Thanks. It does look nice from that angle. That end is already set in. I worry that if I pull it in further as in your drawing, the room will be L shaped. It may be ok. My thinking was with the corner gable I have a better chance of having a square ceiling. Also, I don't have to worry about the eaves height limit at 12' that I would have to consider with a hip roof. With the corner gable, I can have a window high up if I choose to. A hip roof could be my back up.

Regarding the HOA rules you said:

"The height from the ground to the eaves on northeast and southeast shall not exceed 10'. "

You now say:

"... I don't have to worry about the eaves height limit at 12' that I would have to consider with a hip roof."

Does that limit now apply to the height of south side eaves?

I might have gotten it wrong. I thought the gable face doesn't have eaves.

A gable would have rakes instead of eaves. What is the height limit on a horizontal eave on the south side of the building? 10 ft, 12 ft or no limit?

If there is eaves, it will have to be 12' or lower. Since I have a gable on the south side, I thought there's no limit to where to put a window. Or does 12' still apply?

I think the gable complies. You had said two other sides had a 10 ft eave height limit but not the south side. Its difficult to suggest solutions with changing limits. If you find these design limits confusing you should let your architect deal with them.

I'm an architect so it would be unethical for me to offer or provide architectural services other than the confirmation of the geometry of your design ideas since your architect is apparently unable to provide 3D drawings. If you want additional 3D sketches that would not interfere with your relationship with your architect, let me know.

Thanks. It should comply. You can't ban south by banning southeast and southwest. South is the primary direction. South may imply between southeast and southwest. Southeast on the other hand can imply only between eastsouthaest and southsoutheast. My architect did elevation drawings. He doesn't like the south gable but obliged me and submitted the drawings. I like to have a gable there. It will be better than a hip there for a ceiling design.

As you know, I don't like the gable either because its much too large on a hipped roof and I don't see how it helps with the ceiling. That was the point of my 3D sketches.

I'm surprised your architect has not found better alternatives.

It's trickier than it looks at first glance. St Thomas/Ninth type of roof will be the best except the roof pitch is too restrictive.

Would this layout work? Shall I move the opening to the bed/bath in dining area to the other side?

I will have to take a closer look when I return to my office tonight. Any exterior elevations?

Here are the elevations. We couldn't do anything better.

Perhaps you should give the HOA something to shoot at:

That's a thought. It doesn't look too bad.

It might be a good idea with some refinement.

such as?

Such as what form and proportions it ends up being proposed to be.

Got the approval. Now onto refining the design. I would appreciate any tips to improve the front. The northwest elevation (top) is how the front looks. Something looks missing to me.

What is it that looks missing?

Doesn't look like a front and looks a bit monotonous but it may be just what it is

I think it's handsome. Let it speak for itself. Complimentary landscape / hardscape will be awesome with the front.

just_janni Thank you for the kind word. I think I will use the same color instead of a separate color for the flat roof portion. Shall I keep the different color?

Keep the different color. It's giving each massing an identity without going overboard (think stone, brick, fake shingles, board and batten, and all the other inharmonious pairing we see here regularly)

Trust your architect.

Even through my never ending build - I am continually pleased at the thoughtfulness that is coming into view that my architect provided. We installed a HUGE window combination this weekend. It is changing the exterior of the house and making the interior start to come together and I like it more and more. Trust.... :-)

I do trust my architect most of the time. He had his misses however. I thought leaving two colors from the earlier design could be one of them.

I also think it turned out looking striking (in a good way), which is all the more impressive given the rigamarole the HOA caused. And the two different colored masses look good. It has nice clean, simple lines.

I think it looks good. I like the two colors also.

I see the architect drew the 'Nortwest' elevation for our Norwegian viewers. Uff da!

I liked your shed roof over the flat section. Everyone is for two colors. Now I have to choose two colors that don't contradict each other. Choosing one is hard enough. There's a detached garage further down not shown in the picture. Which color should the garage have, main color or the extra color?

Should the south gable bottom be a bit higher than the eaves? As in the picture below? It will make the gable a bit flatter.

I would have the garage color match the house. If it has a gable roof, that color; if it has a flat roof, that color.

I would keep all the sloped roofs the same pitch, and let the desired interior ceiling heights dictate the elevation of the eaves (keeping the ridge heights in mind).

I like the same pitch, too. The south gable is at 9:12 and the roof pitch 5:12. I made a diorama and the south gable looked a bit pointy and pompous. If the gable bottom ends 2' higher the pitch of the gable will be 7:12. A little better than 9:12.

I would have the garage color match the house. If it has a gable roof, that color; if it has a flat roof, that color.

I like that. The question is Should I have a gable on the garage? I am leaning not.

What color do you want it?

If it's up to me, I would go for white. To be a good neighbor, it will have to be earthen color, reddish brown. Would that look alright?

With a moniker like yours, white should be fine.

How can I make the house look better?

Landscaping. Beyond that, what are your concerns about how it looks now? I like it.

I think it might look like a warehouse in 2d grayscale, but it didn’t in the sketch you showed that more accurately reflected the windows and a sense of the dimension. Plus, landscaping really will make a difference.

How would it be if the roof rake area is slender? Instead of 12" make it 4"? It would make it look lighter.

Titanium?

Your barge rafters need to carry a snow load. The capabilities of lumber are driving the thickness. Sometimes architects use those thicknesses just for appearance also.

Is there anything else one can do to carry the load other than titanium?

You seem to be second guessing a lot of the progress and development of your house. Do you not have confidence in your architect? Or is something else at work here?

I don't have a lot of contact with the architect these days. The project moved onto the draftsman and after the little trouble with the HOA, my architect wasn't so helpful. He is given to ranting on how wrong the HOA is rather than trying to make it work under the given constraints however weird they may be.

How would it be if the rafter is doubled? Or reduce spacing of the rafters? Would that allow a shallower rafters? Or can one put horizontal beams as in the picture?

That is a question for the architect or structural engineer, but values increase as you double and decrease spacing. Houzz doesn't know the spans, loads or materials.

The roof edges shown in the above photo are 8-12" given the 1/2 round gutter is about 3".

Do you mean 8-12" including the exposed beam? Mine is 12' and this house looks far more elegant compared to mine.

The plan is being handed over to a structural engineer. I will ask him if anything can be done.

The plan came back from the engineer. He needs a support beam where roof ridges meet. Anything better than a tall post all the way to the top from the floor? One suggestion is to run a crossbeam at 10' and a post pictured below.

The house is coming along. Here’s the weird roof line I think it is passable. I see the roof more than I expected

I think a normal roof would look odd.

How often do one of those big rocks roll down the hill?

Almost never? They've been checked by an engineer. The one on the low right worries me tho.