Reclaimed antique terra cotta roof tiles from Europe have been masterfully installed on this English cottage-style home. It's just one unique feature and/or material after another for this English cottage-style home. I stated in my introductory post that the materials being used to construct it would BLOW...YOU...AWAY! Well...I don't think it has disappointed.

General contractor, Rhett Bonner, and builder/developer of The Retreat, Jerry Bonner, closely guard their materials sources so I was unable to get a vendor name from which he obtained the antique reclaimed terra cotta roof tiles from but he did tell me how his supplier does it. Basically, his source buys reclaimed roof tiles from all over France (and probably most of Europe), ships them over in a container via ocean freight and voilà! They just happen to have gotten their hands on antique terracotta roof tiles. A rare find, indeed!

pssst...I'm not 100% certain but I think one of his sources may be Origines: Architectural Antiques in Paris.

The annual Atlanta Home Show is a must to attend if you live near the Atlanta, GA area. There are always a multitude of companies showing their newest and greatest products. You'd practically have to be a marathon runner to see it all in a day.

Lucky for you the show is a 3-day affair so you can make a weekend out of it and thoroughly increase your knowledge of the latest and greatest products and solutions for your home or garden.

C'mon...what are ya waitin' for? Check out all of the easy-to-click-on-links regarding the Atlanta Home Show that I've provided below.

Colonel Sam Tate built the Tate House (a.k.a. Pink Palace or Pink Marble Mansion) in Tate, GA in the early 1920's. The Pink Palace is constructed of a very rare, bright pink marble known as Etowah marble and it was quarried not far from the estate. I've just recently discovered the historic Tate House just south of Jasper on Hwy. 53. Etowah marble may only be truly appreciated in person. The home was completed in 1926 but Colonel Tate died in 1938 and the mansion began to fall into disrepair. The surviving Tate's resided in the mansion until 1955 when they left the home unoccupied. Although this fact has been disputed by a reader who wrote me regarding said fact (see comments below).

Ann Laird and her husband Joe bought the home in 1974 and promptly found a moonshine still in one of the rooms. They brought the mansion up to code and turned it into a truly unique bed & breakfast. There are 4 guest rooms in the mansion and 9 guest cottages. The Laird's recently sold the home to a management group where it is no longer being run as a bed & breakfast today but you may have a wedding ceremony or hold social events.

If you are a homeowner, you need to know the deductions that you've got coming to you from Uncle Sam for your 2005 tax return. There are deductions for mortgage interest, mortgage points, real estate tax payments...well, you get the picture. It can all be quite overwhelming but you've come to the right place for a summarization of what you need to know to keep the IRS out of your wallet as much as possible.

Update: The homeowner tax links found below are all current or recently updated for fiscal year 2006.

There are two things certain in life: Death and Taxes.The photo above isn't the best in my collection, by far, but I thought it was appropriate because it shows three models advertising for Liberty Income Tax and if you look closely you'll see a graveyard in the background of the photo. So there you have it, Death and Taxes, all in one shot!