I have a cast iron clawfoot (I know you said you weren't interested in those specifically) which we love. My husband is 6'5" and has trouble fitting into regular sized tubs; the clawfoot is deep and he can get a good soak. We looked at the Victoria and Albert tubs, but decided on the clawfoot because we found a great deal on a used one on craigslist and it matched the period of our house (1910 bungalow). Neither of us miss having the deck. We are struggling with finding storage, but that is a general issue we are having with the overall bathroom, not specific to the tub. When reading I'll just put my magazine, book or paper on the floor next to the tub. It's not that inconvenient to lean over and pick it up again over the edge of the tub. I don't have any problems getting in and out of the tub, and I've had foot surgery like you would not believe. I've had my ankle, leg, and foot surgically reconstructed 9 times in the past 6 years. While I'm no longer on crutches, I am significantly disabled (makes many DIY projects very difficult for me). I also have very poor balance and suffered nerve damage during one my surgeries so have no sensation on the bottom of my foot. I was warned that all of these issues would make it difficult for me to get in and out of a clawfoot tub, but I just hold onto the opposite side for balance and have no trouble. I have good days and bad days, and on bad days I sit on the edge of the tub and just swing my legs over. I don't think using the clawfoot tub is any more difficult than a regular shallower tub. This was my foot last year, you can see that it was pretty messed up. Even though I had a regular tub during this procedure and only recently got the clawfoot, I'm still recovering from the surgery.

Thanks so much for the suggestions and advice. I am concerned about being able to get the tub close enough for a faucet reach but far away enough to clean. Unfortunately, a floor mount is not ideal since we're on a concrete slab. A wall mount would be a much easier install. It would be on a wall backing up to the master closet, so I think we could also have a panel to access the plumbing. I really like the Newport brass fixture, although it's a bit more modern than fixtures we've used in the other bathrooms. I would like to use a readily available brand name so parts are replaceable.

I had an acrylic pedestal tub in my last home, it was beautiful but it did not retain heat as long as I would like. Also it had to be reinstalled and I think they put some type of foam/cement in the base and then it did not budge at all. I also need to make a decision on a tub in the next two weeks and I will likely go with a pedestal acrastone tub ( American Bath Factory Nob Hill) . My first choice would be a victoria albert elwick if I had the space, I need 60" and I can not find a pedestal style I like in a 60" length with this company. Please post what you decide to go with.

I went with the lower quote in my last house to install a pedestal tub. It had a very slight leak and this guy eventually refunded my money and gave up trying to fix it. He said he thought it was because of slight movement when getting in/out of the tub was the cause. I ended up having it reinstalled by a very large plumbing company and it was 1K, they put some type of concrete like base under it to prevent any movement and they guaranteed the work. If your builder is going to do the work for 1K and guarantee it I would go with it. Less hassle and no issues if any warranty issues later. At the most you would save a few hundred, however you could be giving up a warranty and it would just not be worth it.