How Green?

On the way to work today, Mike asked me how green I wanted our new house to be. He pointed out that I have, in the past, dreamed of being "off the grid" (energy independent.) I still feel that this would be a wonderful goal. I definitely hope to use geothermal to heat and cool the house. I want to orient the house, the windows and the eaves in such a way that we are warmed by southern light in the winter and avoid harsh light in the summer (i.e. passive solar design.) As for active solar technology, I plan to look into it and see what the costs and benefits would be. We need to be sure that our local electricity company is willing to "buy back" any extra energy we produce during sunny days so that when we use energy on cloudy days, we aren't paying for all of it. I'd also like to use a whole house fan and plan the windows in such a away that we are able to capture breezes on warm days.

So, how green would I like the house to be? Very green. But, I'm not willing to sacrifice much in terms of comfort, convenience and style. For example, I'd love to capture rainwater to water the yard, but I really like the convenience of an automatic sprinkler system. So, maybe we can just say that I'll have a sprinkler system but I'll try to landscape in such a way that excessive watering isn't necessary? Maybe my rainwater could be funneled into a pretty water garden?

Let's face it, some "green" homes are just, fugly. Yeah, I said it. They are plain, odd, and asymmetrical. Some of them aren't as much fugly as they are just far too modern and angular for my tastes. Check out these examples.
No offense intended towards the owners of these very green homes. It's just that this isn't my style. I want a beautiful home; a home that is lovely, formal and a little bit opulent. One that shows my style and my personality. And, is as green as can be (without needing to be fugly.) In fact, I would go so far as to say that it would be good for the world for us to build an exceptionally beautiful home that is also green, just to show others that you don't have to sacrifice style for the environment.