i like the windows together better...like the left picture. maybe because my current house has it and i grew up with them like that...i don't know. but in my opinion it visually looks nicer on your house. good luck!

I like the picture on the left with the windows mulled together. Inside the rooms, it will look more spacious.

Windows together. I can't give a reason, but I like the look better.

Make a third sketch. Take the single windows pic and add shutters. Shutters, visually logical ones that fit the windows, work well with small vertically oriented windows.

Also try a sketch with just one single shutter equipped window above the divider between the two garage doors; the roof detail there (unless you modify it) seems to mess up placing four evenly spaced single windows across that wall. Maybe they don't have to be evenly spaced...

I too like it better with the windows together.

In the plan with single windows, the upper right window is too close to the edge of the house. It also looks odd to me because those two windows are not centered in the gable area.

You need larger shutters though with the windows grouped together.

This post was edited by rrah on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 13:06

Another option with some paired, some not. Gets rid of the false secondary gable as well.

No shutters on the paired windows, shutters should look like they can actually close over the windows, and they can't over paired windows like that.

This post was edited by palimpsest on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 16:45

The singles show the windows pushed too far into the corners, with too much separation between them. You would never be able to get window treatments to work, and there is certainly not enough room for appropriately sized shutters. Also, does the window placement actually work with the interior wall placement? Window placement has to make sense in the interior space as well as the exterior.

Perhaps combine the approach. Use the mulled together on the left section of the house, and use the properly placed individual ones for the right hand section. Center the upper window over the door, and then work out a placement that makes sense with the rest.

BTW, the arch topped garage doors bear no relationship in form to any other structural detail other than the attic vent. They should be changed for rectangular, or you should look at introducing other curved forms into the facade to make the relationship more consistent.

I vote for palimpsest's idea. I don't care for false gables and I think having a variety of window styles like that makes the front more interesting. I also think it looks more balanced.

If you don't go for that, then my second choice is #1 with all windows doubled.

I like the singles but wonder too how it affects the interior.

Do think about what's happening on the inside too...is there room for the window placement given where walls are? Window treatments? Furniture arrangement? One lesson I learned from building our house is the outside and inside must be considered simultaneously.

Thanks for all the input.. As far as the interior goes we have the second floor split into three equally sized rooms across the front.. There is 1 bedroom to the far left and 1 to the far right.. The middle is an open loft area.. Where the stone is on the front of the house it is actually set back 2 feet from the rest of the house.. So as far as the interior space goes I think it would work out if we decided to single them out.. Still on the fence but leaning on keeping them paired up.. As one poster mentioned I think it would make the room feel larger having them together..

I find it amusing that everyone's worried about shutters on the single windows, but few people are concerned about the fact that the shutters on the double windows are completely the wrong scale.

If you want shutters, they need to be the width of one whole single window on the doubled up option. You don't have room for that on the left side. They only need to be half the width of a single window if the windows are separated. You might still not have enough room on the right side.

Honestly I think the shutters were drawn in as that was the styling by the architect,, They would strictly be decorative and not functional if we do end up putting them in..

But even decorative, if they are out of proportion, they don't look right.

Another thing is with double windows, you have a single window treatment for 2 of them as opposed to a new one for each. It all adds up. I like bigger windows, but it really depends on what you are looking at too. Bigger windows make it easier to see in as well as out. I live in the country with nobody in eyeshot, so it does not matter to me.

I like pal's version best.

One thing you need to consider is where the beds go.

My sister's new build has paired windows with a low sill height.

There is exactly one place the bed(s) can go in each room, dictated by the window placement, and in two of the three rooms, they would lay out better if the windows were in a different position.

It has to be balanced with how it looks as a front façade as well, but it's something to consider.