As an architect, I have a list of words saved on my desktop that I am conscious can sound confusing to the client! One day I hope to write a little archi-dictionary to help clients work out what we mean when we use so many of the words that seem natural to us! 'Form', 'honest materials', 'warmth', 'documentation', 'draft', 'sketch plan', 'detail', 'mass', 'spine', 'circulation', 'water harvesting', 'floating', 'dynamic', 'heavy', 'celebrate'... etc.

Ha, some of these pics are so funny! deena it's only the light looking like a nose that makes our brains interpret your house as a face. Delete the light fitting. Adding the address will kill the symmetry that makes the face jump out.Or maybe some faux windows....

I’m no real estate expert but I imagine that if you think something is appealing there are others who will too. It may not be the family market, but other empty nesters and people who haven’t got children living at home, or who never intend to have kids. I’ve read quite a few articles about the difficulty older people have finding just what you are describing so you could be on to something. A building designer we talked to lately who specialises in solar passive eco design said most of his clients are empty nesters wanting to downsize and reduce their reliance on grid provided gas and electricity as they contemplate living on fixed incomes. Although resale is worth considering you need to live in it and be able to manage the upkeep both in terms of labour (cleaning, gardening, maintenance etc) and cost (the home itself, heating and cooling, maintenance, Home help services) so go with what is right for you. If it is well designed and a quality build then others will recognise that when it comes time to sell.

You could try Wet & Forget on the driveway. You can buy it ready to use and attach it to a hose or buy a bottle that you dilute to use in a sprayer. I have used it and it works - slower than water blasting but it won’t damage driveway if it has some damage? I can’t quite tell from photo if that’s grass clippings/mulch or broken concrete on driveway? If you use it be careful not to spray garden bed. I live in FNQ and we planted seaside daisy - doesn’t need watering but it also won’t die from our wet season. It’s a ground over and spreads out beautifully in a courtyard area that’s get a lot of sun. Just needs a trim from time to time. I see you have Rio (purple green ground cover) which you could separate and plant down the path but it does like water. Maybe for the fence you could try attaching lattice to it and plant another passion fruit vine to help cover the whole fence. It does look like you need to get rid of some woody parts of the passion fruit. It’s a tough plant and will enjoy a bit of pruning. We had one that I thought had died last year and it has returned with no help from me. Be careful with the heliconias and gingers ... they can get out of control if you don’t stay on top of them. Anything tall will cover your fence but it will also cover the passionfruit vine which obviously loves the spot it’s in. Good luck!