I like 5 the best.

The mulled windows are too "squinty". The Juliette balcony is distracting and inappropriate on what is essentially a nicely proportioned Colonial.

I prefer LWO's. It's elegant and draws your eye nicely to the front door. The double gable/half moon window/bay window/juliette balcony is too much for my taste.

I like #4....but maybe with a slightly shorter window with shutters, over garage? I think it looks better with the wide garage. And I do like the Juliet balcony! Just my two cents :)

Maybe even a window box?

This may not be exactly your style (mainly looking at windows on second floor) but I like all the different sized windows...it looks friendly and inviting, but still a bit fancy :)

I like LWO version too. Simple and elegant

LWO has a nice drawing, but I don't think the window placement (on top right) will work with the room layout. Might need to check the plans....

I like roof 6 with design 5. ;)

One of my favorites. I think spacing the windows out looks so much better, like others said!

I like #4

Live_wire_oaks, thanks for the redraw. I really like my Juliet balcony though. Lots of neo-colonials and real colonials have
them so I don’t think it’s a matter of being appropriate to the style (Though
admittedly the double gable kills that goal. Lol) Whether its distracting or not I can see both
sides of that debate and go back and forth. I completely agree that the
double windows are too small, especially for the wide right hand side. Unfortunately
the way the interior is on the top right I can’t use separate windows (double
or triple). I can do a triple ganged window and may try that to fill up the
wall.

LL I’m glad you like the Juliet balcony. I think that pic
you posted is really cute and may lead me ever closer to the LL planter box. I
like how the hip looks on paper but every time I drive by a new construction
with hip I don’t get a good feeling. Cute
house in the pic…yes very friendly and inviting but reminds of the house from Hansel and Gretel. lol

Thanks Amber, I really like that house as well. I wish I
could space the top windows out but as I said my floor plan as it is would not
allow it.

thanks BB, CPartist and aec for your input.

DH is pushing for number 2, the double gable with bay window. I cant seem to decide. Any other votes?

2 is unbalanced.

Here is 5 with the three windows.

Okay, that's the problem, I LIKE the Hansel and Gretel houses! LOL #2 would also be nice...as long as you have the bay window, it's going to be one of my favorites!

Here's #2 with the window box and shutters....in case you like a little H&G :)

Cpart- I agree. That's a nice facade, but the bedroom above the garage may not work with the extra window. That's why I did the shutters and window box, to give it more 'width' without changing the window placement.

CPartist, I too like the simple facade but I'm a little worried that to really pull it off you need to spend a ton of money to get all the historically correct architectural details that most builders can't seem to do. It is very rare that you find a new house with a proper eave return for example. IMO new colonials never look as good as the real deal. Ive also read that it can take about as long to do a proper eave as it does it to install the whole roof. DH seems to think that the extra gable and bay window will help
"correct" for the inevitable modern shortcuts.

I cant tell if #2 is unbalanced. Its certainly not symmetrical but to my eye the bay window helps to balance the upper gable.

lavender_less, just stay away from any ovens and nice old lady's:) DH loves your vote btw.
I like the shutters/flower box. What do you and CP (and others) think of using triple gangs with skinny sides.
CP the full sized triple ganged windows look good but are actually too long for the interior (thank you nonetheless:)

Mary I wouldn't worry about it being historically accurate because the overall look still will look good. this one gable looks so off balance like a kid who's lost their front tooth. Plus it reminds me of the McMansions because of adding gable over gable. I'm a firm believer (unless it's a Victorian) to keep it simple, S...

I do like the triple window the way you did it over the garage. I think that will work well. Without the bay!

lol, now my garage is starting to look like a Kennedy smile.
I know you don't like the double gable but I'm wondering what you and others might think of putting it on the left. This seems to balance the garage better. Im trying to throw DH a bone.:)

plus I kind of like both (with/without the double gable)

It looks worse in my opinion. We tend to view things even in RL as from left to right. So you have this massing on the left and now nothing on the right.

