Thank you! I never knew what you are talking about existed. I just picked up and installed a 9" x 9" basin/grate from Lowes. The only problem is that I couldn't change the depth of the already buried drain pipe, therefore the catch basin sticks just a bit out of the ground. I built up dirt around it, but I'm afraid that water will just route around the entire thing. Is there some kind of water diverter barrier available? I'm thinking maybe along the lines of common landscape border barrier...the flexible stuff. But, I would hope for something with more height. Most of the water comes from a specific area, so if I can channel it to the basin....I'm good to go. The only other alternative would be to bring in some direct and "berm channel" it. Thoughts? Thanks!

Congrats on being almost done!! It looks great. If it were mine I'd vary it with a few different bushes and not just single type bush type hedge. What is your soil like? Acidic? Alkaline? Indian Hawthorne might be a nice one to use. Maybe look at adding in some tall skinny Will Fleming Yaupon Holly's for height. Dwarf Nandina's add color in the winter with leaves that turn read (evergreen in my area) and not invasive as the regular nandina can be.

I liked looking at the total picture, though some of it was hard to read. I agree that if you can post it bigger, you will get more responses. I still think 54" is too big between perimeter and island and then on the other side which is a major walkway, you only have 42". Also within that major walkway is a major appliance which will make things busy there to begin with. I assume your small children will use the backdoor that leads to the mudroom and then into the kitchen. The other thing that bothers me is that it looks like a long walk to get to the outdoor dining from the kitchen. I see you have double hung windows for a pass through but a slider could be easier. Personally, I don't like the prep sink bisecting that island, I'd want it a little closer to one end. You want that big island space for homework, school projects, cookie making, etc Since you are building a custom home, you want to customize it for you. Think about how you live. Do you live in Maine and the outdoor dining will only be used a couple months of the year so access is not that big a deal or do you live in California where you might use it everyday and direct access from the kitchen would be important? Where will the kids be playing, will you be able to see them if in you're inside? Think about your daily routine and how you will move through that house as well as your kitchen. Does it make sense to put a backdoor where the pass through is? Does it make sense to switch the office area with the pantry? Only you can answer those questions. I wouldn't be afraid to beef up that island -- make it deeper, it looks like the space can take it and it might seem more appropriate too just food for thought

I think your list for improvements is a good start but I'd still like to mention the following: I understand you have lots of family and entertain a lot but do you really need a great room, family room, and living room plus the loft upstairs? You say the views are to the west. How far to the west and I'm wondering if there's a way to rearrange the rooms to better get south light into the main rooms versus the master bedroom, the kid's TV/family room, pantry, garage and laundry room. Also I know from personal experience that once late afternoon arrives here, you will need to have good shades because of the light and heat from those west exposures. I know western exposure is not ideal but that’s the direction of the lake and also the land is much longer E/W than it is wide. We spent Thanksgiving at a friend's house last night and their living room exposure is due west. The sunset was spectacular but we couldn't watch it until the sun was right at the horizon line because of the glare into the room. They had to keep their shades drawn until then. And yes, th I’m hoping the covered balcony will offset the sun somewhat. And yes, my friends do have a covered balcony. The only linen closet I see is in bedroom 4. You need more. Lots of wasted corner space in the vanity in the master bath. For such a large house where I assume more than one person is cooking, I think you need to reconfigure your kitchen so you can have multiple people helping at the same time. As arranged it's a 1 person kitchen. Another thought about the kitchen is you might also want to consider it not being on the south side again because of heat. Hope that's not an open loft to below because noise does travel up. Seems there is lots of wasted space on hallways and pathways. The master closet upstairs will feel like a long dark hallway. It's barely wide enough at 5'4" considering clothing takes up 2' of space. Agree with MrsPete that you really don't need that many bathrooms. It's a bit of overkill. You want to cut down on space so why do you need bedroom 3? The dining room is far from the kitchen.