An 8-foot flat ceiling can make a home feel cramped and uniform these days, as higher ceilings, both flat and vaulted, take over the housing market. Forty-two percent of builders responding to a 2002 NAHB survey said their homes had 9-foot first-floor ceilings, and 15 percent claimed ceilings of more than 9 feet.

Remodeling for fire resistance. Cooks become careless in the kitchen; old electrical wiring arcs; wildfires burn out of control. The result is the same: Home fires that can devastate the lives of the residents. Home fire property damage totaled nearly $6 billion in 2003 not including the Southern California wildfires, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

At first glance, the house rising on a tree-lined street in Paterson, New Jersey looks much like any house in the middle of construction. But this isn't just any house.

Homes made of straw are drawing new interest for environmental and energy benefits.

Home Works volunteers renovate hearth and home for disabled.

This Mediterranean-style exterior home, with stucco walls, tile roof and custom ironwork has steel for the studs, frame and roof trusses, and steel reinforcing the slab as well. The result is an elegant home that is, literally, strong as steel in a hurricane-prone environment.

Green roofs are easy on the eyes and the environment. They help warm buildings in winter and cool them in summer, reduce and slow stormwater runoff and lessen the "urban heat island" effect that contributes to smog.

At the fore front of this green building project are the eco-friendly features like solar power, green roofs and nontoxic building materials only.

Seven years ago, Jeremy Smithson decided it would be neat to heat and light his home with solar power. Then he did the math and his 1908 Craftsman on the western slope of Phinney Ridge would need a roof four times bigger just to hold enough solar panels to meet his energy needs.

In homes of the future, walls, roofs and windows coated with an invisible layer of micrometer-scale photovoltaic cells and thermoelectric materials will provide heating and cooling far more efficiently than traditional systems.

Spartacryl PM(TM) 60 Series, AldeSol(TM) Solvent 70 Series, Colormatch® 50-990 Series, Colormatch® DR Series, and Colormatch® AD Series are available as infrared (IR) reflective pigment dispersions that keep surfaces cool by helping reflect wavelengths in IR region to optimize Total Solar Reflectance (TSR). Additives are suited for applications that require surfaces to stay cool and withstand outdoor elements, such as roofing, decking, and automotive exteriors.

The City House, by Englehart Homes, successfully blends contemporary and traditional home design to deliver a stylish, functional result.With a timeless facade, as displayed, the exterior is modern, yet conservative, comprising a mix of Daniel Robertson bricks, rendered bricks and horizontal windows, tastefully topped by a terracotta-tiled roof.

Period houses have distinct features. Jeanette Leigh outlines the hallmarks distinct styles and roofing architecture.