It's not giving your hubby a bone if it winds up looking funky when it's built. Does he have design skills? Give him a bone in some other way.

I like single gable, no bay window. They symmetry gives it a more formal look. I'm not a fan of arched windows either.

tell DH the single gable over the door, gives that one gable more presence and importance. Having the second gable detracts from both. ;)

This one! I think it's beautiful and the slightly larger upper window balances the garage. Having the same uppers on both sides would make it feel off-balanced again.

I will try to stay away from little cottages with too-big ovens (LOL) but I do love the look! The window box (or boxes) could still be a future project, if you need a little color....

That bay window HAS TO STAY because it makes the inside of the room so much more interesting. Changing the windows to work with the bay and garage (as you did here) is the way to go, IMHO. The gables looks great, too.

Okay, here's with a few plants around the bay, slightly taller garage doors...and little topiary/pots on each side of the balcony. Just for fun :)

The entry is much too top heavy with that balcony. It diminishes the importance of the entry door. Put it somewhere else. Not on the front facade where everyone in the street can see straight through to the nekkid people in the room. The windows work much better not mulled as well.

Sophie- The balcony opens up from the office....

And I think the balcony helps to balance the garage and bay...bringing people's eyes back to the front door. I guess we'll agree to disagree.

Cpartist, DH is an
engineer so he does have technical design skills..artistic design skills may be
another matter:)

Lavender_lass, DH is very much into the double/triple top
windows and thanks you very much for supporting his candidate

Sophie_wheeler, as LL said, the room with the balcony is a
small office so not too much nekkidness going on in there. To my eye at least the portico/balcony frames the door
and brings the eye to it. I think that the drawing’s heavy black porch door
lines may make it seem top heavy and in RL with both the portico and door
painted white it would look less top heavy. I do like the look of separate windows but unfortunately that
doesn’t work with my floor plan.

I like number 5. Lavender_lass's changes are a close second.

Normally I wouldn't like a double gable on anything but a Tudor but it seems to work on yours.

I think the garage in the front is going to throw off any symmetry that the house had before. It's a must, since the garage doors can't go on the side....so why not make the most of it? Having the bay window is going to look beautiful and give more weight to the left side, than a normal window would.

For the upstairs and gables...I like the double gable because it is not balanced. Again, it plays off the difference of garage doors and bay window. All these changes make the house much more interesting, IMHO...but I do like 'charming' :)

Mary....are you restricted by the neighborhood on exterior materials? Is the exterior all brick or something else?

CPartist and LL, I think more charming and less stately would be a good thing. I am not restricted by any covenants for the exterior so I am thinking light grey clapboard, white trim, and shingles up in the gables. maybe something like this. Though I am open to suggestions.

Now, we're talking....double gable is going to look amazing! :)

So.....sides and back? LOL

yes I have sides and a back. lol. Its a little plain around the other sides but I think I'm ok with that. Just ignore the quoins and courses and imagine clapboard and shingles.
Plus I'm open to any suggestions. oh and of course planter boxes:)

Mary the house you posted looks nothing like your house. your example is a side hall entry and the example has a natural asymmetry. your home on the other hand is basically a center hall. if you want charm then get rid of the quoins, put a porch across the front and use shingle or clapboard. But your example as shown is a formal house and adding an off center peak is not the answer.

and I just read what I wrote and it sounds harsh. I didn't mean it that way. I wanted to comment before my show tomorrow because I probably won't have another chance until Monday. also is there a way to contact you as your message on houzz is turned off

No worries, I don't mind harsh if the intention is good:) The example I posted was more for the siding. I am planning on getting rid of the quoins and stucco and using clapboard and shingle. I just turned my messaging on.

