One more photo

What about stucco?

Hill country in Texas I'm assuming. Is that a standing seam roof? I don't know prices, but what about replacing the stone with very large brick?

I'm not sure about stucco in that area. Not a lot of it being used. Not sure if due to moisture in the air.

Our budget for exterior is SO low that we are probably going to have to do board and batten. Probably our cheapest option and will fit in around here.

I tried a super rough mock up. We will have a mid to dark brown metal roof. I added some stained wood trim around all of the windows.

The post on the right is misleading. It stand out from the right gable. I know it is rough, but hopefully helpful.

Thoughts???

This is our lot. Finally, have our foundation and framing begins next week. This is a view from where the windows are in the living room.

This is our patio, which will be covered. Right off the patio is the negative edge pool.

I like the board and batten + stone better than all stone, actually.

Love your view! The B&B would look great. What are you doing for window trim?

I am thinking no stone except maybe at Foundation level: No highwater pants:

Thanks so much awm and Missy!

I was thinking of doing stained wood for the trim. What do you think?

I think I like pamlisest's mockup.

Great views! How exciting to build a new house!

Thanks Pal! That looks great. I appreciate you taking the time to weigh in and for the mock up. The only thing is we are having some kind of venting right were you placed the wood. I will have to figure that out. I really like the look of the small wood piece.

Thanks Rockybird.

I'm not pushing for stucco, but I do want to clarify that many new homes in Austin are stucco, especially in the western areas. Also, I was at a party at Cordillera in Boerne and a lot of stucco is used there. I would guess those have similar climates.

Kitchen, TONS and TONS of houses use stucco here. I would say at least 70% in some fashion or another. It is very popular!

At the risk of offending (and perhaps its just the look of the pictures here) -- I think that with the design of the house (long, low pitch roofline, smaller windows) using all board and batten looks a little industrial/trailer-ish. I think the design (and location) calls for stone and/or stucco. I'd be interested to know what the $$ difference is in using a local stone (chopped TX limestone ) vs. board and batten (including the cost to finish/paint the siding as well as maintenance over time).

The view is beautiful.

Thanks RMS. I had a calculator that allowed me to check on pricing in my area. There is a vast difference in cost between stone and board and batten. It was double the cost.

I am hoping we can figure something out with our budget. Trust me, it is not my first choice to use board and batten. Who knows what we will end up with. The picture mockup is horrible, so I cannot count on it for true realism either.

Will keep you posted and thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate it.

If you did genuine stucco, I think that could be great. And if it's a common material there, maybe not so expensive.

You're doing the infinity pool? YAY!!

Board and batten - are you thinking something like this?

I seem to recall someone telling me stucco was hard to maintain.

I think I have my design figured out. I really do not think I will even post it, bc I will hear something that will make me second guess it and I will then be a crazy lady with WAY too many decisions to make. Gotta make this one and move to on the thousands more I have to make (next is deciding where every single electrical plug or light switch etc etc is going and what kind) Very excited to be building our own home but MAN, the stress can be overwhelming.

Here is an inspiration photo that I have and I am following it in my own way.

Thanks so much for all of your input, research and advice. It means a great deal to me!

ps I believe I owe Annie a big thank you for this photo!

I don't think all board & batten makes the house look industrial/ trailerish. It looks like a traditional western American ranch. The quality of the materials & accessories (lights, hardware) add class to the simple design. Landscaping, of course, will help it to all blend in with the site, if the stark lines are too much.

Not to toot my own horn, but it was me who provided that inspiration pic. :-)

I'm so happy your budget is forcing the board & batten. I think it will make for a much more unique/modern looking house. Don't worry, it will look fantastic.

Toot away Mag!!! Thank you so much! Sorry for making that mistake. Thank you SO much for the encouragement. It is so very nice of you!

Btw, do you think a nice cream color or a white for the board and batten? Any suggestions?

My first thought, even before your budget constraints, was board and batten. It's difficult to determine where the misleading post actually is. A birds-eye view (from above) would help a lot. is the entry recessed, is the misleading post connected to the entry or the right gable, does the right gable stand out?

I do like your planting scheme, but I would like to make two suggestions. First that the large trees on the left are not too close to the house. For the tree in front of the gable, I would suggest a flowering cherry or some sort of small flowering tree, that is, again, set out from the house that area could be landscaped to 'surround' the tree so from the top view, the tree is a medallion focal point -it's a very pretty way to offset a focal tree. The reason for the flowering tree, is that you will see it through those two windows.

With the planting you have, I think that doing stone work around the entry only would be appropriate. Having stone on the lower part looks wrong, and it won't be seen much behind the bushes anyway.

You have a horizontal line through the gable, with differently spaced battens on upper and lower. It seems that this line should be raised higher and I would put it at the gable roof line. I would also make the vent disappear by painting the same as the house color, not the trim.

And lastly, the area with the three low windows on the right, might look nice with a park bench in front of them, even if no one ever sits there, it would make sense of that planting and section of the house and be a welcoming lawn ornament.

Thanks Lily. I am not using the board and batten on the gabled roof part of the house. The plantings in the photo are not actual. We have some lovely oaks already in front of the house. Thanks for the recommendation of the tree for in front of the gable. The left and right side recess back and the the porch sticks out and it covered. Hard to tell all of the detail in the horrible mockup.

I promise to post pictures once all of this is done.

Love the bench idea. That would be so cute!

Goodness, I think you are going to have to put up several large swatches of paint once your siding is installed. It's going to depend a lot on the setting.

I have a preference for a grayish white, like this:

I love board and batten, esp w a metal roof. But, I have bad news...with that view, no one is going to look twice at your actual house no matter what you do.....

Thanks Mag! I like a grayish white as well.

You are so kind Mtn!!!!