We are building a new house three blocks from the beach in Southern California. Our plans call for French casements, and we have about 15 throughout the three-story house. I had planned to go with the Vinyl Milgard Tuscany series, but now I have learned that they cannot be made in a true French casement style. I also was told that no company makes a vinyl French casement. Is this true? If we go with wood, we would chose a paint grade, since we planned for white windows/trim with our dark grey shingles. Are we crazy to consider wood so close to the beach? We were told to expect to repaint every 5-7 years for maintenance. If that is all, we would be willing to go with wood to keep the integrity of the design.