Loribug, thanks! I'll definitely report back on the island functionality! I chose it because I knew I'd want a space for people to sit and chat when I'm cooking. But I like that I can be working on something like decorating cookies or pulling pork and be able to talk to someone in the living room or even just watch tv. It's also just so much more space in general, my current house has less than 4 feet of workable counter space. I can't wait to get in there and use it!

Bevangel, you're exactly right! We went ahead and closed the triangles for now but at some point we're planning on having our kitchen installers put in a hutch in the dining room that matches the kitchen cabinets as well as a bookshelf in the living room. At that time we're going to open those back up and make two little "display shelves" where we can stick additional cookbooks. Can't fit a lot there but can make it a little more functional.

Carol, thanks!! I can't wait to do a little landscaping around the front door to really make that blue pop! :)

2 weeks until closing! Still need some touch-ups inside but other than that we are on track.

Started framing this week! We are hoping to be in by Thanksgiving.

@Meg4440Roberts - what color is your siding and stone if you don't mind sharing?

I'm new to the forum and we are just starting our build now. Plans are finalized and they just started clearing some land today.

Loesismore- our columns will be finished out with trim and picture frame molding, the columns meet a half wall that is about 36" tall. Hope that helps?

Rbattaglia24- our siding is by market place? Color is new graphite. It's a charcoal color that can take on some brown undertones when direct sun hits it. Stone is by Versetta Stone and do not have a color for you on it, sorry.

Meg--That helps alot. Would you mind posting a picture of your entry that shows it a little better? I would really appreciate it, having trouble visualizing how it all comes together. Thank you!!

We are at the very beginning of our build. We bought a 3 acre lot outside the city limits. We bought stock house plans that I have tried to attach. I might have been supposed to put this on the small house forum because we are only a family of three. We are waiting for our builder to finish work on another job before we can go any further. In the mean time, we have to clear some trees from our lot and put in a culvert. I will try to post pics throughout this process if I can figure out how. If you look at our plans, we are going to remove the French doors from the MB and the desk from the dining area and add a laundry room but that is the only thing we are changing. Any ideas and/or advice is welcome.

Here is a link that might be useful: JDez house

Loesismore- here is a little better picture of the columns and half walls in the living/entry way area.

Foundation going in!! whoohoo! :)

MrsCarrots - OMG... I LOVE your home. I used a Greek Revival plan as my inspiration but somehow we could never quite get to what I wanted (too much S.F., hurricane zone restrictions on roof pitch, etc.). Sigh. I'm jealous and can't wait to see how it all comes together!

Saftgeek - I'm sorry to hear about your sister. I hope that progress moves along smoothly at your place and you can start enjoying the process a little.

Loribug - That banquette is AWESOME! So clever and cozy. Looks like the perfect card playing table and it's so unique... I've never seen one quite like that!

Dutty... I can understand your frustrations but your exterior is gorgeous!!!!! Love the looks of everything!!!!! Keep with it.

Dutty, I am in LOVE with your home! What color roof did you choose? Did you do hardi board and batten?

Dutty, I am in LOVE with your home! What color roof did you choose? Did you do hardi board and batten?

dutty I am speechless - what a gorgeous house! I'd build a mini-me version of that exterior in a heartbeat. Put the double peak angst behind you - it works and does not look overdone or out of place. Can you share what area you're building in?

Thank you so much, everyone! Much of this home was designed ourselves and is a one-off build so I think I only see the mistakes and things that are wrong and lose sight of what I do love. Your comments brought me some joy on a day when I was frustrated to heck about some of the things that have gone wrong.

MrsFireman - Yes, that's Hardi smooth board and batton on top and under the porches is lap siding. The roof is a "cool roof" and the color was plain old black. :)

dlm2000 - Thanks for the thoughts on the double peak. Uuggh... everyone else likes it and I'm not sure why it sticks in my craw. I will try to take your advice and let go. :D I am in SW Florida. Yes, a black roof in SW Florida but it was just something I had to have. I'm crazy sometimes which I think the red barn illustrates. LOL.

Dutty, What color white did you go with? Were working on a similar design, board and batten, white farmhouse look. I love your white and im torn between wineberry red windows, or black like you've done:)

MrsFireman - We LOVE LOVE LOVE our white... it is so amazing in person. The pics don't even do it justice. It's Sherman Williams Westhighland White. We painted a bunch of whites and reds on the home and just kept visiting the site at all hours. It wasn't even a contest for the white... it won hands down, in every light, with every red. It's just fantastic. I'm even considering using it inside, too!

Are you up north? I'm assuming so if you can have red windows! :D Because we are in a hurricane zone, our windows are impact rated and that left us the choice of white or black aluminum frames. I'd love to see red windows... such character!

Dutty- That is a great white! I hadnt seen it before, I added to my ideas book. Thanks!

