I just wanted to chime in (since you're being downvoted) that this is exactly what I'm doing and I viewed things roughly the same way as you. The difficult par

I just wanted to chime in (since you're being downvoted) that this is exactly what I'm doing and I viewed things roughly the same way as you. The difficult part is finding a reasonable plot of land. During housing booms (bubbles?) land also tends to be overpriced, and you need to be aware of local regulations (how far well water needs to be from a leach field, etc.) In my case, I'll only be required to go into work twice a week at most in Boston, so I'm building the house 3 hours away in Maine. I enjoy the rural lifestyle and also have personal connections to a builder - I'm not saying this is for everyone necessarily. In this type of climate new housing can be justifiably built to an incredibly high level of insulation with only some intentional (and controllable) fresh air allowed. ICF is better than wood if you plan windows ahead of time. Eventually this will save you money in heating costs when you live in New England. Anyway, yes it's still possible to build houses in America.