From the introduction:

We didn’t plan to build.  We had decided not to, but we couldn’t find what we wanted, and we searched for years–long before we were ready to buy.  Since we live in Florida (hot and humid with possible hurricanes and subsequent loss of power), we wanted a house that didn’t need to rely on air conditioning [though we included central air].  …
We also wanted a house that needed as little maintenance as possible.  Low maintenance eliminated old houses, even though we love them and looked at several during our long search.

Copyright 2008 Joy Smith. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.