What is the reason you did lap siding on bottom and board and batten on top? It looks beautiful, and something I hadn't considered before seeing your home.

Dutty- That is a great white! I hadnt seen it before, I added to my ideas book. Thanks!

What is the reason you did lap siding on bottom and board and batten on top? It looks beautiful, and something I hadn't considered before seeing your home.

mrsfireman - Ya know, that was a last minute decision. It was two-fold actually. First, I was concerned that the board and batten would be a bit overwhelming if I used it everywhere. It felt like we had a lot of tall windows under the porch that would break up the batten spacing in strange ways and coupled with the battens on the porch ceiling... I was nervous.

Secondly, in driving around some of the historic parts of town, I noticed that the old Florida style homes were mixing sidings, shingles, and decorative elements in really cool ways I hadn't noticed before but it started to grow on me. That gave me confidence to pull the trigger and change under the porch to lap.

I'm glad you like the white. I had never heard of it either and was expecting to use one of the favorite whites here on Gardenweb but thankfully I stumbled upon it and it's really lovely. It reads true white but has such a creamy depth to it... it's easy on the eyes.

Dutty- love the look!! Also love the double gable and the white! And the red garage. I am pushing for our detached garage to be the classic red barn color too.

Lori- so excited for you!!

Dutty, the heck with my house, yours is amazing!!! Classic and modern at the same time...love it!!!

Dutty, the heck with my house, yours is amazing!!! Classic and modern at the same time...love it!!!

Dutty, the heck with my house, yours is amazing!!! Classic and modern at the same time...love it!!!

omg I'm with carrots... Dutty.... your house is amazing.

when can I come live with you?

I'm starting to love that little alcove island more & more each day. I've not sprung it on dh, or anyone buy y'all at this point. It's our little secret. I don't want to get my hopes up until I can really work on the sketch & scale, and with the KD. In my mind it's all a bit taller, almost like a bistro table, but idk how that will work.

Dutty,

Love the look of your new home! We are working on the plans for a similar build and would like to know more about your "cool roof". Is this different from your standard metal roofing? If so, is it more expensive. Thanks in advance for your info. Can't wait to see some interior pics.... will be watching!!!

Terri

Dutty - very cool house - the white is so crisp. Modern and classic at the same time. Love it!

We applied for our building permit yesterday YAY! The well is to be drilled next week Tuesday. We are hoping to break ground in 3 weeks. Let's get this show on the road!

More porch... Side 3... I think I can get all members of garden web on it when finished!
Lol

Jen

Dutty, I love your house! This is the house my wife and I have been looking for. Would you mind sharing the floor plan and what house this plan was based off of? We are building in Ohio.

WTG Jen!! when's the party? :)

Lori - I REALLY love that alcove. I do hope you'll be able to do it because it's just so unique and cozy. Like I said, I've never seen one like it before that picture you posted. It's a WOW factor. :) When do you meet with the KD?

Terri - It's a standard metal roof but the "cool roof" is a coating. There are a lot of colors available and each one has different levels of reflectivity and "coolness". Of course, black is the WORST but still way better than what I'd have in S. Florida without the cool technology. Yes, it is more expensive. For our home, it was about 10K more than what was budgeted. At the time, it seemed like a worthy upgrade. Now that I'm further along in the process and EVERYTHING seems to be an upgrade, I might have made a different decision but I still love the black. I think there are a few companies that do it so if you just google "cool roof" it'll come up.

Autumn - YAY! Breaking ground is such a relief when it feels like things are finally underway. I'm still waiting on my well... interesting that yours is being done first. My build seems a** backwards in so many respects. Ugh. Many blessings for a successful build.

Jenny - Nothing better than large porches (as you can see from my pictures, I love them) and I agree... when's the porch party?!

Anytime - I'm glad you like the home! It's not based on any previous plan or home... it was a labor of love from start to finish with an architect. We looked for stock plans for ages (years) but given our unique taste, we never did find one and finally gave in and hired an architect to draw what we wanted/envisioned. I have older versions of the floor plan that I posted during the design process but it's changed so much and I'm not sure if I have the recent floor plan in a digital file. I'll have to dig.

Thanks dutty-we are doing our own gcing and dh wanted the well done first soooo...the well will be done first! :) I will take your offering of blessings, we are referring to it as our 'big adventure'. LOL!

Dutty- I'm loving it more & more, but I'm torn.

I'm trying to set up a time to meet with the KD, who I know will have ideas... It will be a few weeks though.

I know there's a kitchen forum, but I might start my own thread on this. :)

We are getting closer! They are saying September 15thish. We are ready to be in! Lighting and electrical are wrapping up, plumbing was suppose to start today but nobody showed up for that. Still have painting, including exterior trim paint touch up. Landscaping is almost wrapped up too! It's been a long 8 almost 9 months! Yay!

