gosh, hard to remember everything now, but these things come to mind: outdoor wiring for x-mas lights under eaves and wiring run in trench down to street for future light posts at driveway's end. also ran water line to street for future irrigation needs. outdoor wiring for stereo speakers which will hang on the back porch adjacent to the deck we will build. perfect for outdoor entertaining. many key rooms in the house are also pre-wired for stereo speakers in the ceiling - the rooms that come to mind are the bedrooms, family room, loft and study/office. lots of water spigots on outside of house - two on the front, one on the back and one on each side. ran water and electric lines to the barn for future bathroom in barn and for electric in barn. DH did this himself. and he ran water lines to the garden for irrigation. electric outlet under center window in two-story foyer (we have a small shelf there) for x-mas decorations. ceiling fans on back porch - they are pure heaven this hot summer we're having! wired every room in house (except butler's pantry and small bathrooms, although master bath itself is wired) with data and phone and TV lines. (I'm serious. Even the laundry room and barn have the potential for computer, phone and TV.) put in special speaker at front door instead of doorbell - it rings on the phone when someone pushes the "doorbell" and we can talk to them over the phone line. This prevents dogs from running like maniacs to front door if a doorbell were to ring. made room in laundry/mudroom for future dog shower and a wall for hooks/cubbies for coats, boots, gloves, etc. made huge walk-in pantry. it is my favorite thing in the entire house. (almost - kitchen is real fave!) recessed area for fridge into the wall so that we could put in a full-size fridge and it looks like a counter-depth - saved us $600 on counter-depth fridge and we get a bigger fridge. the bump-out is in the walk-in pantry so completely unnoticeable. potfiller over cooktop - so handy for filling big pots of pasta! prep sink in island - I love the second sink. it's fabulous. instant hot tap at kitchen sink dedicated iron plug in laundry room manual transfer switch so that we can convert to generator power if electricity goes out. rough-in plumbing in basement for future bathroom when basement is finished. lights in glass-front cabinets in kitchen and butler's pantry - so pretty to show off dishes. special glass-front cabinet for cookbooks. extra strong vent-a-hood fan over cooktop - vents to outside and sucks away ALL cooking odors added blocking and extra support behind fireplace wall where we knew we'd be hanging a flat-screen tv. added blocking to all bathrooms where towel bar and tp holders would be installed. put tilt-out trays on fake drawer fronts under sink for sponges, etc. put pull-out trays in many of my kitchen cabs - great for easy access to pots and pans. that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

Should be relatively easy? New construction, walls are all open, both can be simply vented through the basement wall. Is there anything more complicated about installing a condensing water heater than installing a standard water heater? I hear the only different thing is the addition of a drain pipe.

My installation charges are per apliance, so therefore, it wold be more. I am in So. California, and my installation costs are about $300 for my duel fuel ranga and $250 for my hood. Even with wall ovens, you will still need an oven cabinet. This would most likely be les than regular wall and/or base cabinets. Hope this helps.

When you orient your house, try to have it on a bit of an angle, so that no side faces dead north. The north side tends to be cold and uninviting, and the lack of sunshine encourages mold and algae growth on the siding. We rotated our house about 30 degrees, so the back gets morning sun, although in the winter, the sun just barely hits the back. Our view is directly north, so the temptation would have been to face the house that way, but we still have a great view, and a little sun on the back deck. Make sure your basement is properly detailed to keep moisture out. This includes waterproofing, drainage at the footing, gravel backfill, proper grading away from the foundation for drainage, and gutters to prevent large quantities of water from dumping directly at the top of the foundation. That way, the basement space will be usable and pleasant. Our basement in upstate SC is the exact same temperature range as Annie's, so we haven't added any HVAC, although we may add a mini-split should we use the space. Summer humidity is an issue here in the south, so we run a dehumidifier in the warmer months.