Oh my gosh, you guys! So many cool postings! Where do I begin?

Flatlander: we have mud rooms in Michigan, too, and plenty of mud to go with it. On a related note, my last house had a boot drop in the entry area. Do you have boot drops? (A boot drop is a built-in bench, enclosed on the bottom, adjacent to an entry. One sits on it to take off one's boots, and then opens the hinged seat and drops the boots in the bench.) What a terrific convenience; I wish there had been a good space for one in this house.

of troy: I like the term, "hi ranch." We call them raised ranches here.

McMansions is hilarious. There are also subdivisions here which have large houses perched precariously on tiny lots. (I don't know why -- plenty of land available. Some people have a strong swarming instinct, I guess.)

Bobyoungbalt: we have a rec room, too. Also in the basement, and it has the usual contents: TV/stero/sitting area, game table and storage, pool table, bar. But, because of the boys, we usually call it the "wreck room."

Similarly, our family room has changed in the months since we got our Newfoundland puppy, and is now known as the dog's chew toy.

bel: what terrific info! I have learned that we have a foyer in our book repository. You will love having that book repository; I can finally find a book when I need it!

And yes, we have a guestroom. As twusm noted earlier, I just forgot to mention bedrooms. Also, we have a master bedroom and master bathroom. And, the boys have a jack and jill bath -- a bathroom sandwiched between the two bedrooms and accessible from both bedrooms.

Apartments here only refer to rented dwelling units in multi-unit buildings. Apartments are never purchased, and are never in single-unit buildings. A purchase of a unit in a multi-unit dwelling is a condo.