Jo-- I'm not sure that IS turf in that strip--wouldn't surprise me if it's that mini-mondo. I use mini-mondo as an unerplanting in Harry Lauder's pot--works a treat and NEVER needs trimming... To ME it looks like a professionally planned garden that's been under an amateur garder-owner's care and planning for a few years. I inherited a professionally designed garden, and over the years, as light conditions (and my tastes) changed --I've pulled plants out and replaced them with other things. Not to mention the two blooming under-story trees I had to take down because they caught black-knot. There are few of the original perennial/shrub plantings left. And theh there was that huge retaining wall/paver project we did two years ago... Flyingflower--both the house and the design seem "French" to me--and fairly formal. Perhaps if you got online and looked at the local designers work, you could find someoen who could give you a similar look--you MIGHT even find the person who did it! Otherwise--I'd be tempted to knock on the door and ask...or write a letter with some form of contact info (like an e-mail address) and ASK. I'd address it to "The Owner of the Yellow House with the Gorgeous Garden" so they don't automaticlally assume it's JUNK. If I got such a note, I'd be flattered. And respond. But then, we all know I'm weird... melanie

saskatchewan, I got a better one. I had a drywall crew once who also owned a drywall delivery service. These guys were all from the same family, all ex-marines, and all were ex-professional 'wrestlers'. They were huge. I'm not small, but I'd get a crick in my neck looking up at them. 'Baby', the smallest, was 6' 5" tall and weighed in at 300 pounds; all muscle, no fat. Heck, even their grandfather, who made Jack Palance look like a floozy, worked on the jobs. When they drywalled a house, the crew would come out the night before to verify all the measurements, discuss any issues, problems, difficult areas, plan out their attack; and then....the next day they'd drywall and finish the house. All within 48 hours from bringing in the drywall to perfection. In 2001, I was building a house in what was an old cornfield. It was the old hunting grounds of this one guy, who every night, tooted by and screamed obscenities at us while we were doing F and F (foundation and framing), because it was his old (illegal), hunting grounds, and we ruined it. He drove this old, nasty pickup that had a beer can muffler and relied on grace, rather than mechanics, to make it run. He'd slow down, scream a drunken slur or two, then carefully rev it up and take off down the road. Well, I was standing out there with my drywall crew of huge ex-marines and WWF wrestlers, discussing the merits of Grabber vs. McFeely's drywall screws, when he went by one evening, and leaned out the window and yelled "You #######! If I had a liddle mur time, I'd kick evury one of yur azzes!" He must have had that extra, additional shot of encouragement at the Hilltop Tavern, because he also gave us a big long....er...."number 1 salute" with his middle finger. Then he gave that ol' truck just a little 'too' much gas, and stalled it. Right there on the road in front of little ol' me and five men who might have been extras in the movie '300'. I don't believe I've ever seen a more panicked look on a person's face at that moment, when the five drywall guys started to move towards his truck, one of them saying "what did you say......?"

I would be curious in seeing if you have a good grasp on the numbers I posted originally and the effects they truly have on a home, along with a program you use that actually takes into account some of these things, such as thermal bridging and extremely low infiltration rates...cause ours does. Some of the hvac guys I talked to their programs maxed out at r29 insulation in the walls! Not to mention their "infiltration numbers were, well not numbers at all, but rater "loose, medium, and tight". (tight being 2 ach@50 pac, still way too loose). Its not a fight between who is smarter. Its a matter of new ways of doing things. Tried and true and gut feelings are all fine and dandy on typical code homes, but not here. It gets people out of their comfort zones and actually size things correct, heaven forbid. My HERS rater and ES rater came back with similar numbers now. I guess we are all crazy and the home will really, really suck. (just like the PH homes in VT, IL, MI, and other places that use a single point cooling such as a mini split with great results....)

I have built 2 houses. One with a little designer help, and one without any designer help. We have "mistakes" in our first house that we are now correcting before we sell it. A designer could have helped us avoid those and I am sure we would have had a better laid out basement plan! (it is pretty bad.) Whenever I have had a designer, they have usually saved me money by choosing a cheaper option, using things I already had, or avoided mistakes. We had a little designer help on the 2nd (vacaton) home. The things she picked out were great. Again, we made a couple changes on the plans, this time (our 2nd house) the changes we made were better, but I think the designer could have really helped make those changes great! To save money on the designer, I usually do a lot of thinking and leg work before I meet with her. I collect fabrics from Joanns (cheaper) bring tile from big box store, or tile store, I just try to be ready knowing what I want and avoid more hourly fees due to my indecisiveness or trips to stores. So I say go with the designer, but know what you want, and choose carefully. Ask the hourly fee or fee per job. Check a few and talk to happy customers. And make sure she knows your budget. I am OK if some things come from Joanns, big box stores, etc. My designer was too. Another designer I worked with couldn't use cheaper things, so I won't use her again. Make sure you and the designer are on the same page. And have fun!