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One of our habits is asking guests to remove their shoes upon entering the house. One of the big issues is keeping the shoes organized!  We would love to incorporate the idea of a Genkan. We would want to have a "grand entrance" feel but somehow incorporate a genkan area for people to sit and remove shoes. Here are some photos on Houzz that are good examples.

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/24941830/thumbs/Genkan---Front-entry-transitional-place-for-guest-shoes

Vince's best friend from college lives in Honolulu, and one of the things we noticed when visiting homes there is the use of wood and the unique blend of contemporary and Asian-influenced style in many of the homes, particularly in the Kahala and Hawaii-kai neighborhoods.

Here's a good example of the use of wood in flooring and in framing the windows:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/2520388/Kauai-lake-one-tropical-home-office-hawaii

Another example of bedroom:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/2520801/Kauai-Lake-Front-Estate-tropical-bedroom-hawaii

This home contains a lot of those features we like:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4144-Papu-Cir-Honolulu-HI-96816/601087_zpid/

We took the two kids to see the sunset tonight. We arrived at 7pm, just about 10 mins before the sun was about to set. We loved seeing the warm glowing rays as we walked up to the top of the knoll. See photo. 

As we approached the top, we saw cows, which the kids absolutely loved seeing! Elise couldn't stop staring at the animals. It still feels unbelievable that we were so close to these cows. It would be nice to keep the side facing Windemere as open as possible so we may enjoy seeing these animals walk by. Here is Ethan making a face when asked to pose with the cow. 

As we stood on the top, we realized that the sunset was actually further to the LEFT than we originally thought, based on the compass reading. It set closer to the Windemere development versus down the middle of the rolling green hills. See picture below of the sunset. 

It started to get windy so we headed down the hill. Ethan LOVED walking around the site. He marched up and down the hill with such joy and determination. It made us realize how much we would love to have a hiking path that goes around the house so we can take the kids on "nature walks" around our property. They didn't want to leave the site and wanted to walk around more. So Liwen walked them both down the hill to the bridge. It was a very special family outing for us. 

The following morning, Vince had a chance to go back up to the lot at around 9:30 am to check out the morning sun.

Pretty much as expected, the sun was coming up from the Windemere hills to the right of the oak tree, so any room facing the road leading up to the home will hit the sun directly. We don't think this is a huge issue, as long as the windows from Vince's office or bedrooms are facing the Windemere home (i.e. SxSE)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6RnsSOUKtr5YVlqQm1BOWhlc3M/edit?usp=sharing

We did our first "camp-out" during lunch time today (Sunday). It's a fairly warm and overcast day and we weren't really able to observe any sunshine patterns. Nonetheless, here are some thoughts and photos capturing our preferences on views:

1. Outdoor play area/overflow parking

We love the idea of having one of the oak trees to provide a shady area (assuming we can trim a few branches at the bottom) for the kids to ride their bikes or shoot some hoops, while also providing a pad for overflow parking. If possible, perhaps we can even clear a hiking trail (nothing formal except clearing some brush) that can take us down to the other oak trees and perhaps all the way around the house, which would make a nice short hike around our land underneath the house.

2. Preferred view from Great Room/kitchen

Here is a panoramic view we'd love to capture from our Great Room, just to the left of the previous photo. From the family room, it would be great if we could see Mt. Diablo dead-on center, and preferably we'd also be able to see a little bit of the road leading up to our home, so we could see who's coming up. This is the most treasured view for us, and we want to make sure that we can enjoy it everyday from the Great room where we'll be spending 80% of our time.

3. View from living room (or dining)

While we weren't able to confirm exactly where the sun will set, our compass indicated that west was in the direction of the valley right in the middle of this photo. While the view is great (and different), we would not want any bedroom or our Great room to hit direct sunlight, so we're relegating that to the formal living room. If possible, we would also prefer NOT seeing the neighbor's house (incl. his two water tanks) toward the bottom of this photo.

If there were to be a trade-off on which room would have a view, between the formal living room and the dining, we would give it to the formal living. We would also prefer the dining room to allow for a nice, big round table that seats 8-10, instead of an oblong-shaped table.

4. Master bedroom view

This is another much treasured view, immediately to the left of the previous photo. We think this faces South/Southwest, and love being able to wake up to a little bit of the rolling hills as well as the San Ramon Valley. The lights from all the Windemere homes at night would be spectacular and make a great, relaxing view from our bedroom. Same comment noted for the neighbor's roof and water tanks.

Our only concern is the afternoon sun, and would prefer that our windows veer as much toward south as possible.

5. Vince's office

If possible, Vince would love for his office to feature this view of the rolling hills toward the Windemere permanent space (SxSE?). To be able to stare into as much greenery as possible would really help him rest his eyes away from the computer. Given that Vince really prefers a separate entrance to his office (which could also potentially serve as a shared entrance with the guest wing?), and also be as far away as possible from the Great Room to reduce noise and distraction, we think this also makes a convenient location for his office.

6. Other bedrooms/guest wing

So this is a view that's sandwiched between the previous two photos (i.e. master bedroom and Vince's office):

It's an amazing view of the Windemere/San Ramon Valley area, and we love it as well. We're just not sure if there is room for this to belong to the kids' bedroom (just one, or both?) or perhaps even the guest wing, but we'd love to find a way to maximize our enjoyment of this view.

With respect to the kids' rooms, here are three things we discussed as requirements:

1. Equity in views: If one kid's room has a view, then the other should as well. Else neither room gets it.

2. Kids' bedrooms need to be close to the master bedroom. Both for convenience and peace of mind (for us, not for them!)

3. Kids cannot go out or leave the house without first passing the master bedroom. Yes, we're paranoid parents trying to plan for rebellious teenagers later in life.

Overall, we had a great visit today and it reiterated two things we'd love for this home to achieve:

1. A relaxing, almost spa-like feeling when we come home

2. As much as we can, preserve the open, 360-degree view that we've come to cherish from this lot. 

Link to the spreadsheet on Google Docs. This is a living document and will continue to be updated as we get more ideas. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqRnsSOUKtr5dDd6Ym5hNDNERXBTSEtXTDRvVTRzQVE&usp=sharing

We like the design of these roof top terrace photos. There should be 4 photos in this link

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/23374448/thumbs/rooftop-terrace