Honestly I don't think the round windows are the only problem. It seems there is a mishmash of materials and angles and your house has no focal point. Like in art, you want to have a focal point where your eye can rest. Usually that's the front entrance but with all the different roof lines, and different materials, it becomes just a jumble. You have stone, siding and shake. You have bumpouts, a dormer, gables, etc.

It seems like whoever put this together for you tried to throw every trick in the book onto the elevation of the house. My draftsman did the same with me with my first elevations and it took the kind folks here to help me articulate to my draftsman how to make it better. I'm hoping you'll be open to suggestions.

Any chance of posting a floor plan so we can see what these windows are doing and where the fireplace is?

Too MUCH! You know the adage about location, location, location? Here you need to simplify, simplify, simplify.

I blame mass production builders for creating the idea that you put every possible angle, gable, trim piece, dormer, *whatever* onto a facade to make it 'interesting'.

I *think* you're going for Craftsman here, but that is a very strong, simple style -- and this isn't.

going for a look similar to this. Do you find this too busy as well?

Yes that too is way too busy.

Here is an example that our draftsman designed and just for fun one day when I wasn't feeling like drawing, I simplified it so it worked better.

As you can see there were tons of different roof lines, and four different materials on the front of the house, (board and batten, shake, stucco and stone.) Because of that your eye again isn't sure where to look? Is it the garage, the front door, the second floor balcony with the french doors, or the roof gables? Even the stone holding up the columns are different heights on the first and second floors!

That's what you need to do with your exterior.

I'm not really sure how to respond other than that the 2nd rendering looks very plain to me. The photo I posted is a good example of a northwestern style craftsman which are very common and popular in the Pacific Northwest. I find it visually interesting.

Look at real Craftsman style homes, not this gussied-up version.

"Craftsman" style is 'anchored', low to the ground, often only a story and a half.

You might like more of a Shingle style -- often found along the Eastern Seaboard.

Not sure how to respond because as an artist and designer, I see the difference immediately in how both are viewed. The first version is overdone with too many focal points. You can gussy up a house with plantings and how it's painted to give it a bit more interest but to throw all manner of design onto a house just makes it look unbalanced and yours looks unbalanced.There is beauty in simplicity.

I'd suggest reading the book What Not To Build by Sandra Edelman, Judy Gaman and Robby Reid. After reading the book, then come back and see if you still think the versions you posted look right to you.

In general, try to avoid valleys in the roof where water/snow/debris can collect.

BTW what you posted is NOT a NW craftsman but a builder's idea of what they think a craftsman is. Like chisue said, a craftsman home is anchored and has an honesty in its simplicity. It's not all different roofs and angles.

Excuse the red outline as I was using it to show my builder the window style I wanted. :)

Can you post your floor plan so we can see how the house lays out?

mverb, for what it is worth, I really love your inspiration picture. I do not find it to be "too busy", rather it is visually interesting and beautiful in that setting. I think it is great that you included an example of a look that *you* like. It will be your home, and if you prefer a look with a varied roof line and different exterior finishes, then that is what you should build, even if it isn't strictly "Northwestern Craftsman".

I personally like the black/white sketched craftsman that was shared on the thread, but I HATE both versions (gussied up/simplified) of that house with front facing garage. Blech, I can't imagine choosing to build a home that chooses to make the parking space the focal point. HOWEVER, variety is the spice of life, and to each his own...

Reiterate your original question, which was "what could go in place of the round windows?" Maybe someone with great ideas/answers for what you are asking will chime in! In your example picture there are smaller, squared, four-pane windows above larger windows. How would that look?

FYI, if you do choose to post your interior floor plan, be prepared that on this forum you will get opinions on where to put/move walls/rooms/etc. even if you don't ask for them. Sometimes that is helpful (and welcome!), sometimes it is not.

I asked for the floor plan in the second post here. I mean, how can one address the chimney issue without a floorplan? Windows too for that matter but they're more intangible than a fireplace location.

I imagine the flooplan is helpful for the questions the OP is asking, I have just seen threads go wayyyyyy off-topic of the OP's actual question. I was wondering myself about the round windows, if they are in bathrooms or perhaps attic space?

rmverb, are you interested in a full stone fireplace stack in the front, like in your inspiration picture? Or is there something else about the chimney stack that doesn't work for you?

