I think your home would be good for a Bengal, but I do question whether or not being home alone for 9 hours is a good idea for an early generation Bengal, be it now or in the future. We have an SBT Bengal and now an F1, and there are very drastic differences between the two. Aside from screaming at the top of his lungs when he is alone, Dexter can be a tornado when he is left by himself. At the moment we do not allow the boys to be together for the 8-9 hours a day that we are at work during the week, but they can play through the doors. We live in a one bedroom apartment, so we section off Dexter(f1) in the bedroom/bathroom and Bauer has access to the kitchen/dining/living rooms. Especially after seeing the way Dexter's behavior gets when he is by himself, I would honestly have NEVER considered an F1 without first having another kitty that would constantly keep him occupied. We almost ALWAYS come home to an enormous mess as he throws a fit and likes to throw everything around, tug on the shower curtain, knocking over and getting into any and all trash cans, tearing up the litter box liner, always flips his water bowl upside down, eats anything and everything he can find, and in general just hits the room like a hurricane out of sheer boredom. This is him only having access to two rooms, one being very small, and being "by himself" most of the day. When we are home and he is with Bauer, of course they are still rambunctious as all hell, however, it seems he has no interest in any of this, go figure. Like a little bi-polar angel. But I worry for you because yours would eventually have free reign of the ENTIRE place by himself, and without a playmate.
After seeing what he is capable of I am so glad we have Bauer and when he IS finally allowed to have the run of the place with Bauer when we are not around, I am hoping they will not get into too much trouble together, or if they do, there is not so much chaos left in his wake because he will be occupied.
It could be just my opinion or what I've seen from having Dex with us as long as we have, but I just wouldn't suggest an EG Bengal as an only cat/pet even early on. I wouldn't suggest one as a FIRST Bengal. There are so many things we probably would have been stunned about if we had not gotten Bauer before Dexter, and like I said they are still SO different. If you are looking for a high energy pet that you can teach tricks too, you could just as well get an SBT Bengal as they have many qualities of a dog. BOTH of my boys know how to sit, lay down, walk on their hind legs, jump up or down, and spin on their hind legs and on all fours on command, and it didn't take long at all to train them this way. They also fetch, though Bauer more than Dex. In that way, Dex is more independent because he likes to play by himself more and enjoys tearing up a toy in the corner of the room more than he enjoys fetching, unlike Bauer who will bring things to us while we are in bed to throw for him (again, much like a dog).
This is just my experience so you shouldn't let it discourage you until you hear more owners out, but Dex can be a holy terror simply because it is in his nature, and this is ten fold when we are not around and he is by himself and simply "bored". Taking all of that into consideration, I have heard of EG stories that go terribly wrong so if you do take this route make sure you do plenty of research. I tend to feel like we got lucky with his behavior hearing what I have about some others experiences with them. I think it's definitely worth looking into an SBT Bengal for you guys, or maybe 2 since you said you live in a nice sized place so that they could have a playmate, or even an SBT and then an EG a little bit later on once you've gotten used to the antics of the breed. If there is one thing i've learned it is not to dismiss Bengals as just cats. They have such high energy and can be so off the wall, and EG Bengals are SBT's on speed.
I wouldn't trade Dex for anything in the world but he is an exhausting little tazmanian devil.
Hope this helps!!