Was not suggesting you clad the brick at all -- just paint it, which is relatively cheap. My other suggestion was to eliminate one of the siding choices on the front (Thereby saving some $). In so much as I can see the right colors better on my monitor and it appears that you like blue, my opinion was that w/the absence of the yellow brick you the darker of the blues would work w/the stone. My comment about the timber ark was related to the question you asked of me earlier when on my iPad it looked as though you had posted brown (timberbark), white, and gray -- thus illustrating the point I attempted to make earlier about the distortion of color in this medium. Again, good luck.

One shouldn't compare durability of old brick buildings to current residential practices. Old brick is usually structural, three bricks thick or more. The weakness of brick is in the mortar and old professional work usually featured better sands with sharper, more varied particle sizes. Masons these days usually just stick with cheap, readily available masonry sand. Unfortunately, masonry is a dying trade. The biggest problem is that most residential brick work is a masonry veneer, covering wood-based construction. Along with stone and stucco, most brick veneer projects use inadequate vapor barriers and flashing. The masonry may look great from the outside, but the finishes are hiding mold, mildew and deterioration of the wood structure. Sometimes, this happens surprisingly fast. Masonry is considered a moisture reservoir cladding. It will soak up moisture from rain or sprinklers and send it towards the inside as the sun comes out. This makes it a more risky cladding than wood, metal, composite or vinyl. Masonry is one of my favorite exterior finishes but it takes extra effort than what is common in current construction practices. If you go with masonry, ensure your construction team understands the details like minding the gap and weatherproof window installations. When I was in Germany, there was a lot of troublesome renovation happening to the very old timberframe structures that had been stuccoed during times when stucco was considered more fashionable. The lime stuccos inhibited the drainage and drying of the wood, speeding up the timbers deterioration.

Better photos, thanks. I would remove the shutters. They are overwhelming. Paint the body of the house, the board and batten, the taupe you love. Paint over the brick (or maybe a stain would be a better solution) black (and support columns black). Your house has a great look to it, but with all one color, it looks like a flat front. The wood stained wall by the garage...I like it. I would frame around the front door the same stain and a choose a black mid century style door. Found a photo that can give you an idea

@elcieg I really wanted white (black was my number one and I can't do that) because I am not a huge beige fan and my inside wall paint is a very light gray- almost white with white crown molding. I think white windows will work better. This is so hard! lol Question....I get the natural, rough-cut against white you're mentioning. What if I do a more modern cut for the stone that will be near the windows? It's called Ashlar cut. The brick is smooth enough where I think that is fine. what do you think? thank you!