Our homesite is on the edge of an 80 acre meadow. We own 10 acres, 8 of it is open meadow (the farm next door mows it for hay and puts their cows out there to graze)and the other two are woods. The house sits at a weird angle to the road because we have a gorgeous view of rolling meadow framed in mountains and we oriented the LR and DR windows to frame that view. We also have a huge wrap-around deck that goes from the front door to the back door around the side of the house. It looks on that view as well and is shielded from the road. It doesn't have a railing, but does have 4 long benches along the edge as any summer entertaining happens out there. The deck is low enough that we put in big, flat stones as a step. Along the foundation I planted perennials and bulbs. Right now the hollyhocks and black eyed susans are in bloom.

The property line is ringed with big trees like maple, pine, and white birch, but the lawn is big (1.5 acres) and bare looking. In the past 2 years I have put in four lilac bushes and two small maples, but they grow slowly.

You can't see any other houses from here, but you can see our business (a farm machinery repair shop) and a round barn.

Two years ago I painted the outsides of the doors a nice blue and hung same-color shutters and window boxes. I wanted to give the house a more finished, friendlier look, and that helped.

BTW, I live in very northern New England in a little town of about 3,000 residents.