Thank you for the advice. The 3 acre lot is in a subdivision and 2 sides with paved roads so long access won't be a problem. I was thinking one driveway that splits - one to the garage and the other to the barn/shop. 500 x 510 x 490 x 85 and it's level. And we do want to build for energy efficiency and will have septic. The utilities are already at the street so that's good. Planning on the barn to have a guest suite that we will live in while we sell our current home and build the new one. (50 x 30) And no horses...some chickens and a couple goats and 4 beehives. Since there are roads on 2 sides, the house will face either north or west. Will have a sunroom/screened porch and we are in Texas. I'm not sure if we are to the point of choosing an architect, but then again, it would make planning easier if we had the basics in location decided.

For my money, ya can't beat the rug prices,the variety of color and size, the shipping charge ($2.95 no matter how large your order) and quality of the outdoor rugs at Overstock dot com. I have several of their Indoor/Outdoor rugs. I live in Southern Calif. I have several outdoor rugs and only one of those is under a complete cover. I also have them indoors....nothing beats the ease of cleaning and upkeep of an indoor/outdoor rug in the kitchen where spills of all kinds are a daily occurrence at my house. Outside; If you have a leaf blower, you can blow the leaves off. If not, you can sweep, or if the rug is small enough, you can shake it out. For a good cleaning, you pour a tablespoon of liquid laundry detergent onto the rug, hit it with the hard spray of the hose to make suds, use a broom to scrub it around a bit and then rinse with the hard spray to rinse. The rugs come out looking just like new no matter how much mud has collected on them. During our Southern Calif. summer I don't bother hanging the rugs to dry out. They seem to dry out rather quickly after getting wet, either from a washing or the grandkidlets playing in the hose with their water balloons. If you happen to have a question about the rug/color/backing/etc. you can email Overstock through their 'Help' section or you can have a live IM with a salesperson who will try their best to answer your questions. No, I have NO affiliation with Overstock but I've purchased several indoor/outdoor rugs from them and I have been totally satisfied with the rugs and their customer service. Here is a link that might be useful: Overstock's pages of Indoor/Outdoor Rugs

Thanks for the reviews on PB teak, sounds iffy As much as I love natural wood maybe it's not a good choice for outdoor furniture in our climate, especially from PB. Think we're deciding to go with aluminum. We found a collection with nice styling that fits our "look", whatever that is! Aluminum, too will stand up to the elements for sure, and is lighter to move around... https://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod20010072&categoryId=cat18660075 Sample: :

I had the first window company visit the house yesterday. He referred to my existing “single strength” windows as “$3.00 windows” and said the installation was awful, it’s no wonder I hear so much outdoor noise. He feels the basic glass option from Marvin, with proper installation, will make a noticeable difference but based on my comments would recommend their sound reducing option. The second company I’m meeting with later this week was recommended to me by the local architectural rep from Marvin. Unfortunately, I’m already not feeling solid about this company. The salesman didn’t follow up with me during our first interaction and when I mentioned it, he placed blame on the Marvin rep. Also, when I told him I would be comparing him against other companies he started with the scare tactics about most local companies don’t have certified installers. Seems like a fast talker to me, which put me off. Will have more details about the windows later this week.