Exciting opportunity, unfortunately no "best" option, except one. Start now to put up your wood, at least two years estimated supply cut, split and stacked, so you are always burning 2nd year wood, well seasoned, and never get behind in the future. Down to nitty gritty. What follows doesn't fit you exactly, but it is the advice I gave to one of our children when he was looking to buy a house.
1. Good slopes/drainage away from the house on all sides. Failure here should rise to a deal breaker I think. Look at neighboring properties, what direction is their drainage -- NOT towards your property is important. Look for signs of water pooling in low areas in the yard, may indicate a high water table and potential ground water problems. Try to find out what was on the development site before the development: filled wetland? low areas? etc. It would be useful to take some core samples to see what the subsoil is like. That can tell you a lot about potential water and other ground issues.
2. Uncomplicated roof system. The more hips, valleys, dormers, peaks, etc., the more opportunity for future roof problems from water, snow and ice, and the more expensive to re-roof. Really steep roofs may look nice, but they are costly to work on.
3. Air quality. Many "newer" homes are quite tight. Look for an air to air exchanger system; look for very good bathroom and kitchen venting to get out the moisture from showers, tubs, cooking. Interior moisture is always a potential problem, and can be serious in a tight house. Look at interior window sash to find evidence of moisture condensation and dripping. There probably will be some, if you find none, excellent, but if a lot, I think it is good evidence of an interior moisture problem. Also check for dry rot and degraded sash from moisture; might be stained/varnished over to cover it up. Probably indicates an interior moisture problem if you find much of this.
4.Heating, cooling, ventilation. These are a long term utility cost issues which really add up. You are planning on wood. Obviously, insulate extremely well. Payback is forever. Look for a good mfr for windows. I think an R-factor of not less than 3 is essential (U-factor of .33 or less), but I would pay the price and look for 4 and better. Our windows are R-8 (U-0.12). and were very expensive, double or more in cost as compared to the top of the line windows of the time.
In general, low temperature radiant hot water is the best heat, IMO. If I ever built a house, that's what I would do though.
What can provide big long term savings is house siting to take advantage of natural passive solar heating in the fall/winter/spring and natural cooling from shading during the summer. This means siting that allows low angle sun into the house through windows when heat is wanted, and shading from large eves or deciduous trees during the summer. You don't want blazing sun into the house during the summer, even if blocked by shades/drapes. And the deciduous trees when their leaves are dropped and the eaves will let the low angle sun in during the winter.
Similarly, you want window placement which will provide flow-through ventilation from natural breezes. A whole house fan is something also to inquire about. Much less expensive to draw in cooler outside air when available than running an a/c.
Ceiling fans in bedrooms and other living spaces are good, reduce need for a/c.
Site for solar electric, solar hot water, etc. I never would build a house that did not allow for shade free solar. Solar can be a sizable expense up front, but it provides electricity and/or heat forever with minimal effort. We put in a 6500 watt solar system last October. Already has provided nearly 2 megawatts of electricity.
6. Maintenance free, the more the better. Windows, doors, siding, sofits, etc. I personally don't prefer plastics for siding, sofits, windows or doors, as I think plastics will degrade from UV over time, but data may show otherwise.
7. Decks. People love their decks, and love them better if stained. I would never stain a deck, it is an expensive, forever maintenance headache to maintain the stained look, based on our neighbors experience with their deck: about every 3 years power washing and new stain. We think naturally weathered gray wood looks good, and looks even better because it needs no power washing and staining.
8. Stained or painted cedar wood siding. Can work well, and then might not. Type of stain/paint and quality of wood makes a big difference. We have stained redwood (old) and cedar (new) siding which gets new stain about every 5 years on the heavy sun/weather exposed side and much less often on the other sides. Not too burdensome. Wood siding can be a problem with woodpeckers -- they search for insects which have made it behind the siding, they like to peck on wood and make holes into and nests behind the siding. Some houses/areas have a big problem with woodpeckers. A friend of ours resided the house with a non-wood siding because of woodpecker problems.
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As I write this, I see your temp is +19F. Our is -20F and expected to be near -30F by dawn. Build to save energy in the future. I doubt you can go wrong on that choice.
