My cousin in Serbia who took a year or two of civ.eng., changed his major to comp.sci., and is now working as a sales manager for an RE developer (ironic, eh?) was shocked when he saw how we build houses here in North America. Both Canada and California have good reasons for such construction:
Canada: So we only pay $200 a month for heating instead of $800.
California: In case of an earthquake, I'd rather have a ton of plywood instead of 5 tons of bricks falling on me :D
P.S. The house is shaping up nicely Bill. Are you gonna go with wood, brick or stucco?