You need a complete replacement. Decide what you want ie. vinyl, wood, vinyl clad wood, fiberglass etc. and I'm sure someone will be able to give some advice...or at least an opinion. Vinyl is going to be the least expensive way to go. I wouldn't be too concerned with the strength of a vinyl window as long as you get good quality.

A new construction window does not always mean more glass. It depends on window type and size and manufacturer. When we replaced our old leaky Aluminum windows with AL clad, wood interior windows (Marvin Ultimate), we ended up losing about 6+ inches of glass. The old aluminum had skinny sash while the new ones have large wood pieces inside. The large wood pieces did not affect the views as we feared but they certainly did not yield more glass. There are several reasons to stay with replacement even when changing siding and trim. We lived through this in our previous house. When trim around the windows is expensive to replace and already matches the house trim. WHen original frame is sound and we are not changing window size. When replacement window is sufficiently better than old window. When project cost of new construction is way higher than replacement windows. WE ended up using replacement windows for our previous home. For our current house, the trim was bad and needed replacement anyway, the framing surrounding the windows had visible water damage and there is no replacement for those poor quality Aluminum windows. The end result was new construction windows.

I agree wholeheartedly with the concept of not skimping on windows, however the specific recommendation of that builder may be a little misguided IMO. We replace Pella's in age range of 10 years +/- on a regular basis for one. Secondly, vinyl is not a bad choice based on performance or durability. In fact, a high end vinyl product would be an excellent choice in that regard as thermal and structural performance ratings would indicate, HOWEVER, that just may not fit the look that you are going for with all of the wood in the home. I'd suggest something with a stainable interior to keep the theme. The Marvin Integrity with wood interior would be a nice choice, in fact I think that would be a really good fit. It's one of the more durable products on the market with a real wood interior. The Provia Aeris would be worth consideration as well. Both windows are primarily constructed of fiberglass and vinyl respectively, with a wood veneer (actual wood 1/4 to 1/2", not contact paper) on the interior side. Both would typically be priced more reasonably than that Designer series and by a fair margin. Lastly, I believe that triple pane is well worth the cost in colder climates as well. Definitely worthy consideration if the product that you choose has it available.

cpartist The picture of the window you saw up above is just the style of brick pattern that I found. I think it will work well around my dining room windows. 3 windows will not be molded together but separated by narrow brick pattern. It is not reflected on the front elevation. We have not picked out the brick or the stone yet. The brick color in the picture is way busy, and I agree with you that color brick would not work with stone. Speaking of brick, we drove around new subdivisions today to get some ideas of brick and stone combination and let me tell you, I am more confused now than when we started :) Building a new house is fun and exciting, but so many decisions to make.....