Home Rebuild

I looked at whole-house generators last year. Decided against it...I lived in my house for extended periods without electricity due to storms, and it wasn't so bad. The $8-10K cost was better spend elsewhere in my built project.

--water filtration systems are great. You can get a commercial system and filter all of the cold water through your kitchen sink for a fraction of the cost of the consumer systems (with comparable filtration stats). This can save you $$ on bottled water in the long run. Tastes better too.

--forget all of that network & audio wiring. everything's headed wireless these days, from speakers to computers, etc. For lots less than built-in custom audio, you can buy wireless Bluetooth Bose speakers and put them wherever you'd like & move 'em when you want. Ditto for the network: spend far less cash on a souped-up wireless router, and you'll have wifi all the way to the corners of the backyard.
--digital TV antennae are great; you can put one in the attic and run the connection alongside your cable/satellite connections. When the cable/sat goes out, you can get lots of alternative channels immediately.

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Design the inside to be favorable to older people, room layouts, door withs, etc...

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Great advice...I'd add a walk-in shower with low threshold, a suitable (and non ugly) grab bar, and a built-in seat. If health issues are clearly going to be a problem, it's worth considering a roll-in shower...this requires a bit of planning before slab is poured.

I wouldn't go all-out on this though. Sure, you want it to be for them, but one day it will have to be sold and you want it to be appealing to as many potential buyers as possible. Just a thought.

Look hard at spray foam insulation...

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Look hard at spray foam insulation..

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Do this before anything else IMO. Just finished building and so far seems like the best investment I made. HVAC needs to be spec'd for this as well though.

Water leaks can be seen through open cell foam but not closed cell. It is definitely worth it in my area where utilities are expensive

eplans.com has a pretty comprehensive website
Southern Living has an online house plan store: LINK /

The Southern Living site can help you identify designers/architects whose style you like. Most will have their own websites with stock plans and/or custom services.

It is important to understand how much you can afford, and to identify "expensive" when looking at a plan. Multiple rooflines, excessive decorative elements, etc. Pick a range of plans you like and get with your contractor before making up your mind.

LOL: If you're sheep and want your house to look like everyone else's built around here in the last decade, then go to LINK /

The cost of filtering all the water using a commercial filter was lower per unit than the consumer targeted, lower output units. I can change the filter twice a year at twenty bucks a pop, and I have filtered water for soups, gumbo, boiling potatoes, etc. My tap water comes out of the river at the azz end of Cancer Alley. I filter for taste, mostly, though the system pulls out plenty of other crap.

Didn't want a separate drinkable water faucet/dispenser cluttering up the sink area, either. It was very economical compared to bottled water or the cassette/cartridge filters I used previously yet has better filtration.

Hey we all make choices. I can't imagine why anyone would put hardwired network connections or built in speakers in a new house.