Arrgh wrote a bunch and accidentally closed the window.... Anyhow, I will try again. I think think the Cincinnati Zoo has fabulous gardens. I was just there on Tuesday and they looked great. Now, it depends what you want. They do a lot of plantings intermixed with all the animal exhibits. They have tons of specimen trees, exotics, annuals, and bamboo. Not everything is labeled though. They have a strong horticultural program that includes an ark to save endangered plant cultures. I would call them and see if you can arrange a tour. You might get more out of it that way. Columbus is a bit out of the way and to be honest I have not been to their gardens, but I have heard rave review of the Franklin Conservatory. http://www.fpconservatory.org/ There is Rowe Arboretum in Indian Hills, a suburb of Cincinnati.http://www.ci.indian-hill.oh.us/departments/rowe.html. If you like evergreens, this is the place to go. Krohn Conservatory is also in Cincinnati.http://www.ci.cincinnati.oh.us/cityparks/pages/-3452-/. I haven't been there in years so you will have to judge by the website. I am in Dayton and we have Cox Arboretum and Wegerzyn. Wegerzyn just installed a ten million dollar children's garden that is worth a look. It is small but a gem. A lot of it is annuals though so, it depends when you plan on visiting. www.metroparks.org As to art, you might want to check out Pyramid hills. It is a little bit from Cincinnati in Hamilton. It is a sculpture park. Because of where it is it gets overlooked. http://www.pyramidhill.org/aboutthepark.php?pid=1 If you are into military planes and the like, the National Airforce Museum is in Dayton. If you are into that kind of thing, definately stop there. There is nothing in the world like it. Including all past Airforce One planes... Hope that helps.

"All-in"... our budget is a max of $300k. Ideally we would like to be in the $250k range. Land/lot would not be included in that figure. But things like utility hook-in, driveway (a small one), yard, etc would be. Also, we do not really need/want custom everything. We would be ok with Kraftmaid/Merillat/etc cabinets for example. But we would want "upgrades" like granite countertops and hardwood flooring on the first floor. In other words, nice... be realistic nice as well. Nothing crazy high end needed or wanted. More specifically, we would be looking to build in the Cuyahoga Falls / North Hampton area. Hope this helps and thanks for any insight.

It is almost impossible to give you an idea of price per square foot. For example, are you planning on siding your house with cedar shakes, hardie plank or vinyl? Each is a different price point. How about the roof you're planning on putting on. A standard asphalt roof? Cement tile? Metal? If metal, are you doing standing seam or 5v? Are you planning on putting in carpet? If so what grade of carpet? Not carpet? How about tile? No? What about Luxury Vinyl Tile? Laminate? Or hardwood? If hardwood are you doing site finished boards or engineered? How about your counters? Formica? Granite? Quartz? Appliances? Are you doing something like Frigidaire or are you hoping to put in Sub Zero and Wolf appliances? And even things like moldings. Are they going to be paint grade? Or stained? If stained, what kind of wood? And what size? Even in my area here in SW FL, I could build the same 2000 square foot house with a 2 car garage for anywhere from $265,000 on up to $1,500,000. It all depends on what I'm looking for in finishes. The house for $265,000 will give me builder basic finishes, with clamshell moldings, an asphalt roof, only a 14 seer AC, inexpensive carpeting in the bedrooms, inexpensive tile in the bathrooms with molded shower and tub surrounds, and probably laminate flooring throughout the rest of the house. It would include formica counters throughout, a basic appliance package, and builder grade windows. Compare that to the million plus house which would probably have a standing seam roof, detailed moldings in cherry or oak finish, at least a 16 seer AC, hardwood flooring throughout with specialty tile (think natural stone) in the bathrooms. If the person opted for carpet in the bedroom, it would be a high grade plush carpet with extra padding. Showers and tubs would be tiled, and all counters would probably be granite, quartzite or quartz. Appliances would be the top of the line. Think Miele, Wolf, Subzero. And windows would be custom.

I just finished day one of the pool dig.I started interviewing pool builders last November. I used the yellow pages, internet, asked the locals who they used for a pool builder and even knocked on one door to see their fence & pool installation . Most of those who appeared in the yellow pages were not listed on google. " You enter your address and do a search nearby "in ground pools" or gunite swimming pools or vinyl swimming pools" Since the area we live in has massive rocks and a high water table I was concerned over installing a vinyl liner or fiberglass. The dogs will be using the pool so gunite was the best choice. I feared that the fiberglass would break with the hydrostatic pressure. I did interview a vinyl liner pool installer . None of the liners would hold up to the nails of a one dog and I have three. The vinyl liner pool was only a few thousand less than the gunite. I also googled the pool installers names to see what popped up on the internet. In asking about building codes and permits the town hall officials gave me the names of their installers. One name had a clean rep up until the last four years. I also asked the pool supply stores for references. I interviewed four companies over 4 months. One private pool builder asked me to submit my pool equipment preference, pool location, pool size and tile selection. Although the research took me two weeks to compile, I knew I wanted pentair , an aggregate plaster, and size of pool. I was more comfortable in the pool interviews knowing the products . Check the internet for local Home shows. May seems to be the month where they host home improvement shows with roofers, generators, windows replacement, ID, pavers, any home professional one may need. YOu can also google pool products such as Pebble tech . They list pool builders who use their products. Look at Pentair. Jandy or Hayward and see if they also list pool outfitters in your zip code.