In case you are looking for native ceanothus (C. sanguineus/ C. velutinus, etc.) in large quantities, you might try Plants of the Wild in Tekoa, WA or Fourth Corner Nursery just outside of Bellingham. I know that Fourth Corner is out of stock for this season, but you can reserve bare root plants for late 2006. According to the availability list at Plants of the Wild, there are plants available. I am familiar with regulations for importing plants from Canada to the U.S., but not the other way around. Funny you should mention non-returned e-mails, I tried to order from some BC nurseries and had the same problem as you. Here is a link that might be useful: Plants of the Wild Nursery

I have a brother that says he wants to do the same thing so I once did some searches to see what all might be out there. Never had any luck finding a floor plan quite like you describe but a search on "courtyard plans" will pull up some designs that wrap around in a U shape. Leaving one side open seems to be done to allow for a view and/or to allow more sunlight and air movement into the central courtyard. But you could easily modify such a plan by adding a final walkway or even just a high wall. There are also Spanish haciendas in Santa Fe that wrap around a central courtyard so you might try searching for Spanish style or Hacienda. If you find a floor plan you like, the adobe could be changed to some other exterior to provide a more "classic Roman" look. Based on the haciendas in Santa Fe, I can tell you that the central courtyard and rooms typically seem pretty small even when the hacienda seems enormous from the outside. I also think that you might find a house like you describe to be somewhat painful to live in. Imagine you and your fiance chasing each other in circles around the house. Actually, My DH and I do enough of that just circling around our central staircase in our 2 story ranch and our total circuit is proably less than 50 feet. Can't imagine if we were circling our entire lot looking for each other. LOL! I did however once visit a home in Houston that you might have liked. They had the garage and a small guest house at the front two corners of the property. Those were connected with a high wall that had a massive set of solid doors that opened to the courtyard. Both the guest house and the garage then connected to the main house which was at the back of the lot and two stories tall, by means a covered walkway (on the guest house side) and an enclosed walkway on the garage side. With the main house being two stories, the actual daily living area was probably more functional that what you're describing but the yard was still very private. As I recall, the side walkways were pretty long and had quite low roofs (just tall enough to walk under comfortably) probably to allow light and air movement in the courtyard. Being Houston however, when I was there, the owners had 4 or 5 big outdoor fans set up to create a breeze in the courtyard which would have been stultifyingly hot without them. As I recall though, the courtyard was actually pretty good sized...certainly bigger than any of the hacienda courtyards I've seen in Santa Fe. Anyway, I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to build a home like you describe assuming you can find a large enough lot in a neighborhood where the architectural review committee doesn't demand that all the homes basically look identical. And assuming you have enough $$$$.

Blowing in insulation while continuing to use the space for easily accessible storage--let alone heating it--are incompatible uses. Your choice is to consider the space either vented or unvented and proceed from there. Vented is much easier. In that case, you have to airseal the ceiling as much as possible from the attic, though no vapour barrier is necessary in your climate. At the same time, you have to provide proper ventilation--on a 1:300 ratio for the attic. Then you can blow in all the cellulose you want. But storing anything there will be the equivalent of putting it outside. Definitely not a good idea for books! For an unvented approach, you have to consider the attic part of the conditioned space of the home. In that case, the roof will have to be as sealed as much as possible from the exterior climate. Those 1"-2" gaps on the roof board won't do. Insulation will be at the top of the attic ceiling--usually a combination of foamboard and closed cell spray foam. In either case, if the chimney is in use, you will have to simultaneously protect the framing from heat and fire hazards and insulate the space around it. Here is a link that might be useful: Understanding attic ventilation

I have been very disappointed with the performance of my FOJ. they havd been the weakest of all 30 varieties in my garden. The other day I just pull one out and trashed it and planted something else in its place. But I have the second one growing . So I dont think that it will give me ripe fruit in 49 days (as adverised) , not even in 59 days, maybe 69 days. . I rather grow beef steaks. My Big Beef planted on 4/17 ( later than FOJ) already setting fruits. It is going to defeat FOJ by a big stretch. Sey