Dave, You are a sweetheart, kind and sort of a boy scout. And I know you have your battles to fight now.You do good work on here and offer advice no else seems to want to share. I know that is appreciated. Perhaps getting slapped was good for me. I often think I know more than I do. However this site is a time suck. I am an arty farty independent thinker who believes our culture has been down the rabbit hole of style over substance for decades. The McMansions, the all white pristine kitchens worshipped by folks that never peeled a potato and the utter preening vulgarity of much of it makes me feel like the child in "The Emperor's New Clothes" . The endless threads wondering to paint or not wood or brick do not feed my soul. The past five decades of home building have been with rare exception devoid of significant craft or workmanship or worthy architecture on the residential plane. Certainly housing for the masses peaked in quality between 1906 and 1928 when the bulk of Craftsmen homes were available to middle income buyers. Middle income homes and the upper class homes at that time were of a quality we rarely see today. Part of it is the American economy and the change in materials that came with the post war need for cheap housing. I still enjoy what I see in Fine Homebuilding and Dwell and much of what is coming out of the Pacific Northwest. The faux chateaux and the kitchens with gargoyles and masses of stone leave me unmoved. Every suburban housewife wants her granite and she wants it now unless she got it ten years ago and now she wants something NEW. I will not censor my posts to please humorless women who have not lusted for any live male in decades. I will take a risk on a man who wants to make our first real date spending a Sat installing a laminated beam in my crawl space. No I didn't meet him here and I will vet him to make sure before I let him near my crawl space. More coffee will be drunk and more discussion of the cabin and barn he has built off grid before we take on any structural work. I am taking my toys and going to play in other sandboxes. I prefer Green Building Advisor for energy stuff and siding, rain screens, vapor barriers etc. I will drop in now and again to lurk over your shoulder. Do take care and thanks for asking .

Kathleen MK and tcufrog: Thank you so much for this input. These are all really good and practical ideas. Lots to think about. The main thing I am trying to figure out with the bank of windows or garage-type windows/ roll up windows on a large door is screening it and screening out the bugs. I may need to go to floor to ceiling glass in areas with roll-open vertical windows with screens in the middle or something of that nature, and then a large sliding glass door with a screen in the existing openings on the sides. The space looks large in the photos but it's only around 1600 sf of space, so air conditioning it would be like air conditioning a regular home. Most of the celiings in homes the days are high anyway. I would run a chase/ large air duct down the middle of the ceiling near the beam and have it exposed and then have air vents coming off it at even intervals. I like the rain catch system and having a large rain water storage tank. There's city water available if I carry it across the land for about 12k (ouch) and I can drill a well- there are no utilities on the property whatsoever. I used to know the best subs where I was living 2 hours away and I know of none in this new area- mainly to drill a well. The agent I co-wrote this contract with was raised in that area and doesn't know of a water well driller. Lots to tackle. I have a friend where I used to live who grew up in Richardson and may have gone to school with you.

Charlotte. Depending on the age range of folks that would be using the cabin, and the size of your property, I would consider that everything be kept on one level, if you are considering something that will accommodate your long range plans and usage. Depending on the climate in the area you wish to build, I would recommend a design that keeps even the outdoor areas, especially decks, under some cover. For example, both sun and snow will accelerate the wear on exposed wood, such as decks, if left uncovered. Accessibility can be maximized and maintenance can be minimized if the design and materials used are sensitive to the both the site and weather conditions. Happy Houzzing.

You have a really big space, but as others have stated, not a lot of wall space. Do you want traffic to move through your Dining Room from the Mud Room? Maybe you should create access from your Kitchen directly into the Dining Room; then you could close off the big doorway so you would have all of that wall space in the Mud Room. Closing off the pass-through to the kitchen would also be on my remodel list to add wall space in both the Mud Rom and the Kitchen. The other posts recommending an island makes good sense and that would also give you good storage and an area to set up for "coming and going" items. Looking forward to pics as you make progress on your project! Good luck!!