We had a pool put in about 6 months ago. I originally wanted pavers, but we have quite a slope... Have found that decking was actually the best choice for us. Very happy with it.

Honestly, your time frame is pretty damn good. 16wks from initial concept to an approved DA is very impressive. Ours was 16wk tweaking concept plans and another +6mth in council. We had an approval that wasn't worth building nearly 12mth later. Don't ask. Nightmare council. Another 6mth to Land and Environment Court. Hell your 16wk is looking like a fantasy to me! Construction Plans and Construction Certificate may take longer, really depends how many conditions are attached to your DA. Our last DA- I nearly died when the certifier gave the the 'things to do list' with 30 odd reports, assessments and amendments! We managed this bit ourselves to save some cash (thanks to legal fees chewing up our budget), but boy it cost me in time! It took me 3-4mth to get it all done- delapidation reports, council assets bond deposits, waste management reports, soil tests...it was endless! It might just be that your architect is up to his neck in this right now. IF he is not, you need to 1. discuss costing for him to do this and then 2. instruct him whether or not to progress. Siriuskey's advice is gold. "Keep the door open" The reality is the architect owns the plan and if you sack them- you will need them to sign over the copyright of the plan to a new draftsman, designer or architect. No other architect will touch it till this happens. Try be patient. I don't think there is much info out there to inform people about realistic time frames. It does take time, and due to all the other people involved- engineers, soil testers, surveyors...list goes on. It is out of the architects hands.

Lucky you and your family, Sarah! Portugal is a beautiful country. I looked at images of hotels and villas in your region, and it's a mixed bag of tiles, timber and what looked like concrete. I'm guessing these are all readily available. Given the average temperature doesn't usually go higher than 24 degrees Celsius, any materials would be in keeping and comfortable to walk on barefoot. Having said that, with your white walls, I'm thinking large white/off-white tiles would look spectacular and would provide the most contrast to potted plants and furniture. Have you looked at large-scale tiles and are there slip-resistant ones available (in case little ones run across deck) ? What are your thoughts?

what a gorgeous location..my suggestions would be to include the western storage area to improve the bathroom with separate toilet, vanity and bathing areas with external views and ventilation, easy access to the bathroom through the laundry from outside and the rest of the house without opening directly off the living areas, moving the northern entry door makes a better sized bed 3 and kitchen and rotating the separate island allows seated diners to look out towards the views in three directions and more comfortable kitchen work areas, there's space taken off the kitchen for a proper laundry with sink, wm, dryer and tall storage and biw and private entry and alternate deck doors for bed 4, comfortable sitting and dining areas with heater and freestanding storage for tv, books, music, display, dinnerware etc ...bed 1 door opens backwards to increase privacy and there's a tiny hall, biw and linen storage for beds 2 and 3