In general, I find pantries and walk-in closets in new homes somewhat boring. In most new homes they tend to be strictly utilitarian and have little, if any, character and that's just fine for the average homebuyer. We were looking at some homes recently that had closet space, seemingly, everywhere you looked. There was nothing spectacular about the closets themselves, just that there were many of them within each home...with the exception of the walk-in closet within the walk-in closet in the Devonshire plan in Blackberry Run.

Seven Hills Master Planned Community

The homes are located in the Blackberry Run section of Seven Hills subdivision and it is a master-planned Cousins Properties community in northeast Paulding County, Georgia. My understanding is that there will be upwards of 2800+ homes spread out over 2000 acres and prices will range from the $170's - $600's, a wide range indeed. There are several sections in this huge subdivision, located just a couple miles north of our home, that will definitely have to be explored in the coming weeks, months or even years by the looks of the GIGANTIC size of the master plan. Seven Hills is "built out" about a quarter of the way so I've got plenty to look at for awhile.

The homes we looked at in the Blackberry Run section were Lots 332: The North Hampton, 290: The Courtland & 291: The Devonshire. Open this link and scroll down to see more info on the homes we looked at.

This post on those huge, towering powerlines and the placement of homes nearby is the start of a whole new category for me: Dumb Homebuilding Ideas. It hit me like a bolt of lightning when we were driving around gathering landscaping ideas from established neighborhoods nearby. Dumb Homebuilding Ideas will encompass anything we see as just not a smart decision regarding homebuilding, subdivisions, landscaping and, I'm quite sure, a few other things that we'll come across in our home viewing travels.

If you came to this site looking for answers to questions regarding the effects of Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) on humans, you'll find all you really need to know in the links found below.

Seamless copper gutters were the latest addition to this English cottage style home on a recent visit to The Retreat. Rhett Bonner, builder, gave the highlights of the components of the copper gutter system. Basically, they have installed half-round seamless copper gutters with hand-cast copper hangers, downspout bands and brackets; a very rare find in the gutter business. The entire copper gutter system should last the life of the home, with proper upkeep, and will turn a beautiful verdigris patina over time. The hand-cast copper brackets are attached to the open cornice overhangs in old world craftsmanship style. A little research tells me that the gutters themselves will set you back about $13 - $18 per lineal foot installed, not including the hardware to hang them.

You need a checklist when building your new home. I've compiled my own personal list, although it is constantly in a state of change, and, below you'll find links to useful resources containing new homebuilding checklists.

New Homebuilding Checklist Links

Say Build

Ask The Builder

Home Construction Sequence Guide from Magellan

Sound Home Resource Center

A Building and Remodeling Checklist

Repair Home website Checklist

Our Family Place

A multi-use site featuring House Buying Checklists AND Homebuilding checklists

Quick Homebuilding Checklist

An open floor plan in a new home is like a breath of fresh air. The home that we looked into at The Park at Anderson Farm in Marietta falls into the open floor plan category. The homes in this neighborhood start at $750,000 with lots that list for $200,000+ an acre. This home is a spacious floor plan that made us want to pack up and move on in. It's a gated community of European and cottage style homes and is very close to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and historic downtown Marietta, GA. This home has 5 br/4.5 ba with the Master Retreat on the main, vaulted keeping room with fireplace, study, family room, formal dining room, walk-in pantry and media room. The home lists for $989,000. It has a great view of the mountain as you drive into the neighborhood. It is prime property in an area of Marietta that I see new homes popping up where you previously didn't think land (to build on) existed, until you saw the bulldozers.

Insuladd is a paint additive that is guaranteed to reduce your heating and cooling bills. Developed by NASA to protect buildings located in close proximity to launch sites, "Insuladd can be mixed into cement, stucco coating, adobe mix and interior or exterior oil or latex paints. It is inert and non-reactive, so there is no smell or dust when it's poured for mixing. And, it is made largely from recycled materials. The main component of the insulating additive is fly ash, a byproduct of coal-fired electric generating plants." It can be used for interior or exterior applications and is considered safe, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. It is the only paint insulating additive endorsed by NASA. Actually, a company called Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions, a 2003 NASA Technology Spinoff Company, is the original.

Here's a little background about the product direct from the Hy-Tech and here's how it originated with NASA .

Thanks for the tip from Amanda!

Interested in wildlife statuary? After looking at some homes in Everleigh Estates nearby, we happened upon an established subdivision complete with lake. We had no idea that it existed even though it was barely 1/4 mile off of the beaten path to/from work. There were some terrific homesites here with a wide variety of architectural styles.

We drove all the way through the subdivision as it wrapped around the lake and came to a cul-de-sac. As we drive closer we notice that there is a bit of wildlife statuary situated throughout the yard of a luxuriously appointed home in front of us. I managed to capture a couple of pictures of them (as they all stood still and posed). This is one of the reasons why we like to drive around and look at homes. You NEVER know what you'll see! A great reason to always have your camera with you.

Real Life Statuary