Barnwood - meh. But the stucco and stome is classic.

Seems too busy with Barnwood imo....but extending stone upward to the lower trim? ?roofline? -where some the Barnwood is currently in the top pic

In this style of house, materials and their application to the form is critical to the success of the design. If the type and location of materials were not determined in the initial design process, there is potential for the design to fall apart and appear jumbled collisions of forms with a variety of material slapped here and there.

You might consider using mostly stucco, adding stone for the bottom floor, for the chimney and for around the front entry for emphasis. You could use some stone for outlining your front concrete sidewalk from the entry to the driveway, too.

Not fond of the stone being used as shown. If you were going to use wood, you might want to limit the barn wood to being used for the top floor.

Not fond of the look created by having that second forward facing door from the garage by your main entry door. Consider putting that door on the side wall of the garage at a right angle to the front door, preferably with both doors being beneath a covered path: Consider adding more of a covered walk/porch at your front entry by either adding a flat roof or extending one of the planned rooflines to do that.

If your lot width would permit you to have the garage doors to be on the side of the home rather than forward facing, consider doing that. You could then add a couple of forward facing windows to the side of the garage facing the road -- providing needed natural light -- and use stone for all but the top floor.

Thanks all! A quick word about setting: this lot is suburban Colorado in which we can plainly see the mountains but we're on a prairie...this isn't a ski town.

Mark Bischak, Architect...our architect had the barnwood plan and any images above follow exactly the architect's plan. I hear what you're saying about being true to design. I've included a new version with "grayer" barnwood that's more uniform.

suezbell: good idea about entry. We can't change doors - already framed, plumbed, HVAC done.

lvnlv: see plainer wood image...maybe not so busy

Definitely not the barn wood. It doesn't work with the house at all.

I also think the stone isn't working as it's placed. It looks like someone said, "we need to put some stone on" and they just placed it wherever it was convenient and not where it would enhance the architecture.

I'm thinking the house would look so much better if it was all stucco. It would emphasize the lines of the house without the distraction of the stone. Use the stone maybe for the chimney, columns and walkway.

One other thought. Stone should always look like it's coming from the ground since it's the "heavier" material. So no stone on the second floor without something "holding it up"

here's elevation with "plainer" wood

plus actual wood we MAY use:

Here's setting on lot

use the stone on columns, and walkways / hardscape as cpartist suggests. (I'd ditch the chimney recommendation based on on this pic) and PERHAPS use that massing second from left with the larger overhang for a stone "feature" if this ends up being a fairly visible side of your house.

Your home will be lovely, but the barn wood DOES NOT GO WITH THE DESIGN. It's too grey'd out for the color scheme, but mainly - the material choice is WRONG for your architecture. (and choose a warmer stone for the base too) Don't fight with the exterior massing with too many materials. You have a lot going on there - with rooflines, trim, roof, stucco, windows, etc - the stone should be used to complement the above, not compete with it.

Keep it low, and always connected to the earth.

Get with a landscape and hardscape designer NOW to tie in the indoor / outdoor space and use the stone in a cohesive way.

Our current thought is to "ditch" the barnwood in spite of how architect planned. We'll use a little more stone in some areas of exterior walls and more stone in landscape to integrate outdoors with house. As jannicone points out lots going on and barnwood adds even more texture and color.

Seeing your gorgeous views, I'm even more convinced you don't need any or very little stone either. I agree with Sophie that keeping it all stucco would be the best for how it will sit on the land.

"...Does barnwood siding work on this exterior for new build?..."

No, not to my eye.

I think the reason the barnwood looks 'off' is because it conflicts with the 'modern' styling of the home. It makes it scream, "I tore down something old and rebuilt new in its place", which screams temporary more than everlasting. A more modern panel (hardie?) in a plain solid color would likely looking more in keeping with the style of the home.

What the heck is "barnwood"? I've seen barns made with all kinds of wood, I've never seen a barnwood tree. I'm looking at two barns right now, one is balloon framed with pine and sided with white cedar shingles, the newer one is modern construction with T1-11 siding. The picture above looks like some badly neglected material that would need a lot of TLC (lots of linseed oil, sanding, filling, and several good coats of paint) to provide suitable protection for your lovely house. Surely you can find some less ratty looking lumber to side such a nice house.

As I said, it looks best without the lipstick. The house doesn't need it. Please don't turn her into a 2 bit hooker.

Ha ha, cpartist, that's great - two bit hooker; plus I love your rendition without barnwood or stone. For rwiegand, barnwood is popular in Rocky Mtn. states and maybe elsewhere (?) and seems to be an effort to use authentic and rustic materials but I'm no expert...just like the way it looks. See this house which uses a combination of coarse stone, grey barnwood and even rusted roofing.

https://berglundarchitects.com/project/wildwood-rd-residence/

All stucco. A barn wood embellishment is out of place. The strength and beauty of the design is in the lines of the structure. By placing three materials on the façade, you are just hiding the best part of the design. All stucco. Calm, understated and timeless.

Paint the garage doors the same color as the body of the structure. Otherwise, they will look like eyeballs stuck staring at the road.

Did I say all stucco. Don't forget to use the elastomeric paint on the stucco. If you don't know what that is, look it up.

The example is beautiful but the materials were decided on at the same time the house was designed, so it all looks cohesive.

Trying to stick on materials after the fact onto a nicely designed exterior will make it look like it was an afterthought

troutguy5 - that house is lovely. Here's why it both "works" and it isn't a good model to use for the OPs.

• The house has a MASSIVE amount of glass - that becomes the main material. Far more than the OPs.
• There are only 2 materials - stone and the distressed wood / cedar (not 2 - nary a hint of stucco to be seen)
• The stone is ABUNDANT - and places appropriately - all grounded and on the chimney. (nothing floating in the air without a stone base like the OPs render)
• Lastly - there's also a bunch of stone on the ground with the hardscape - further tying it to the earth.

There's actually a pretty big difference in the 2 homes - even though they are both "mountain" homes.

jannicone, we have a modest amount of glass, too. See this west view elevation, which lacks stone and distressed wood. Those lovers of pure stucco will appreciate. We'll do lots of landscaping with stone, in addition to 2 planters already built and shown in elevation.

Seeing the mountains in the background, do you have snowpack around the foundation for extended periods of time? If so, how does stucco react to constant moisture? I don't know the answer to that question, but unless either you don't have snowpack or you are confident that it won't degrade the stucco, you might consider stone for the foundation up to the snow level. Summit posts on this forum and designs for the mountains so you might ask him.

Stone will perform better than stucco at the base of the home in snow pack. It also performs better for splash back from water shedding from the roof.

Stucco can perform well if it's properly detailed and installed. It should have a drainage plane so any water intrusion can migrate out the bottom of the wall. The areas around any openings should be built with proper edge material and a gap for backer rod and sealant.

To mitigate against splash back, make sure the drainage is good around the home. Use gutters where appropriate and landscape with washed rock, river stones or other surface that won't allow mud to splash up onto the house where you opt not to use gutters.

Yep, you have a lot of roof slopes, so rain runoff will be a challenge. Allowing water to sheet off the roof allows excessive water penetration and ponding along the foundation. If you have expansive soils this is poison to be avoided at all costs! Properly designed gutters and downspouts with splash blocks will keep the water away from your foundation. But they do add to the overall aesthetic of the exterior. I assume you architect or engineer is designing for your snow loads...

There should be some snow pack sometimes, even occasional rain (quite a dry area). We do plan to have gutters and already have a rubbery Grace water shield for paper under raised seam metal roof.

We'll put river stones around foundation and be sure follow the engineer's erosion and runoff plan.