...cpartist

I would simplify further and do single columns instead of double columns. The double columns just don't make sense to me. Since they seem odd I find them distracting.

"I personally like the black/white sketched craftsman that was shared on the thread, but I HATE both versions (gussied up/simplified) of that house with front facing garage. Blech, I can't imagine choosing to build a home that chooses to make the parking space the focal point. HOWEVER, variety is the spice of life, and to each his own..."

I actually agree with you and would never buy a home that looks like that. However I was trying to make a point that the second version while still ugly was still visually a better choice.

"...cpartist

I would simplify further and do single columns instead of double columns. The double columns just don't make sense to me. Since they seem odd I find them distracting."

Don't disagree. Like I said above, I find the whole house look ugly but I was trying to put some lipstick on the pig. LOL.

Honestly, just because they have a license to create a house doesn't mean they can do a good job. This one looks like a builders special.

Sorry, totally missed the request for the layout. Here you go:

Is this house too busy? It's another one we're using for inspiration.

The Reserve at Lake Keowee II · More Info

That last house had leading lines to the front door with the bridge, a hipped roof over everything except the front door and garage. It has one gabled section behind the door but it's set back significantly and only serves to echo the front entry.

Put your hand in front of the open breezeway / deck part and the home is very simple. If the sun wasn't setting directly through the open air portion you'd notice how simple the living areas is designed.

What Mama Rachel said. Do you see the difference?

Additionally the house facade doesn't consist of 4 or 5 different materials. You have stone and shake and that's it. The house is more a shingle style than a craftsman style though. Look at the back views and you'll see what I mean.

I would also suggest posting your kitchen plans in the kitchen forum as I believe you could have a more functional kitchen.

Additionally those bump outs are unnecessary and add nothing to the house. What I did here was bring in the bump outs and simplify the facade. If you then reduce your outside materials to just the stone and shake, you'll get the look you're trying for and it will give visual weight to the front door.

I did get rid of the window seat on the stairway. All those bump outs do is add to the cost of your project and nothing to your layout. The truth is your layout is pretty good.

The plans aren't half bad, few minor things here and there but overall pretty good! Different opinion on the window seat in the stair. Poor stairs dissect a house while great stairs connect and everybody likes a window seat.

Two questions: What material is that dark surround on the garage bay window? And, what's the overall width dimension of the house (garage doors to family room wall)?

Not half bad lol. I'm not quite sure what the material is on the garage bump out. I plan on asking that when we meet with the architect.

One of our problems is that we need a certain percentage of our front elevation to be stone.

We started with no bumpouts but added them in because the house seemed too flat.

Not 100% sure on the dimensions but it's pretty long. We have a wide 2 acre lot and we wanted a house that would fill the space.

Ok, I asked that because I was just trying to get a reference dimension to get to a workable scale. The room dimensions in your plans are a little small to read. What's the dimensions listed in that little box in the garage? I can take it from there.

The garage is 39'11" x 23''4".

"We started with no bumpouts but added them in because the house seemed too flat."

You don't need bump outs that add nothing to the interior just to make an exterior more interesting. Look at your last example. In your last example, the visual interest is with the steep pitched roof line, the bracing over the doors, the stone and the shake and how the house is built to lead your eye. It's not with slapping on bump outs and lots of different visual distractions.

Floor plan looks fine, and it leaves the possibility of many different exteriors. (Scrub the "Frenchy" archtop garage doors.)

I suspect the added bump outs have interrupted the original main front facing gable & porch idea (at the larger round window) and that change along with the apparently random material placement has hidden a strong idea behind a weak idea.

It seems odd that the first floor plan shows a below grade window at the stair to the basement.

I suspect that we will not have s true walkout but rather a set of stairs leading out of the basement. Not sure why he drew it that way. I'm not a fan of the garage doors and they will be changed.

Your house is very similar to mine in size and layout. The main difference being that our master is upstairs. We have four bedrooms (three up).

This is a home that my builder did before ours (which is more traditional shaker style then what you are probably looking for). Similar size and I thought it shows the mix of materials that you are considering quite well. I think the biggest problem with your elevation is that your entry is a long way from your driveway and it gets very lost in the elevation. It should be the focal point of the home. This home elevates that entrance, brings it out further than any of the other bump outs and makes the eye really take notice of it. Also, as far as your fireplace chimney that you mentioned disliking, if you were to move it to an outside wall it would be much cheaper to vent, as well as becoming more of an outside stone feature instead of just a funny looking flue. Would look good where you have the window bump out or could be on the end wall and become a real focal point from the kitchen. Stairwell windows would look better with a set of square transoms above and give lots of light to that window seat.