It took days for me to realize what is "wrong" (what bothers me) with this facade; the entablature is too small at the wings and completely shorn off on the small portico roof. It's not big enough to "support" the monumental-sized gable. There needs to be a much taller frieze at the plate height to carry the visual weight. This would mean making the walls taller, but keeping the windows in the same place. It could also be accomplished by building the roof on top of an attic floor system instead of resting on the second floor top plates. In that case you would gain a fully walkable attic if desired.
Just one more point; if you position the monumental gable over the garage side, that makes it seem like it was the original core of the house.
I like the gable roof better than the hip.
Casey

Nice! But I have to try the 'window happy' version :)

It might be fun to have small windows over the bed in the front bedroom....maybe even see the stars at night. A heavy curtain would take care of any winter cold.

Then a big window seat in the front window for talking with friends. I like the corbels, but the green might be a little heavy.

Sombreull, thanks for the feedback. I agree that my cornice
is a little on the thin side (20”) and needs to be put back on the
portico. Here are some of my constraints.

1) The roof has to sit on the top of the plate or I
go over the city’s ½ story limit and the attic will count as livable space. If
I do raise the roof I would have to lower the pitch and its already too low IMO
(6.5/12)2) My ceilings are at 9’/9’/9’. So I can’t really
raise the second floor height. My windows are at 7’ which seems already low for
a 9’ ceiling

I think my best bet would be to widen the frieze by 4” so
that it either incorporates the top window casings or is cut into by them. What do you think? The total entablature would then be 24”. Do you think that’s enough? My height from ground to roof
line is 22’ and 32’ to the ridge.

Could you elaborate on “if you position
the monumental gable over the garage side, that makes it seem like it was the original
core of the house.” I assume you are saying that it is a good thing and you
like the main gable over the garage.

Lavender_lass, what’s not to like about a "happy window.":)
but I am one of those who never liked a window above a bed, especially in New
England:)
The bay window seat is adorable, but I need to think some more about
that. The alternative would be two sitting chairs and a table which may
be a better fit for a formal living room. I will seriously consider the side bay for the dining room.
My only apprehension is that the neighbor’s
house is only 15’ away from it so I’m not sure about the view).

The view is the bay window! Plant some lilacs outside...what's not to like? :) Seriously, a little 'side garden/courtyard' look would be really pretty. A few flowering shrubs, some fall color, maybe a smaller lilac (love lilacs and they're purple!)

The window seat picture is for the youngest girl's bedroom in front. That's supposed to look like your triple window over the garage. Maybe cabinets on both sides?

ooh I really like that window seat and shelves. My girls would really like that. I like the lights but I generally let my girls decorate their room however they like (with some benign interventions if needed:) Nonetheless I wil show my girls the two pics and see what they think.

In reference to the garage side with the gable I was actually implying the opposite. I would not bestow the garage undeserved emphasis.
Casey

Thanks Casey, I am getting the sense that most people are not that into the gable over the garage and are more into the plain colonial with no embellishments.
My main issue with that design is that the front garage on the first floor really kills the whole colonial symmetry for me. Ive been looking online and in my neighborhood for a colonial with a garage like that and haven't found any,
Now I did find a house design that is similar enough to mine but IMO doesn't suffer from "what happened to that colonial syndrome" and gives a better balance of massing than my double gable. Please let me know your thoughts
thanks Mary

Just in for a quick gardening break....so not a lot of time to image search...but I did find these two double gable/front garage. They're only one story homes (so image second floor) but see what you think.

I'll look again later. Now, back to weeding! LOL

Another break...and I found this one. The darker garage doors really work, IMHO :)

Thanks LL, I really like the how the last one hides the garage somewhat. Is that from a houseplan site?
What are your thoughts on the last one I posted? or maybe something like this one?

What about this....with the dark garage doors?

But even better....can you do that cool portico (?) from that dark gray house (above, with cool garage) and add the French doors and balcony? And the big trim around the front (bay) window?

I can't add those in the drawing....but that would be nice! :)

wow . you are quick on the draw:) that looks cute. Do you think I would need the bottom roof extending all the way across. I wonder if I can keep it just over the garage like the one in rl posted above. The portico is cool and Ill give that a shot.
thank you

I messaged you and my comments stand for the new elevations.