Beautiful home! Here's the straight poop on mini-splits and contracting air conditioning in general.

1. Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, LG, Sanyo, Toshiba, and most other brands are all pretty much alike, technology wise. I have installed a lot of Fujitsu and have friends that have installed other brands. When we compare notes, they all seem pretty much the same. They are most all Japanese and use the same technology. By the way, ductless split systems are the absolute best option in my opinion. They offer reliability, extreme energy efficiency, and flexibility.
2. All contractors are NOT created equal. Here's where the big difference comes in. Most homeowners, when deciding on a new system get three "bids". Getting different options is a great idea. Getting three "prices" is almost always a bad idea. When you shop based on price (not that you are), contractors know this and will adjust their pricing accordingly. IF the scope of work and the quality stayed at a high level this would be great. The fact is that if a contractor knows he is competing based on the cost of the job, he will cut his cost in order to compete. This almost always means cutting quality and things that contribute to the reliability and energy efficiency of the system. A good strategy is to get three contractors to give you their recommendations based on what you would like to accomplish. Ask for a list of past customers you can call as references. A good contractor will be anxious for you to talk to his past customers. A poor one, not so much. Make your final decision based on all the factors you have, but give extra weight to how you feel about the quality of the contractor you are considering. You will have to live with this decision for a long time. Make it a good one.

Ductless split systems are, in my opinion, the future of HVAC in this country and are already more common than conventional systems in other countries. SEER ratings are based on average heavy loads. Since your heating and air conditioning system rarely operates at these kinds of loads, the SEER isn't a good reflection of what you can expect with ductless split systems. These systems have much better control than conventional systems and are able to increase or decrease the capacity of the system based on the load on the system. I have written several articles on the ductless systems and current debates. Please feel free to see one of them on my blog, here.

Good luck on your new system. I know you will be happy with ductless technology.

Thank you kindly for your input :) And you're right- we were planning to get at least 3 bids on the job and weigh out price in addition to how comfortable we feel with the contractors to make our final decision. I think we were just both a little blown away by the first estimate. We did however have a wonderful meeting with the owner (two meetings actually). We originally ran into him at a home show and then scheduled for an estimate. He came to our house first to have a look, take measurements, etc and then returned the following week with 2 plans, a price breakdown, and the contact info for a couple he recently installed for that were like us (our age, one child similar age, and similar home style). I haven't contacted his reference yet, but I do wholeheartedly feel like we would be well taken care of if we went with contractor #1. He spent over an hour with us each meeting, we had coffee and talked about this and that- incredibly friendly and reassuring. But then, I also work in an office with salespeople and being reassuring and friendly is all part of getting the job ;)

Your estimate may be a little high. It depends a lot on what the scope of work is, but I doubt he's crazy high. These things are a little more expensive than conventional systems. It sounds like you are doing a good job of checking and verifying. Also, you're right, being nice is part of the job. One last thing, for $17K you should get a good heat load calculation to make sure he's putting in the right equipment. Best wishes!