One thing that always gives me pause when I travel outside of Florida is the variety of materials used to build homes. Here in Florida you’d be hard pressed to find a home made entirely of wood. Most are cement block, at least on the 1st floor, and then covered in stucco. I love traveling northward and seeing beautiful wood frame homes and cabins that you simply don’t see in Florida. I’ve seen several beautiful homes on HGTV made of timber frames, like those from Vermont Timber Works. It’s an amazing process - frames and trusses are hand crafted and joints are pinned together with hardwood pegs. The same guys who made the frame travel to your site to put the whole thing together, which makes sense, since they know best how it should be done. (Too many cooks spoil the soup, right?) The end result is a spectacular look rarely seen in my home state. This is a picture of a welcome center off the Vermont interstate:

I’ll take that over block and stucco any day!