Master bedroom

Can't wait to see the paint colors go on!!

Love everybody's homes!!!

Dutty- I wanted a home like yours so badly but the other half wouldn't budge!!! It's beautiful!! I can't wait to see your progress!!!

Autumn - Good for you!!! We wanted to do our own GC'ing but we totally chickened out. I wish we had the guts. You rock!!!

Lori - Yes. That banquette needs its very own thread!! If you can make it work it will be wicked cool. :) I can't wait to see.

degcgs - You must be soooo excited. Somehow I can't imagine getting as far along as you have. I'm a downer these days and I swear I live anticipating a cataclysmic disaster that will make it so I never finish this home. I LOVE your touches... the shiplap in your master, the pool, your backsplash, the copper roof, the trim. It's a wonderful eye-full! And, it makes me miss my home. I'm a transplant from Chicago and your home reminds me of where I grew up. :)

dutty - I started one here: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/build/msg0811302419037.html?8
but no one is really commenting yet. Maybe what needs to be said has already been said. You're right, if I can get it to work "wicked cool" it would be!! I've had lots of shape ideas, but I think I've definitely narrowed it down to these two.

wow transplant from Chicago to Florida! well you've still got wind I guess lol :)

degcds - love the island lights! and the chain covers :) I used to work in a lighting store, and we covered all those yukky chains with black velvet. I'm not sure which was worse. I started making my own covers out of scrap fabric. Lot's of people liked them. I also made one for the pole on my outdoor umbrella to hide the light cord that ran down it.
I love lots of other things about your house too, I just notice lights... a lot. lol :)

After 5 months of wrangling with the city we finally have our permits and broke ground last week. Here is what we are building. The wait is killing me. Has been 1 year since initial designs were started with the architect.

We just had our roof trusses installed on monday, which was pretty exciting! Really excited to get to the fun stages so many of you are in though! I'm beyond impressed with everyone's homes. Dutty, your home is pretty much my dream home, lol.

Dutty- I feel your pain, our builder has been less than stellar. I have been lucky enough to be able to be on site every day to answer trades questions and make sure things are they way we want them. I think we would still have another 3 months left if I weren't on site to answer their questions. Our builder has done some very shady things but have been able to make him correct things. We still have our attorney involved and will until the home is done completely. It's sad the builder took to extortion to keep us from firing him until we figured out it was all smoke - said we did something wrong on the contract and was going to turn us in for it, once we consulted an attorney he laughed and asked if we actually believed him. I am not looking forward to our big meeting on wed. Going over overages and credits, blah. The only thing getting me through all this is knowing that one day we will not have to ever go through this again, and even though it seems we have lost a whole year, we won't be spending time down the road changing things because they weren't done right the first time! And knowing in 2 months we will be settled in and will get to enjoy our home! You'll get there!! I can't wait to watch your house progress! Do you have any interior photos?

Loribug- I have this odd obsession with not wanting to see chains. Haha I love the light socks, I never knew they existed until I found houzz, the umbrella idea is great!! We have an umbrella coming out of our outdoor kitchen and I wanted to put lights in the canopy but didn't want to see the cord!! And I saw your thread about the kitchen island. I am curious which way you decide to go! I do feel like if you have an open floor plan someone's back will always be to the other space. It was that way at our old home and will be that way at our new one, we just have stools that swivel or have no back so they can be turned sideways to talk both directions! I do really love the island with the built in bench though! That is wicked!!

Got more of the exterior painted, and trim punch out is almost complete. Painting and plumbing starts on Tuesday!

Our building permit is in! House is scheduled to be staked out on Tuesday, well drilled on Thursday. Filed easement for the electric company to have access to our property to run utilities.

It looks like we will be breaking ground by the middle of September! Can't wait! Crossing fingers sub timing will all fall in line in a relatively smooth pattern. Also crossing fingers for a nice fall and a delayed or at least not EARLY winter!

I hope everyone is having a safe holiday.

Lisa

Dutty, I still LOVE your house. Stick with it, it'll be great when this is all over!

Wow, you all have been an inspiration for my husband and I. We are
undergoing our home building process now. I'm so excited! I would love
to see an updated picture of the finished homes. Also any suggestions on
brick and stone combinations would be great. Can wait to post my
foundation pictures. Here's my floorplan and front elevation. Not a big
fan of the stone placement, (maybe, I just cant visualize it ;)) HELPPPPP me out please!!!

This is a picture from a few weeks ago. But as of today, the foundation is done and backfilled! Waiting on the sub-zero Chicago temps to go away so framing can start!

You guys are on the August 2013 thread! Might want to post these comments on the February 2015 thread.

Dutty @dutty, do you have any updated photos or links that you would be willing to share? Thanks!

Dutty - Is there a place where we can find the house plan? Love it!

such a beautiful house!!!