A Shaker house would be a simple clapboard clad box with minimal embellishments.

As frequently happens with today's multi gable, multi material builder/developer house designs, there is no apparent central architectural idea and no attempt to integrate the house with its surroundings, both of which are hallmarks of great design.

It is not difficult to design a formal or an informal house but it takes impressive skill and effort to design a large informal collection of small formal elements. The house above could even be called "the house of the seven gables" but I'm sure there are more of them on the back side and the original house of that name is far more interesting:

Simplicity is often most eloquent and memorable, as the photo of the Shaker house, above, illustrates. Getting to simple, however, is anything but simple. An analysis of the houses which many consider to be historically authentic or "classic" quickly shows that the floor plans are simple and straight-forward, rooms and spaces are reasonably sized for their use, and there tends to be little to no excess usage. Vocabulary of materials is often quite limited and harmonious.

This is just the opposite of many of today's tract and semi-custom houses which too often appear to be over-inflated and under-thought, whose floor plans are a jumble of rooms and spaces with no organizing concept and whose exteriors use a vocabulary of materials which looks more like a demonstration project to illustrate as many materials as possible on one project. Many of these houses invariably include one or more "nests" of stacked gable roof forms creating a visual excess at the roof line to match that of the floor plan and exteriors.

North American has such a rich and appealing domestic architectural history. There is so much inspiration and opportunity available--wonderful homes ranging in style from colonial, stick, shingle, mission, prairie, craftsman, modern, international, to name a few.

When thinking about a home is it time to revisit and learn from residential architectural history?

I am not an architect. I am however an artist and former designer and the architects on this thread and this forum know of what they are talking about. Virgil, Sanford, Architectrunnerguy are all trying to say the same thing. That is, that too much excess does not make for a beautiful building.

HappyValleyHome, as Virgil and Sanford were trying to politely say, even your example is too much. Too many gables. The porch gable is too high up for the front door. Stonework ending at all different levels and one too many different window styles.

The old adage of KISS (Keep it simple, s___) really does work the best in art, clothing and home design.

What if you just eliminated the round windows altogether? Do you think the windows alone without the round windows are not enough? I'm trying to visualize the view in the upstairs bedroom with the windows and round window above it. I don't think I would like it anyway.

is there a reason why the fireplace is on an inside wall instead of an outside wall? Moving it to an outside wall would solve your concern Imo. If you wanted the fireplace on an inside wall for a good reason, then leave it there and create a beautiful chimney instead of the one shown.

i like your floor plan. Frankly, I like your exterior as well, after you simplify the materials. I would choose stone and shingle. Keep it simple.

The kitchen forum will help you create a wonderful kitchen and take a lot of stress out of the process. When you are ready...good luck. Home building is not for the faint of heart.

I know many of you are going to disagree with me, but I played with HappyValleyHome's example above. I got rid of some of the gables, moved the stonework up to cover all of the first floor exterior, lowered the front porch gable, and squared off the windows. I personally prefer this version to the one above. The porch is now the focal point of the house because it pops forward and the rest of the gables, etc, play a supporting role

cpartist -- Much better. But now the 3-car garage looks odd. A side entrance might fix that.

Agreed Sue and thank you, but only so much I can do with a small jpg in photoshop. :)

rmverb, I finally got a chance to play with your elevation using the simplified floor plan that I showed you earlier in the week.

Notice you still have gables, bump outs, and 3 different materials on the facade but now instead of just placing them willy-nilly, they are placed so they work with one another. Stone on the bottom as well as stone for the columns, siding on the bottom half of the house, and shake for the upper part of the house. That helps to unify the house. Additionally, instead of all the different windows, you now have the two that are long and narrow and the rest are 3 ganged to create more harmony. Additionally all three gables now match in that they all have the same detail at the top.

Lastly, I kept the roof lines the same without the additional side dormers.

I believe with the changes, now your porch and front door become the focal point of the house which is what you want. You can further distinguish it with color.

Thoughts?