I just remembered something. I'm not real familiar with the creeks and rivers in the Picayune area, but pawpaws/Asimina parviflora grow on the bluffs of most creeks in south Mississippi. You might see some rare zebra swallowtails, so keep your eyes out for them, Mary! I saw one along a small creek that flows into Black Creek once, and they've visited my garden once or twice since we've lived here. Sherry

Thanks all. I think we’ll just put the new oven where the old one is as dh has planned and then redo the kitchen in the next couple of years. The old oven wasn’t supposed to die yet. I really dislike the ovens current location. And it’s tiny, many of my pans don’t fit. In a perfect world we would have had more time to plan but, with the current oven not functioning or fixable we had to do something more quickly than i would have liked. I cook and bake daily so a functioning oven is the priority Yes, half the kitchen is in an addition. It’s kind of bizarre. But. Theres a lot of space, we like the rest of the house and location and we’ll get to it in the next few years. I was just trying to figure out if there’s a way to make it better while we’re already messing with it. :)

I often like the looks of a detached garage, I more often like the function of an attached garage. The house was designed with the garage attached via a carport however the main living spaces faced east and I really didn't care for the front elevation of the house. However, I loved both the side elevations. The lot is very deep but only 98' wide. By turning the house I was able to have the east/south exposure I was looking for in most rooms, have very few windows facing west and have a front facade that I love. It meant detaching the garage but really that is not a bad thing. The garage is actually a 1 car oversize plus an attached workshop. Welding will be taking place in there and 'if' an accident were to happen hopefully the house would be safe. The best direction (of course I am prejudice) is to work with a local architect throughout the design/construction process. I agree. This was designed by a professional but by reading through the posts on this forum i have realized it doesn't hurt to get other opinions before starting the build. I never understood the two story hall. I can't say I disagree. Is it a design element? Its a light well but in this case does the hall need the benefit of the additional light. I have a foyer with a large window and another large window at the end of the hall opposite the front door plus light can enter the hall from the windows in the family room. In the summer won't the hot air rise and cause the loft to be uncomfortable and in the winter I will be losing all the heat to the loft. If the 4 windows were able to be opened the hot air could escape in the summer but that sounds like an expensive proposition. I must admit I have on more than one occasion thought about asking for the hallway to have 9ft ceilings like the hallway to the bedroom If I did this the loft would gain an additional 3ft from the hallway and I would have another nice size bedroom with south facing views over the back yard. If I close in the loft I could even shut off the second floor and close it down if no one was using the space.

Your house is gorgeous. I love everything about it. I have just spent tons of time agonizing about stair runners myself. I have an light colored Oushak in my entry way. My final decision was seagrass, with beige wool with a tone on tone pattern being my close second. I chose the seagrass for the texture. I wanted to want the antelope pattern from Stark, because I love those colors, but I am not an animal print girl. Runner has not been installed yet.