T.S. Eliot wrote that April is the cruelest month … but T.S. Eliot forgot what it was like to live in New England during a late March snowstorm.  March 21st was the official first day of spring, but those of you up north would never know it.

There really is no reason to spend another winter shivering in the sub-zero weather, scraping snow off your windshield, and dealing with all the wind chills and potholes, Next winter you can laugh at the threatening weather from your own sunny Abacoa® home in Jupiter, Florida.

Here you can get reacquainted with your old friend – THE SUN.  Or you can enjoy all the green areas, lakes, parks and pristine beaches, take advantage of the glorious shopping on Worth Avenue, or simply revel in the laid-back living and Mediterranean-style architecture that makes Jupiter one of the very best places to live and love life.

And what a perfect time to buy!  The Wall Street Journal just cited the Palm Beach area – including “over the moat” in Jupiter – as one of the 10 best places for a second home. Median prices have plunged 11 percent from their peak. It doesn’t get better than this!

Why not give yourself a break during the long hard winters?  When Bob Marley wrote about three little birds pitched by his doorstep, he sure wasn’t shivering through a Nor’easter in Boston or a blustery blizzard in Chicago.  Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens are the kind of places where “everything’s gonna be all right” … especially with home prices near their all-time low.

Maybe you’ll fly north for the summer too. After all, it has a lot to offer. Just remember that when fall turns to winter, there’s a better way of life. The little birds fly south to their second homes. Why shouldn’t you?

If you’re shopping for a home in an upscale neighborhood like Valencia at Abacoa (Jupiter, FL), you’ll find a number of sophisticated architectural details are part of the package. You don’t have to know their names to appreciate their charm … but it doesn’t hurt. So here are a couple of terms it pays to be familiar with…because you’ll be probably be paying for them!

Porte-cochere … a protective porch

If you drive up to a house and find yourself parked under an overhang or archway in front of the garage, you are passing through the porte-cochere. This French term translates as coach gate or carriage porch. It is always a porch at a main or secondary entrance to a building, through which a car can pass, so the occupants can get out under cover, protected from the weather, before the car pulls into the garage. While it is not to be confused with a carport, it can function as one, providing additional parking under cover.

Coffered ceiling… added dimensionality

In architecture a coffer is a panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling. The stone coffers of the ancient Greek and Romans are the earliest surviving examples, but a seventh-century BCE Etruscan chamber tomb reproduces a ceiling with beams and cross-beams lying on them, with flat panels. Old idea…great look!

Cupola …tower of light

This is a small, dome-like structure on top of the roof, like a crown. The word comes from Italian, indicating a vault that resembles an upside down cup. Cupolas in more modern houses can appear in the center of the house above a large staircase, where they add elegance, light and air.

Butler’s pantry … charming convenience

The traditional location for a butler’s pantry is in a short hallway between the kitchen and the dining room. Its purpose is to allow easy access to glassware and silver … and to provide a surface to set out appetizers, drinks, or dessert. Butler’s pantries, or china pantries, were built in English or American homes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Delightfully convenient, they are making a big comeback.