Hi Pixie! I live in Newport..I love it this time of year. Quiet. :) That said, there will still be things to do! To add to what Bill mentioned, The three biggie mansions in terms of tourist draw are still open - The Breakers, The Elms, and The Marble House. If you happen upon a day that's not too cold or windy, the Cliff Walk is still lovely in winter as long as you're dressed for it. If you're into history, the Newport Historical Society has a museum at Brick Market, and they offer walking tours as well - self guided so I'd imagine those are available year round. Often included is my neighborhood (stop by! lol) The Point, which has the highest concentration of preserved colonials in the US. The Truro Synagogue is the oldest in the US and is very interesting architecturally, and they have regular tours. The Norman Bird Sanctuary is a nice walk in the woods, ends up at a long rock overlooking 2nd beach. A day trip to Tiverton and Little Compton for the shops and a wine tasting at Sakonnet Vineyards is a nice day. Coggeshall Farm in Portsmouth is also interesting and is open year round. Enjoy your vacation! Here is a link that might be useful: Coggeshall Farm

Hi Ramses, You are right, I should have said "rarely" or overpriced rather than never! I know there was money in the US at the time (several branches of my family are counted in Burkes Peerage and well documented in American history ... on a minor scale!). I have a library full of art and architecture books on Newport (toured some of the houses as well), Philly Main Line, Long Island, McKim Meade & White (architects), and even one book dedicated specifically to the Vanderbilts. If one looks at Vizcaya in Miami, Deering and Chafin shopped endlessly in Europe while the house was being built. And let's not forgot Fifth Avenue! The difference is that for those houses there is a big financial gap in the purchasing power and "scale" of the antiques of those home owners from the "average" wealthy American. A lot of the really great stuff is either still in private hands or in museums. Still, the stuff is fab. Yes, great "Grande Tour" items can still be found in the US! I think what Igloochic is probably going to do is take advantage of the fact that antique furniture is not "hot" here like it is in the US. Better prices here (dirt cheap) if you can fill a container of one's own and ship it home. I think she is going about it the right way. And NOBODY has ANY right to guilt her as Mother for taking this trip. I AM DISGUSTED and APPALLED!!!!!!!!!! This is not a diaper forum (although the amount of S**T comments I often read on here makes me think otherwise). Igloochic asked for antiques recommendations, NOT MOTHERING ADVICE! GOOD GOD LINDA, LET IT GO and mind your own family!!! Before Igloochic's question I had stopped coming on here because I was tired of the all-knowing, judgemental comments (yes, NOW I'M MAD!!!) And Angeldog! I, like you, enjoy new people piping in (just sorry for so much defensive piping on this one)! I will try to post a couple of pics of my Swiss flat (be warned, I am not a very good photographer, lol!) I will include some pics of my NYC flat before I moved all of that to this place. Like Igloochic I am working on filling my filling my Victorian house (I have a container in Connecticut waiting for me) so my "work in progress" will be awhile. And the farmhouse! AH! My beloved farmhouse! It is a 1790's house built from the remains of an even older barn. The interior beam framing in the attic is SPECTACULAR! It is an "ancestral"/family home I am grateful to have ... except I haven't gone in about two years, lol. The Victorian porches were just removed last year and I'll see if I can find the pics that were sent to me. I will do a separate post. Igloochic, GO FOR IT! I cannot wait to see how you progress along. You are inspiring. Tschüss, Baer

I thought our 2300 sq ft. house was just perfect for the 3 of us... - then we decided I traveled too much for work and opened up my own business - in the house - then things grew and I added an employee - in the house - Then hubby took early out from the University and expanded his tax & consulting practice - in the house - then his practice grew and he added a part ime employee - in the house - then things really got successful and some parts of the year he can have as many as 3 employees - in the house!!! Net effect is that our 4 bedroom house some days feels like a 1 bedroom office - we no longer have a home. We are building on 20 acres in the country - house with a good sized office wing. I've redesigned about a dozen times and can't seem to get it down below 5000 sq ft. So, for us (and the assorted clients, employees and visiting relatives) I guess the perfect size is 5000 sq ft.

Hi All, I wanted to update you all after the advice that you provided. First off I met with several residential architect's and really hit it off with one and I had actually toured of few of his houses previously and really liked them. We discussed what I did and did not like about the plan and he told me he would absolutely be willing to help but he thought I should go back to the builder and draftsman first. He has not worked with either previously but since we are in a small town he was very familiar with their work and thought that the draftsman although not an architect very talented and the builder very quality. He pointed out some things that he really liked such as the wall thickness and the builder uses a stick roof ( I think that was the terminology), not trusses and really liked the recessed windows. He did understand my concerns (and all of yours :)) and even pointed out the roof issue as well and how he would have dealt with it although I can't remember now. Part of the allure of just changing few things on the current plan is the builder new exactly the cost and timeline and I was able to walk through it since he just finished a very similar one although that does make me feel like it is less 'custom' and just a more expensive tract home. So we met with the draftsman and the builder and came up with the idea of swapping the location of bedroom 4 and the garage so there would be a side entry which would also help with using the same windows up front etc to improve the facade. We also asked him to add a .5 bathroom and change the roofline of the house all which they said they could do. At the end the builder even said that since I am not adding any sq footage that he could do it for the same price. When I sent a follow up email with some pics as had been requested I got an email from the builder saying that since we were drastically changing the plan and the draftsman would have to start from scratch we would have to pay for new plans and engineering and that he may not be able to keep the price the same. So now I have some follow up questions.... When hiring an architect does that usually include the plan and engineering or just the plan? Those of you who have worked with a builder have you had to pay for plans and engineering? A common theme that I see on this forum and feedback on this plan was that it was 'fat' and too deep. I understand that to mean that the rooms shouldn't be more than 2 deep for light purposes. This plan only has that on the left side of the house where bedrooms 2-4 are but since it is on an exterior wall does that still hold? I just want to make sure I understand correctly. The architect seemed to not be too concerned because the ceilings are 14 feet and there are lots of windows. Right now there is only a 1.25 per sq foot price difference between the draftsman and the architect so I would much prefer to go with the architect if all the other costs remain the same (plans, engineering etc). Although 1.25 sq foot adds up I would prefer to go the architect route and start from scratch. The only thing that was stopping me from doing that in the beginning was knowing what the product and cost would be but if my requests are going to change both things then I think I would be better off going with the architect. I of course will ask the architect on Monday but have a meeting with the builder tomorrow so was trying to wrap my head around mt options before then. I would love any insight and really appreciate all the thoughts so far.