I like your original design with no gable.

All those tiny peaks PPF drew look horrible while the simple roof KH posted looks great.

The nested gable is pretty Mr. Potato Head-ish. It just doesn't suit the lovely classic lines of the house.

PPF's small tasteful gable looks nice. I'd be wary of a larger one with a fake window in it. That window tends to look like a black hole. Or you can see the framing behind it.

The house as drawn without gables is also simple and elegant.

No gables unless they will provide an actual function. The house without the gables is as Virgil said, timeless and beautiful. Both the single and nested gables look pasted on versus the original without any gables.

Also remember, you won't be seeing the house as you see it in the elevation drawing. So when you look at the actual house, you'll see the features of the front door, porch, etc. Beautiful plantings, a fun color front door and some touches on the front porch will do more to make your house special than some fake gables.

Plus remember that what you want to see when you drive up is the front entry and not some big useless gable up top.

Thank you everyone! It is hard to picture things from an elevation drawing. I appreciate all of your comments!

"Do not seek things to be centered or have symmetry; they are only lazy ways to achieve balance. Seek balance." - Yoda

(he didn't say that, I just threw it in to give it the appearance of having more substance)

Also realize that an elevation drawing of a building is not a natural view, it is a mechanical graphic representation of the building. A better tool to evaluate the exterior are perspectives like PPF provided.

I don’t know why on houzz so many people are disgusted by a decorative gable they seem to be everywhere! (just a trend I have noticed)

Millions of people also eat at McDonalds. Doesn't mean Mcdonalds is quality food.

In case the fake window does make it to the gable when the house is built, I am selling window treatment designed just for that condition.

You guys are so funny! Thank you PPF for the nice 3-d graphics wish I was more sauvy with sketch up I would have been able to answer my own question if I could have seen it

I’ll be sure to purchase the first one Mark If we end up with a false window

OK so a gable but how does that improve the inside of the home? Houses like this with big porches suffer from a lack of light inside. Skylights have a tendency to create too much heat load so consider a shed dormer or clerestory windows.

What I see on the OP's first elevation sketch is a cross gable over a porch that is under the main roof. I like it very much. It reminds me of the tidewater south and southern raised cottage styles.

Where is the project located?

The tall main house with symmetrical lower wings and a center entrance is a strong traditional form. It would be tragic to add off-center elements especially ubiquitous nested gables. Your first sketch is the right approach but be very careful to detail it right.

Res that is exactly the style we started with and I thought the roofline was too plain without something. We are in Missouri. And there is plenty of water and flooding along the Missouri right now for a raised foundation requirement lol.

Its not a fake gable that concerns me. A house this simple should be framed with rafters instead of trusses. Have carpenters forgotten how to build roofs? Why would anyone waste so much space for such little cost savings especially if there is no basement. People talk about aging in place but forget how much stuff accumulates in that amount of time.

I was born in St. Louis but left for college and stayed in New England. I guess you're in the north.

Google southern raised cottages.

The better detailed the house, the less important the gable is. The problem today is the difficulty of finding carpenters who can follow detailed drawings and people who can draw them. It saddens me to see such great traditions die.

The "original design look" photo is lovely, but if those two trees weren't there, I think I would be thinking "too much roof" also.

PS the triple window actually adds a nice element, the sort of thing I see in older houses that adds to their charm.

We had a really hard time finding someone to step up the trusses/rafters at the porch even. Every builder we interviewed said it could not be done. They all just want a truss print out and to lay it out from there or they want to charge you an arm and a leg. I’ll check out the raised cottages on google

Raee thank you

I would never recommend using any construction material or method that limited or interfered with the design of a project; its a false economy. When someone spends such a large sum of money, they should get a house of which they can be proud and that is a sound investment. In 50 years I have never considered trusses to be an acceptable option nor has a client or contractor ever mentioned them.

Seems to be the norm around here unfortunately. I got bids from 5 diff contractors in our area.

All you needed to do was tell them you wanted rafters and a usable attic.

Construction norms were of interest to me when I was designing repetitive structures like multi-family apartments, dormitories or office buildings but not for a single-family house. Its primarily due to the absence of building system constraints that I have enjoyed designing houses. I only once encountered roof trusses in a renovation and I was unable to modify the bottom chords to allow an additional 3 inches of headroom for an elevator so the owner moved.

