Most farmhouses in Pennsylvania have stone exteriors. Here are some beauties:

Starry Night Farm - Side Exterior · More Info

Mine Road Farm - exterior · More Info

Farmhouse · More Info

Starry Night Farm - Front Exterior · More Info

What verbiage is used to direct the exterior finishes of the house?

OKay just one more reason to never build in an area with HOA and all the stupid rules. I agree you will need to post some pics of surrounding homes to give us some idea of the area and an elevation drawing.

This is just a rendering and things can change. I don't have pics of the subdivision but most of the homes are very modern and contemporary. Our home won't be visible from the street though and is not part of the main subdivision. Thank you for all your comments so far.

A home like this could well be all stucco or cement plaster, without any other materials, and look fine.

Does your HOA require that both stone and cement plaster be used? If so, my suggestion is to keep the stone type to match locally available stone (whatever that is), and limit use to suggest a foundation only. That means limiting the height of the stone to about 1'-2' high and run continuously around all sides of the house.

Whatever you do, don't use that ridiculous rounded fake stone work shown above. Make it look like actual load-bearing stone masonry as shown in other pictures above.

I am not a pro but if it were me I wouldn’t use stone and by the way I love old stone homes but I would go on a new build in an HOA all stucco or all white or white wash brick.

I am not sure there is any way to make that elevation say "farmhouse." :-( You might be better off to do something that is in keeping with THAT house, than try to make it into something it isn't. I agree all stucco or cement plaster is probably a good choice. I'm not sure all stone is going to be a good look for that facade.

You're not building a farmhouse, so go with whatever appeals to you most. Forget worrying about how "farmhouse" it looks. Most won't see your house as farmhouse, even if sided - its just not quite the style. Do your farmhouse thing inside, if the HOA will let you.

I would stick with a rectangular stone. You could add some wood beams at the triangular peaks and extend the porch area to the bumpout on the left, eliminating the small patch of grass.

WHITE stucco, black windows. DONE. Add some window to the garage

Just use real stone (as I mentioned above) local is best, on the foundation of the house. Then stucco all the rest. No shutters. Dark windows and off white stucco color. Roofing should be color of windows. Gutters and downspouts color of stucco so they visually disappear. Nice landscaping. Curved walkways to front door. Make front door more "obvious". Right now, hard to see where the front door is. Add double windows in garage.

I see no need for stone on that house. : ) Agree the entry needs "work"

I like the Tyvek look.

Whatever stone you use, keep the facade simple and pay very close attention to the details. Take photos of stone work you like rather than copying from the internet. Go to the stone yard of the supplier/installer to see samples; don't agree to anything without a photo of a sample panel in the contract.

Personally, nothing is more troublesome than stucco whether its cementitious or EIFS. I dread being asked to specify and detail it and would never own it.

Perhaps others have explained this or maybe you already know but "stone veneer" is a vague term and should be avoided. There are 2 kinds of stone cladding:

Stone Veneer (Cavity Wall) - Like brick veneer this is 4" of stone sitting on a ledge in the foundation wall with a 1+ inch cavity between it and the structural wall (wood or masonry) It requires some kind of support lintel over openings and weeps at the lintels and foundations. Large panels may require control joints which are tough to hide in stonework. This is an expensive system but it looks great.

Thin Stone (Veneer) - Stone is cut into thin layers and adhered to the structural wall. Special pieces are used at corners to simulate full thickness stones. Its cheaper than a cavity wall.

Both materials are veneers but brick and stone veneer cavity walls used the term 50+ years earlier. Its looks are dependent on the skill of the fabricator and the installer so choose well.

Here is a Stone Veneer (cavity wall) system. Notice the steel lintel.

Here is a good fabricator.

Here is a good video.

Here is another one.

If you do it right it will be expensive but beautiful.

Make it all stucco with black windows as suggested and also add some windows to the garage so it doesn't look like a hulking blank wall.

I would consider adding stone in the landscaping such as this photo with a low stone wall. This gives the farmhouse look, could be just the trick you need to get the look, without major cost.

White with black trim and windows and a Red front door would really look lovely.

What Americans usually think of as a stone farmhouse is a Colonial, Colonial Revival or Greek Revival house with stone instead of clapboards and all the trappings of those styles like a red door and classical cornice returns. Here's a good example of that distrurbing trend.

