Hello from a fellow Puget Sounder! Hubby and I are currently researching the building of our dream home up on Whidbey Island (our property looks out over Saratoga Passage) and we have visions of a shingle sided cottage. Like you, we're hoping for low maintenance, and our research so far seems to indicate that if you pick the right shingles and if they are applied properly, they should easily last 30 to 50 years with little or no maintenance required. (We built a very nice arbor and fence 20 years ago with Alaskan yellow cedar; the wood has held up very well, despite lots of shade and rain, with no rot and without the need for stain or paint - we just allowed it to age to a nice silvery gray.) Check out this link for an interesting article discussing the benefits of wood shingles, as well as the alternatives, such as Hardie plank. http://mainehomedesign.com/rotating-features/404-cant-decide-on-siding.html Best of luck on your new home!

I have been thinking about this too because we have a cottage that will be undergoing some significant construction late this year, including new siding. At the moment it is white vinyl siding with forest-green shutters... NOT my idea of a beach cottage color scheme! Anyway, last weekend I was walking around looking at other houses and one of my favorites was a khaki house with darkish, almost navy blue shutters and white trim. I was surprised that I was drawn to it but it really looked nice and "crisp." I think the roof was a medium-dark gray. Our former cottage was gray natural shingles with plum shutters and an aqua door, which I also loved. I think we'll end up with gray siding after this cottage reno is complete, but not sure yet what color trim. I like cottages with neutral color siding and funky color trim: plums, pinks, aquas, etc. I love picture #6 in the list of pics above!

I am a bit confused...are you going to paint your stucco?We have a bit of stucco on our house but when I picked the color I didnt go to a paint store, the stucco already came in the color I choose. One thing I do know is pick a color a bit darker than you think, being outside the color gets washed out. I am happy with the color now I have, but wasnt quite what I had in my mind.

I will hand draw the rough floor plans and elevations so that I will not violate the contract. It will take a while and might not be to the exact true scale of it, but hopefully is close enough. I love the floor plan, it was made with a lot of our feedbacks, but hate the curves put in the master bathroom - seems pointless and expensive. I deeply dislike the exterior and interior detailing (not just cost matter, I feel it was pushed on us against our interests), and I also am feeling very unsure about our roof line and gables (can it be simpler or fewer? does it matter to reduce cost?). I am annoyed that we have to spend almost 30K on a fake chimney. We don't want to trigger structural review if possible (6 months delay + 20K structural eng fees), but given how bad I feel about it, we are discussing that maybe it is not too bad if we delay the project for a year while trying to fix the design issues and looking at the housing market for alternatives. And who knows, if we are ok with triggering structural review, the additional saving could be substantial that we care less about the 20K structural redesigning fees. We started the design process years ago when we were of more limited means. Ours is a building designer, not an architect. cpartist, I do think the yellow house look like a farm house. Our started out as a Tudor, and we keep most of it when the city wanted craftsman instead. I think it only look like a forced G&G, and the only thing that might fool some people into thinking it's G&G is the brick/rock work and excessive detailing. But then again, reasonable G&G homes I look at have much quieter exterior. The house on the left of our lot is "supposedly" a craftsman, but doesn't look like it at all. I think the city wants the craftsman "flavor". We are not purist, I don't mind some modifications to craftsman, but don't want a loud expensive exterior and interior. Thanks to the veteran architects in this thread, I am learning a lot from you.