One more thing- I think that maybe the mass of the garage gable is overwhelming everything else, but I'm not sure how to fix this...maybe tie in the front door gable with the office gable somehow? Perhaps the way we use materials will help or maybe I'm worried about it and shouldn't be. Ugh. I'm normally not so indecisive and hesitant, I think the thoughts of how much money we're going to spend are making me extremely cautious!

Hi Ashley,

So many decisions can be overwhelming indeed! There are folks here that are far more talented and experienced in helping with exterior elements, but I'm happy to share my thoughts:

1. Shutters- Yes or no? My husband wants shutters. I'm not sure that they work where you can't put shutters on all of the windows.

Unless they are truly operable, I am not a fan of shutters.

2. Materials- currently we have brick, stone, and shakes. I think three materials, or at least this particular combo, may be too much. I think if the brick was replaced with lap siding, you could keep the stone and shakes because the shakes and siding would read similar if they are painted the same color.

I agree that this combo is too much and often find the use of two materials to be less cluttered and less visually draining. If they were indeed the same color, the combination of shakes and siding along with the stone may work. I'd have to see where each material would be placed to feel confident with this though.

3. Stone on the gable above the front door. I think stone above the roofline may read as too heavy. Shakes might be a better choice here?

I'm unsure about this one...

4. I think the beams in the left gable (I'm not sure what the correct term for this is) need to go. I'm not sure it complements anything else.

I agree with you!

5. I think that maybe the mass of the garage gable is overwhelming everything else, but I'm not sure how to fix this...maybe tie in the front door gable with the office gable somehow?

This doesn't bother me... I think the different sized gables offer nice variety.

I hope you get some great advice ~ many people on this forum wow me regularly with their abilities! Best of luck to you!

Thanks for your input daisyblue. I agree about the shutters; if we do use them they would be operable. My concern is that because all of the windows would not be appropriate for shutters (the small rectangular window, the window under the porch) it would look strange to only use shutters on some windows.

choose between brick or stone. not both. personally, i prefer brick.

also, consider keeping the roof all shingles?? there's too many textures going on.

all of this being suggested nicely. i'm just in a rush ;)

choose between brick or stone. not both. personally, i prefer brick.

also, consider keeping the roof all shingles?? there's too many textures going on.

all of this being suggested nicely. i'm just in a rush ;)

I like the structure. I agree that what you've got planned now is too complicated. I would pare down to two materials (either stone or brick + siding/shakes), and get rid of the beam in the gable.

I think the way you're using shutters is fine, but I think if you're going to have shutters, you should go with one roofing material.

I like the shape of the house, it's just a little over-decorated right now.

Don't mix brick and stone; choose natural materials or manufactured materials.

Don't paint wall shingles, have them stained at the factory.

I recommend using only stone and shingles.

Don't change materials half way up a wall; do that at floor lines if you must do it at all and if shingles are above flare them over a horizontal crown/bed moulding.

The small windows in the closet should be square and separated instead of ganged together.

Large casement windows without mullions are inappropriate for this style house IMO.

I would not use even abbreviated classical type cornice returns on a stone structure.

Stone above the roof is OK as long as the lower stone is clearly visible so it reads as one structure (maintain the corners at both floors). What I would be concerned about is how the the side wall roof flashing will be sealed to the stone.

Don't worry about the shutters and gable decoration until you have the basic massing and materials selected. Don't try to design everything at once; the proper sequence is from large to small instead of assembling large and small parts all at once.

bmh4796, I tend to agree with you that we shouldnâÂÂt try to combine brick and stone, at least on this particular house. Good point about the roofing materials also. I didnâÂÂt take your suggestions as anything other than kindly meant, and thanks for your input.

zone4newby, âÂÂover-decoratedâ is a great way to describe what my concern is. Again, agree that either the stone or brick should go. Do you have any suggestion for which would look better? I tend to lean towards stone because I like it, but I donâÂÂt have anything against brick if it would look better. Your idea about the shutters impacting the choice of roofing materials is interesting and a point I hadnâÂÂt considered.

Renovator8, if cost wasnâÂÂt a factor IâÂÂd love to use only stone and shingles. However, that may not work with the budget. WeâÂÂre meeting with the builder tonight, so IâÂÂll try to get better estimates from him on the relative costs of shingles v. lap siding v. brick v. stone. Staining the shingles is an option that is on the table. The changing materials half way up the wall is something I had thought would look better as you have suggested. What type windows would you recommend? Again, we are trying to maximize a view from the right side of the house and the rear, so IâÂÂm not sure if window grids would work towards that goal. But, IâÂÂm open to suggestions and changing to double-hung windows, for example, would save us quite a bit. I donâÂÂt care for the cornice returns, as you mentioned, but my husband likes them. IâÂÂm going to keep fighting on this. IâÂÂll talk to the builder about the flashing on stone issue.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. IâÂÂm going to play around with Photoshop a bit and see what I can come up with.

i agree with renovator8 that you should put grilles on the windows. also, i'm not liking the short window on the left wing. they look modern which the house is not. but I'm wondering if they are there for privacy? is your tub beneath them?

bmh4796, the short window is actually in the master closet area. It's short so as not to interfere with cabinets, hanging rods, etc. Do you think renovator8's suggestion of having several separate windows instead of ganging them would help?

Renovator8 is pretty awesome with these things, I'd take his advice.

But since you asked for opinions, I would lean toward brick over stone because there are a lot of different styles of stone but all the stone that's being done now is pretty similar, and so the stone you pick is going to date the house in a way that brick will not. I would only do stone if you live in an area where you often see stone in old farmhouses, and can copy the style of stone they use. I tend to be picky about wanting brick and stone to look real (which is why we aren't using either-- we can't afford to use them in a way that I would be satisfied with).

I've tried to upload a picture of three separate windows to show how they would look - this is a closet area also.

zone4newby, I agree that renovator8 is awesome and I will take his advice as much as possible. As far as stone goes, we do live in an area where stone was commonly used on old farmhouses. We're in east Tennessee, not too far from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our soil is usually very rocky around here, and many older houses have stonework that was produced using rock from the property- including my great-grandparents farmhouse. Tennessee fieldstone is still readily available and is not cost prohibitive for us (unless we covered the entire house, perhaps). But point taken regarding the materials dating the house.

Jrmint, thank you so much for the picture- it's very helpful. I'm not sure how far along you are in the process- do you have any pictures from the inside you could share?

Actually, we moved in last August, I just don't have any
good pictures right now of the outside. My husband has them on the laptop. I have pictures of the inside of the master closet, among other pictures of the inside (you can just see one of the windows here). Let me know if you'd like to see any of the others.

My husband and I sat down and talked things over and we've come up with this as a compromise for now. Is this any better?

Is your contractor telling you that shingles would be more expensive than stone or brick cladding?

I keep seeing brick and stone used together. Combining different cladding materials requires careful detailing that adds to the cost of the house. Brick expands and contracts more than stone or concrete so they should never be structurally joined but separated with an expansion/control joint or cavity so they can move independently and not open a joint or tear the wall apart depending on how much of the materials are used. At the very least, different materials should be separated by a joint filled with sealant and a backer rod.