To clarify, we will be staining the cedar trim a little bit darker than just a clear finish. This is a raw sample board for the shutter.

My preference would be white trim, although the overall style of the house elevation might dictate something different.

Sellwood Library House · More Info

Could you post images of the complete house -- renderings or elevations?

Are you using natural wood elsewhere? If not you could stay with the same dark gray/black as your window frames for your fascia and window and door trim or you could choose white for all.

Stone works in front of your foundation but wouldn't add stone on an exterior wall above floor level. Some gable ends have a different material in the same color; otherwise, keeping the same siding for all your exterior walls will look better.

Actual

the top pic is the rendering (although we have modified it from the original. We eliminated the watershed rooflines and added a large shop to the right of the house with the door towards the front of the house. In the color photo, dark gray is all stone, everything else is the shaker cement board. All "brown" is cedar shutters, gable accents and front porch posts. We have black wrought iron doors front and back and the black casement windows.

Definitely white for the soffit and trim around the window.

Here are two examples with white around the windows.

(273M) · More Info

414 N Gainsborough · More Info

Cape Porpoise Residence · More Info

Cape Porpoise Residence · More Info

Hi. I'm the posters husband. Does anyone think that is weird to have a mostly lighter color stone on the foundation and up one gable? Most houses have a dark foundation and lighter color home. This is the only stone that we could find that was mostly made up of grey tones. We did not want a lot of beige or brown.

One other option that the builder put to us was to have white boxing but with black corner stiles and black downspouts?? Your thoughts?

Generally, I like fascia and gutters to match the roof, corners to blend with the sides of the house, and downspouts to match whatever they are attached to (which sometimes means different colors on the same spout, depending on where siding/stone/brick are). :-)

Well...anytime someone posts a question about interior or exterior materials and finishes, the responses generally result in a range of individual and personal opinions...without much else in the way of learning or useful information.

So here's my thoughts to add to the mix:

--Your elevations show a combination of stone and brick at the lower levels. Are you really intending to do that? It's very seldom that stone and brick textures, sizes and colors are harmonious and compatible. If it was my house, I'd forget any brick, and limit the stone to a "foundation course", approximately 2 to 3-feet above grade, around all four sides of the house. If you are not prepared to put stone on all sides of the house I would omit it entirely. I certainly would not make one portion of the house full height stone as your elevations show.

--Siding: I'd make the siding above the stone foundation course either vertical board and batten or horizontal lap siding. My preference is vertical board and batten. The shingle siding at the upper level of the elevation is fine, and would be harmonious with either vertical board and batten or horizontal lap siding. I would paint everything a single color, and not make two different colors on the elevation. My preference is a warm white, but a neutral earth color would also work well.

--Warm white fascia, corner and window trim and exposed soffits is always a timeless and inviting color choice, for virtually any siding type or color. The style of your architecture strongly suggests the need and importance for using window and door trim around all four sides of each opening. Don't make the trim black, especially with dark gray siding.

--A dark, monotone roof material would be my first choice;

--Natural wood colored shutters seem out of place and inconsistent with the rest of the house. Plus the addition of yet another finish material simply pushes the number of materials and colors over the top. Less is always more, and much more appealing over a longer period. I'd paint the shutters a color harmonious with the siding color. For example, if the siding is a warm white, I'd make the shutters a very dark green, almost black.

--Down spouts are utilitarian--they are not, nor are intended to be, design elements. Thus the best finish is often to make them match the walls where they are attached.

--Finally, the doors. If you like, front doors are often appealing with a painted, contrasting but harmonious color. For example, if the siding is dark gray, the front door could be a bright red or yellow. The garage door(s) however are always too large and out of scale for a residential building, thus, making them the same color as the siding, so that the doors do not stand out visually, is always a good idea.

Hope this helps. Good luck on your project.

I also like the white for the soffit and trim around the windows.

Please note: I prefer the shutter locations on your original diagram where the triple (and larger) windows do not have shutters at all. (shown below)

The shutters shown appear to be the right size in this diagram. And in the right location.

The modifications made are NOT the right size and are NOT in the right location. Please reconsider your shutter sizes and locations to reflect the original diagram.

https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/

http://www.oldhouseguy.com/shutters-introduction-history/

As to the stone, do you have larger samples to see how much of the dark stone is present?

John Sheffield

Not trying to be unkind here -- this is just my opinion and, let me emphasize this: I'm not a pro. Ultimately, you'll need to follow your own instincts.

To me, having stone above the foundation level -- above the ground floor level up to the window sill -- but not an all stone exterior -- creates the look of a McMansion -- a mansion wannabe; it detracts from the character and style of the house rather than adds to it.

IF your entry door were in a distinctly separate area/wing of the house (such as with it's own gable end above it) and if you wanted to create a focal point for your front entry and if you were using stone for your front porch and to support your porch roof, then stone up the one exterior wall around that one entry area might not look out of place.

Look up writings about McMansions vs. actual mansions and you 'll see that two of the design features of the McMansions -- mansion wannabes -- are lots of unnecessary changes in roofline and the use of multiple exterior materials -- alternately, the latter can make it appear that the part of the home with the different exterior wall material was added on later. Putting stone between the foundation and the windowsill just looks like you ran out of money and couldn't afford stone for the rest of the house.

Really like that you're adding that horizontal "roof" between the ground floor and the upstairs.

Just an additional after thought: You'd probably get more upstairs usable space if you didn't use a hip roof for any part of your upstairs but, instead, used a traditional steep roof with side gable ends and added additional gables on the front and back. If, however, you're keeping the current roof plan, you might consider extending that small center gable over a front portico.

John,

It is ok to have a lighter stone and darker siding. ILoveRed did that and her house looks amazing.

Here is another one:

Nethermead Residence · More Info

FYI:

McMansions 101 Special Edition: Mansion vs... | McMansion Hell

mcmansionhell.com/post/149284377161/mansionvsmcmansion

1. Cached

Aug 21, 2016 - This post aims to explain the important differences between the two. Part Two will make examples of specific houses (including houses that ...

Missing: essay ‎| ‎Must include: ‎essay

McMansions 101: Mansion vs McMansion (Part 2) | McMansion Hell

mcmansionhell.com/post/.../mcmansions-101-mansion-vs-mcmansion-part-2

1. Cached

Aug 27, 2016 - McMansions 101: Mansion vs McMansion (Part 2) At last, the fun part, where I post pictures of houses on the fence and rule with my iron fist ...

Missing: essay ‎| ‎Must include: ‎essay

The pic of the house Naf_Naf provided does look great -- note the stone stops w/the foundation … not above floor level.

I agree with Virgil - no cedar anything. Too much of a mishmash. It’s like you’re trying to crowd everything that’s trendy onto one house.

As well as what Virgil suggested, I'd also eliminate the shutters completely. They add nothing to the look of the house.

I agree with cpartist - eliminate the shutters. They don't go with the house and are too busy.

Has anyone mentioned getting rid of the fake shutters?