But I don't think that's what the OP has in mind. Here's the rendering I thought was wrapped in Tyvek:

I think your home would be very attractive with a brick exterior. Brick is a very low maintenance material, and in our area, brick is less expensive than either true 3-coat masonry stucco, stone veneer or full building stone.

RES - I'm curious as to why you find stucco problematic (not arguing, BTW - but interested in your take on the drawbacks).

The durability of cement plaster or artificial stucco depends on workmanship, maintenance and climate/location. It's very durable (with proper maintenance) in temperate, warm climates. Not so much in cold, freezing and snowy climates. But even in termperate climates it is not maintenance free.

Real and synthetic stucco can work in a warm dry climate if the details are correct but the details are often not correct and in a warm humid climate these systems have only benefited class action lawyers. Google stucco lawsuits. Then google red cedar shingle lawsuits.

Some building materials are more forgiving than others and some are better suited to certain climates than others. Getting the construction details right is essential to a long-term sustainable structure irrespective of the material.

Many threads in this forum make the point that it's not enough to show the proper construction details in the plans or by reference to a manufacturer's installation instructions. Your builder needs to know how to execute the details and he/she needs to be in the field verifying they are being done right throughout construction.

Charles Ross is correct, A decade ago I had a huge build in Fargo. She was determined to have her dream....... a Georgian Colonial in BRICK . We drove ourselves nuts on a limewash concept. I finally said "give it up". in a world of prairie style, it will look like the public library. We need a stone. More rustic, cobblestone feeling. Can't get that in Fargo.

We made a trip to Connecticut, found fabulous.......ASSURED by her builder he could do anything. Corners... ledges, you name it. "I do stone!"

We railed it out $$$$$$$$ . The stone yard wanted to help with install, they are expert, wanted nothing to go wrong. Builder declined three times. Months later ? He was "eating stone" !! Needed more, then more! The Connecticut source accused him of burying it......it was NOT a pretty conversation, despite when finally done at much more expense, it was gorgeous.

Use an indigenous to the locale product, after MUCH discussion with the builder.

brick painted white.

"brick painted white."

Why add maintenance to an essentially maintenance free material?

Many of the great architectural claddings are simply out of reach of homeowners today. When I started in the 60's, if you could afford to build a house, you could afford the best materials and would insisted on them.

But materials have gotten much more expensive, mortgages have gotten much less expensive, knowledgable contractors are booked up, the design of windows and claddings are driven by marketing and shipping VP's and everyone wants to design their own home to save less money than they would probably spend on sales tax and then wonders why it all went wrong during construction.

At least I'm not bitter.

Many times zoning ordinances and home owner association bylaws are are misinterpreted, especially when verbally communicated from person to person. Stone is siding. Stucco is siding. Cedar shingles is siding. Vinyl siding is siding.

Please provide the written words from whatever document that dictates what the exterior finishes are or are not. Thank you.

And a financial planner half my age with a quarter of my experience charges 3 times my hourly rate just to talk. OK ... I'm a little bitter about that.

Do not mention anything to RES about the topic of real estate agent commissions!

This is my only stucco house. He wanted it French with a gambrel roof but I managed to sell him on a hip. The real stucco I had designed became synthetic stucco (EIFS) without notice to me. I convinced him to do the dormers even though the second floor was empty. He married, added upstairs bedrooms and then moved to Florida to complain about the government full time.

I volunteer to re do a few rooms for Res 3 d and charge him out the GAZOO : )

I recently interviewed an interior designer for a carriage house renovation. The proposed fee was greater than mine and it was going to take longer than the construction phase.

We recently helped design this home as well as others with the same requirements. However, some architectural review boards were more stringent than others. In the case where siding was used in the illustrations or photos you could utilize stucco to meet your requirements. Here are some ideas

Here are a few others

Have Fun with your exterior design

@RES, if the fees paid to various "professions" in the home design and home building industry were directly proportional to their value added, a number of "professionals" would be candidates for food stamps. Realtors, for example.

@ Res,

You can gut and re do a master bath in ten weeks well planned, a kitchen in 12. I've had a fabric on order for two chairs since SEPTEMBER. They'll be at my upholsterer another three after that, and that's with pretty please and sugar on top. Client is hanging in, and won't consider a change. Their rug, ordered in August and back ordered, was just finished, after finally arriving a week ago. A half decent custom sofa takes 12 to 14 weeks minimum. ....................so maybe just count your blessings. The profit from any of this is just as "delayed" : )Pretty damn hard to invoice in full, that which is not THERE.