Olivesmom, you do have many choices, but you may be best served by some further study as to what you really prefer. The three photos are very, very different architectural styles, and have quite different interior spaces. For example: --The Williamsburg Colonial: a handsome example of the Colonial Style with upgraded details and materials. Colonials tend to be simple rectangles, 3- or 5-bays wide, with a simple gable roof whose ridgeline parallels the front elevation. Decoration and self-styled carpenter details are minimal. Interiors are seldom deeper than two modest rooms--they were Colonials after all! Growth and expansion typically took place off one or both ends, and/or a perpendicular wing off the rear elevation (sometimes 2-stories); --Second example: This may be called a "cabin" style, but it's really just a builder's approach to a woodsy vernacular from the region. The many gables parallel to the front and the heavy fascias, plus the natural stain colors, characterize this as a house in the tradition of areas where there are lots of woods (and lots of carpenters)! The direction of the roof suggests the house is much deeper than it is wide. --Third example: Again, this is a sort of "hansel and grettel" carpenter's or builder-style house (certainly not Colonial in any fashion) with a most odd "tobacco-shed drying roof", common in southern tobacco growing regions. The partial end gables were used to allow air to enter and circulate in the building's interior to help dry and season the hanging tobacco leaves. Such a roof on a house of this size, and in a western forested setting, is ill-proportioned for this structure and historically a bit ludicrous, IMO. The rest of the exterior has various moutain/western region detailing, ie, porch roofs and supporting columns, etc. I think your search for your "perfect house" might be aided by a good guide book, such as A Field Guide to American Houses, by Virginia and Lee McAlester. It's a well written and illustrated small paperback book that's excellent in describing the various styles of houses. Good luck with your project!

Yes, that's part of our dilemma... people seem to do just about everything (leading me to think it probably doesn't matter if we change from what's here!) and there are very few original Dutch Colonials in our 300+ year old town (plenty of old saltboxes and traditional colonials, but no "old" Dutch colonials and only a smattering of 20th century ones, those mostly builder models that have a gambrel roof and dormers but that's as far as the similarity goes. Someone told me the other day, when I asked the same question about architectural "integrity" of the window style, "well, if yours was built in 1959, it's pretty much a fraud already, isn't it?" :) Which is true, of course, so perhaps I just shouldn't sweat it. The increased light (from going to lower sashes with no divided lites) would be welcome, and we don't DISLIKE the look from the street -- we just weren't sure if others would find it an odd look. Most people (including realtors and the town assessor) refer to it as a "Cape" but I think that's primarily because from the street, it resembles one, with its dormers and low roof line. But from the end of the house, where you see the curved flare of the very deep eaves, the gambrel roofline, the chimney centered on the end of the house, it is clearly a Dutch colonial. So mostly, I just wondered if there was any sort of standard for the window style, or if the pragmatic Dutch did whatever was (a) cost effective and (b) practical for a given site (and I should do the same!)

Love the last picture with a white body and a darker trim with the soft yellow door, very pretty combination.

Start searching for "modernized Dutch colonial." Here's one I found. Is this what you had in mind? This one has pergola and portico across the front, plus larger windows, plus front dormer windows. Maybe just pergoa and portico? Calling an architect! Changing a major architectural feature is going to require an architect and a big budget. Some have a row of dormer windows across front roof to break up the roof--less costly than above but still major. If you're going to take that on, then wait on the siding. Maybe larger windows would help. Go online and look at a lot of Dutch colonials to see if they have larger windows. In the meantime, take down the shutters. Paint the front door a new color you like that harmonizes with the cinammon roof since that takes up so much visual space. Ditto the double garage doors--same color as roof for now. Very often great landscaping can direct the eye to the foreground while a tree or an island with a tree can camouflage a façade that is less than appealing to the owner. Lawn island and downstairs with larger windows: