a way of saying that you need to be be very cautious when hiring a builder in Texas. Make absolutely sure that the builder has been in business quite some time, has an exemplary reputation, and is financially stable. Insist that he be bonded and insured with a reputable company. Do not allow the builder to disturb a single blade of grass on your property until you have documents showing that he is bonded and properly insured IN YOUR HANDS. If you are thinking of hiring a small builder, ask him for the names of every previous building-related business he has ever held an ownership interest in or been an office in. Then check with the TX secretary of state business filing section for the names of all businesses that he has ever had an ownership interest in. You can do the search online at http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/sosda/index.shtml. I think searches run $1 each. If you find out that your builder didn't mention all the company names he has built under...BEWARE! Also, have a background check run on the builder personally and find out where he has lived/worked for as far back as you can find. Then, check at the county courts in your area (your county and all surrounding counties within a reasonable driving distance) and in any other areas where he has lived to find out if he has ever been sued by a homeowner client. If you find evidence of such a suit, get copies of the petition and answer and read them...maybe even contact the homeowner who filed suit and get his/her side of the story. Then decide for yourself if you want to proceed with that builder. Also, go to the county land records to find out if any subcontractors have filed liens against any of the houses he has built due to nonpayment. If your builder doesn't pay his subcontractors, you could wind up on the hook to pay them again. This will be a two step process because you'll first have to look for filed documents where the purchasing homeowner enters into an agreement with the builder to build the house and give the builder a lien against the property for that purpose. These can typically be found by searching on the builder's name as "grantee". Then look for liens filed against the property address by subcontractors. Here you'll probably have to either search by the legal address of the property. Also, go online to the federal bankruptcy system (www.pacer.gov) and search to see if the builder has ever filed a personal bankruptcy or any company that he has ever previously held an ownership interest in has ever filed bankruptcy. Bad builders are notorious for filing bankruptcy then picking a new business name and starting over. They'll claim the "experience" of all those years of building under other names, but they won't tell you how many disgruntled customers they left in their wake. Of course you should check with the BBB but frankly, I've never found that they have much info on builders that is helpful or up to date. Builders change names too frequently or don't bother to join the BBB so a BBB search is unlikely to pull up anything relevant. A better source of info is Angie's List (well worth the cost to join in my opinion.) You might also want to visit the HOBB (homeowner's for better buildings) to see if anyone has posted a complaint about the builder you are considering. Unfortunately, I don't think their complaint section is searchable so it is not as helpful as it might otherwise be. When you do choose a builder, insist that your contract NOT include a binding arbitration clause. If you get into a dispute with the builder and decide that arbitration is the route to go, you and the builder can always make the decision THEN. To agree to binding arbitration up front is, IMHO, extremely stupid. Also if you are building in an area where there are no building codes in effect, have it written into your contract that the builder will follow the codes effective in the nearest large metro area or some other defined building code. AND make sure your contract gives you the right to hire an independent third party inspector to determine if something is/is not up to the code that you and the builder have agreed to...and that if it is not, the 3rd party inspector's decision is determinative and will be binding. (BTW - If you are building anywhere in the central Texas area, I can recommend a fantastic inspector. Just email me by clicking on the "my page" link after my name in this post.) Final piece of advice: I would NOT recommend building in Texas while living at a distance. You want to be able to be onsite at least every couple of days to keep an eye on things. Good LUCK!

Thanks for all the answers so far! Sometimes I feel like I've worked every possibility out in my head, but others can be so insightful. I haven't yet gone to a bank with any real plans. I've opened a savings account at the bank I hope to get a mortgage from and have picked up an application so I'll know what I need when I'm ready. One of my biggest concerns is that I won't be able to get financing for a "garage apartment." Although, looking at countless floor plans online, how does one determine what is a garage and what is a drive under house? How would the bank? I don't imagine that zoning would be an issue as I live in a rural community in Upstate NY. People around here buy property and plop down trailers or even campers. Anyway, this is the reason why I've toyed with the idea of building an actual small "house." If the bank does squash my hopes for the garage apartment, I would go that route. Of course as others have brought up, I don't know the future and if I'll always be single. That's why I liked the idea of a garage apartment. Thinking that at any point in the future, if I needed more room (and/or had the finances) I would build a larger house and rent out the apartment. I've already decided that any design that I would consider has to have an outside entrance separate from the garage itself. I don't anticipate moving away from this area. I work for my family's business which is two minutes away from my property. If I were to ever move away, I would either rent it out or sell it back to my parents. I've toyed with the idea of renting, but inventory is pretty limited and rather expensive. If I could stay within my budget for a build, my mortgage would be cheaper than any apartment I could find around here. Thanks again and I look forward to hearing more...

Thank you all for the kind words--I'm beaming ear-to-ear! I've been digging through boxes and boxes of files and paperwork looking for specific information. I'll post that Wednesday. Meanwhile, here are some answers I can give without referencing anything: The fireplace is full masonry. The stones you see are 6 inch thick granite; the hearthstone is also a granite slab. The stones were ordered split faced. There is definitely mortar holding the stones, but it is recessed about 1 inch giving the fireplace a dry-stacked look. You can also see that the stones are quite close together, further emphasizing the dry-stack look. Overall dimensions are 9 ft high by 7 ft wide with a 1 ft high hearth. The opening is 40 in wide by 38 in high and shallow, like a Rumford fireplace. It sits in a 3 ft deep bump-out and is surrounded by casement windows. As soon as I take updated pictures of my kitchen and breakfast room, I will finally post them in the finished kitchens blog. Tonight is crazy here, but I'll definitely try to answer more questions tomorrow.

A gentleman who'd graduated a few years before I did used that bit with me when I was a mere first year vet student breathing in and out of a paper sack over neuroanatomy. Because by the time you get to that rather restricted population, you're talking about people who are used to being in the top 5% now being spread across a new bell curve and finding it distinctly unpleasant. The bottom of your average professional school class is still more intelligent than the general population - by a standard deviation or two. I don't imagine architecture is any different. Plus, you have to throw in a creative element which is challenging to teach. This, in fact, is probably the dividing line between good design and bad design. Those in the profession who lack the creative element are going to gravitate to positions (and within corporate structure is often a good spot) that provides enough distinct parameters that their lack of creativity is a plus, rather than a detriment. They can still design a perfectly acceptable building. It just doesn't... sing. I tend to view rooflines from the perspective of the Great White North - must shed snow and water, as well as provide room for insulation so you don't lose all the heat out the roof. Ergo, when looking for inspiration for my own project, I've taken a close look at traditional Scandinavian building - along with other areas that have a similar climate.