It's a big improvement.

I think you've done a great job and it is much improved.

Very impressive. Love it.

much, MUCH better!

Thank you,so much, for the replies. I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner, but I've been offline seeing DD through foot surgery & then "doing" Thanksgiving for her out here in Austin.

It is very reassuring that we now seem to be heading in a better direction. While I was out-of-pocket, DH called the architect to give him a heads-up that we planned to change the elevation. Apparently, the architect wasn't too surprised and said this happens quite often at this stage of the design.

I've been reading the "What is Trendy" thread and have become concerned about using all stone. Is that really a soon to be dated material? We live in an all brick house, now, and every single house in our neighborhood and those nearby are all brick. We just don't want yet another brick house. These neighborhoods were built in the mid-80's through the late 90's & are the type that are one step down from the custom houses on the golf course. We really haven't seen that much stone in new construction in our area of Houston.

We want something long-lasting & relatively carefree. Traditional, 3-step stucco would fit the style, but we've been told it has a bad reputation because of issues with a different type of application. Pastel-cote brick is very popular in the Greenville, SC area, but I'm afraid that could be a trendy thing, too. If we're looking for something a little different from what we have now, would be be better off with an "old" brick with an interesting grout rather than stone? Allison's mortar washed brick is stunning! Is that a better option?

Thanks for the help & all of the support - Jo Ann

Jo Ann, as long as there's humans on Earth, there is NO way stone will ever go out of style. That's why they've been using it from the beginning of time. I love the mixture of brick and stone. It may be a "new" trend, but IMO, it's a trend that will be here forever. Like the "classic" white kitchen and farmhouse sinks. ;)

Yes, I've spent so much time looking at pictures of houses in France & so many of them are stone. My late grandparents had a beautiful, drystack stone retaining wall at their summer cottage made from the materials that were excavated when they terraced the backyard. That wall is one of the fond memories of my childhood, because the chipmunks would taunt the cat and then escape into the crevices of the wall. I think I pretended that they were Chip & Dale playing pranks.

As a child, my cousins & I would walk out to the country store several miles away for an ice cream or penny candy. Just as we got to Ruggles Corners, there was the most charming stone house:

Now, I'm not fond of the pointy rocks, but that house has been there for at least 50 years and just looks like it belongs. The Rector Emeritus of my church in Leonia, NJ lived in this little stone house I thought of as the "Hobbit House". Actually, it was designed by Stanford White (or so I was told) and looked like a magical place to live.

Thanks for the reply. It is hard to imagine that stone is trendy, but some applications of it might be. We will try to take this design is a direction that avoids that.

Thanks - Jo Ann

Good thinking! I like the new elevation. All-stone is going to be expensive. It may also look a bit 'massive'. You might want to reconsider the true stucco with stone. Nobody, at least in our area, confuses true stucco with the synthetic stuff.

It's fabulous!

And as a fellow Houston resident, please forgive me, but your taste is much too refined for us here! ;-)

And No, that's not too much stone. I'd go with something warm in golden-buff shades - something 'soft-looking' yet substantial.

beautiful house --

Guy Land Home designer in Houston has several stock plans that have a French influence. Here is his link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Guy M. Land Designer

No such thing as too much stone!! Please don't pay any attention to the "trends" thread because everyone is just posting what they don't like. It has everything to do with taste and nothing to do with trends.

Go with what you like and your house will be beautiful!

@chisue - The width across the front of the house is about 77ft and from the front of the terrace to the back of the keeping room extension is about 66ft. I don't think that will appear that massive, will it? OTOH, I do have a concern that two sides of the screened porch are formed by the walls of the house and that will make a rough surface to bump against. (I know screened porches don't fit the idiom, but I've lived for nearly 20 years in Houston, so I'm having my screened porch, dagnabbit!) I'd like to incorporate another, "plainer" material to lighten things up a bit, but will need some "hand-holding" from y'all to be able to get it right.

@sweeby - I'd do anything to have it the lovely, soft cream of Hill Country limestone, but I know I just shouldn't do that in SC. We do tend to favor warmer colors, so I hear you. We were looking at samples on one stone vendors website and, independently, we admitted to each other that there were certain styles that made us feel "calm". Odd how we came up with the same word, but I think it is a good sign. PFFFTT!!! for being too "refined" for Houston. I'll always be a Jersey Girl, at heart. LOL!!!

@archie_123 - Those are very characteristic of Houston-type designs and we'd give those a good looking over if we were building here. For Upstate SC, we're looking for something a little simpler to sit on our wooded lot.

@mightanvil - you have the most inspirational photos caught at the "magic hour"! What sort of stone and grout would give us those kinds of looks? One of the things that really caught my eye in your pix is how the plain stone lintels make such an impact on the look. Is there a technique we could specify that would give us the "patchy" appearance of the buildings in the foreground of the last picture? Are the rustic and louvered shutters mixed on the same building or are those owned by different people with different tastes?

Thanks to all of you for the inspiration and help. You have no idea how supportive y'all have been and how much it is appreciated.

Jo Ann