Have you considered gravel? I've heard that with a good, firm base a gravel dive-way can be fine. Maybe keep grass in the middle for affect. Perhaps it would go well with the historic home you're building as well.

We did think of gravel and our homeowner's association does not allow it. thanks though.

I think asphalt would be more suitable. And cheaper. Although the way prices for oil have been yo-yoing, I might be wrong on that. I do know that creating the forms for a long curving pour would be more labor intensive. Both will use the same graded and graveled substrate. I'd get quotes and put cost into the factor as well because either could look "right" if designed well.

Just a personal opinion.... but concrete looks nicer to me. Asphalt is cheaper where I live, and usually looks that way. I'm not sure of your budget, but a stamped concrete that looks like paver stones would look lovely...

We had a big concrete driveway in our last home, and it cost almost $30,000. It was in town, you drove in on one street, and then out on another. The concrete looked nice the first year, and then it started cracking and discoloring. I grew to hate it. In our new home, we chose asphalt...cost $4,000...but it is a bit shorter. It's only been a few months, and so far I like it. And you can refresh it, which I really like. It was soft during the warm months, and we had a couple people turn their wheels sharply while sitting stationary, and we did get a couple impressions, but they tell us we won't have that problem after the first winter when the asphalt sets up good. So far, so good.

Asphalt needs quite a bit more maintenance than concrete, so I would factor that into the cost. We are doing concrete, but doing a tinted concrete, mixed into the concrete not painted on top. Probably french gray - pretty with our bluestone and doesn't have the fakey look of some other tinted concrete.

When it was time to do something with our driveway, we went with asphalt instead of concrete.
Yes, concrete looks nicer, but our neighbors made up our minds.

When it snows, the asphalt driveways clear off MUCH more quickly than concrete. They tend to be less icy also.

The dark surface really retains the heat/catch the sun's rays.

A properly constructed asphalt driveway needs zero maintenance. That's a myth designed to sell you "asphalt sealer". Ours is 40 years old, never been sealed, and is only beginning to have a few issues of crumbling at the edge. In some of the older neighborhoods in the city, you have 70 year old asphalt drives that are a bit ratty, but they function just fine.

Livewireoak, I'm guessing that you live in an area that does not have freeze/thaw cycles. While I agree that the sealing business is a scam, the cracks that develop from the freeze/thaw cycles most definitely need to be filled.

Cracks from freeze/thaw in asphalt only happen when the base is poorly constructed and does not drain properly and/or no crown on the drive was achieved when installed or the material was improperly compacted. You have a higher chance of this with a cold roll drive than a hot roll one. With a properly graded lot with ditches or swales, a properly compacted gravel/stone base that reaches deep enough, and a crown in the asphalt, any water that falls is directed away from the drive and you will not have cracks or frost heave. There are way too many cost cutting fly by night people doing asphalt installations who simply do not really know what they are doing and that is why you have issues with asphalt drives. Done properly, an asphalt drive is more durable than a concrete one. Done poorly, it is not. Far more are done poorly than done well so this is not a place to cut corners. It's just like painting. It's all about the 90% of prep that comes before. The last 10% is about the skill of the compactor and the quality of the product.

I do live in the South, but not the Deep South. We get several months of below freezing temperatures here, most often at night, with daytime winter temps rising back above freezing into the 40's, or like today, the 60's. (It was 27 the night before last with a high of only 34 the following day and then the warm front with tornadoes came through.) We deal with a daily freeze/thaw cycle instead of a more seasonal one, although we do get 1 out 5-6 winters when the daily temperature remains below freezing for a period of a couple of weeks. Our record low temperature is 13 below 0, and 0 itself is seen 1 out of 10 winters. We also get periodic ice storms, which are worse for wear and tear on just about everything than snowstorms. The longevity of my drive is due to it's proper construction, not the fact that it has never been subject to freeze/thaw conditions. There are asphalt drives in 10 year old subdivisions on the outskirts of town that are already failing. It's because they were poorly constructed.

For an historic looking house, I'd want either gravel or brick but you've said your HOA won't allow gravel and I can imagine that real brick might be a bit too pricey an option. So, how about stamped and colored asphalt that LOOKS like brick?

Here is a link that might be useful: stamped colored asphalt

...or gravel-topped concrete, so it looks like gravel? I admit HOA's sometimes get my goat....

The pea gravel concrete/aggregate can look great and may give you the look you want. It can be pricey though - more than tinted concrete. They can be different colors too depending on the stone you use. Gives you a look of a pea gravel driveway without the negatives (no need to redo, stones don't scatter, kids can ride bikes on them, etc.)

HI

With the gravel, regular or pea, how do you manage using a snow plow on this? And, my husband worries that gravel could get caught on the bottom of someone's shoe and scratch the marble in our foyer.

thanks.

Aggregate driveways are pea gravel in a substrate so the gravel doesn't move around. Just looks like pea gravel (or whatever small stone you choose). I think they are called aggregate driveways around here - not sure of the true name.

I googled it and typed in Atlanta because I know lots of folks have them around there. I know nothing about this company but it has a few pictures with pea gravel, and explains a bit about the process (talks about how you can change the color depending on what stones you choose, etc.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Exposed aggregate driveway

I think the dark asphalt blends more with the trees and surroundings and doesn't stand out as a focal point.