Where we live now, the kitchen is in the front of the house and we like it... We're able to see everything going on in the front of the house... so likewise, we'll see anyone coming through the gate at the top of the hill from the kitchen. We spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen.
We applied for the septic permit, once we have that in hand... the builder says the building permit would only take a day. The house could (if everything goes as planned) be set on the basement first part of Sept. (he said end of Aug. but I'm fine with Sept.)
Again, he'll have to finish 4 other houses before he gets around to us.
The hardi-plank be a Dark Red.... looking forward to the next couple of months.