There is something so simple and elegant about a gable roof structure: it reduces the span by half and sheds snow and rain. I'm glad I was born early enough to know the great wood frame buildings of the US and to participate in building in that manner; I enjoyed it immensely. Its sad that they are no longer built and will eventually be gone.

Found these beauties while searching southern raised cottage.

I’m going to pressure our builder to see if he can stick build it. Most of the contractors around here are younger so maybe that’s why they were so truss pro. I can see why it’s probably financially better for them to spend less time so they can get more houses in. Res what do you mean by detailing the gable carefully?

KH I took that comment to mean-maybe it didn't but this is what I was going to say anyway-that spending the money on higher quality details such as wood (or at least non-vinyl) windows, good siding, land and hardscaping, etc will add more to the house than a decorative gable.

The raised cottage examples you posted appear to be modern interpretations. Even if you get the style right it requires carefully drawn elevations and section details to prevent carpenters from taking short cuts like pork chop cornice returns.

This is Rosemont, built in 1815 and the boyhood home of Jefferson Davis.

The Palladian window in the pediment is a bit much and I would make the porch beam taller and remove the dormers but its a beautiful house.

This is Magnolia Plantation 1840:

Some more raised/creole cottages:

These raise the fascia height on the wings to match the center section.

And a perspective front view.

I think they both look nice and classy. Thanks again PPF!

Window rhythm is odd...

I had everything symmetrical but six foot between windows in the living room seemed to much inside not for a bedroom though. That’s also why we looked into the asymmetric gable placement

This answer the question of why there is strong sentiment against fake gables, my answer is, fake is fake. if the purpose of a gable is to provide headroom in a 2nd floor room and the purpose of a window is to allow/light/air in to the room, and there isn't any room, it looks kind of ridiculous IMO. If you are considering the gable and you are considering not doing trusses, consider a vaulted ceiling where the gable is.

Symmetry isn't the only way to achieve balance.

Try some different width windows but space them in the wall equally. There's no reason to think symmetry is mandatory, especially under a porch roof. Asymmetry might add some charm.

When did the eaves align? Is it even possible to align them at this late date? Does anyone want to?

1920 Colonial Revival

Eaves won’t align only the main house is stepped up. We didn’t plan for raised heels at the kickouts. I never thought of vaulting the ceiling. I could look into that.

WOW!! Those shutters look like they actually function. I don't know if I ever saw that before here on Houzz.

If the ceiling is already high, why add a vault? Do the trusses continue to the front of the porch?

Ceilings are nine foot throughout house. Trusses span the entire depth of 44’ That includes the 8’ deep porch. Here is a general idea of what it looks like I can’t find my doc from the lumberyard right now but this is kind of what they look like. Stepped up at the porch to about 11’ so they Cantilever over is what our builder said

Love the functional shutters!

Well I just want to say I am always wowed when you guys come up with these fabulous drawings both digital and by hand. It makes me feel so special I am sure so many other posters have felt the same here on Houzz. Sorry to be such a sap but you guys are great educators and really do make a difference. I have learned so much since I logged into Houzz about architecture, style and design from your posts. It's been a lot of fun! I really wish I would have started out on here at the very beginning (before getting bids and locking in with a builder) but I still feel that I am going to get a fabulous house because of everyone's help seeing ideas from different perspectives!

Thanks for the kind words. I agree that your house is going to be great.

The truss you posted does not "cantilever" since its supported at each end; it just doesn't have a continuous bottom chord.

Because of the tall porch, the elevation is a bit deceptive. I now realize that this house will have a large footprint so if a porch is under the span of the roof, its possible a truss is the only way the roof can be framed without the use of very deep engineered rafters and/or intermediate supports and foundations. Such framing options would depend greatly on the floor plan.

I would be looking for ways to allow skylight shafts to fit between the trusses. Maybe its as simple as doubling up trusses either side of a skylight.

Thank you guys for all of your help with our exterior. I love our centered gable. Still wish we could have done a stick built roof but with 2100 sq ft main level living and a full basement underneath my husband and I decided future space that may never be used/finished wasn’t worth the additional expensive. We did look at room in trusses but the stepped up truss caused the room to be oddly positioned. Still waiting on my gable window decor Mark! We are very happy and excited for the next step of insulation and Sheetrock. Hoping our exterior doors we ordered back in June arrive one day!

It's going to be a pretty house when finished.

We finished we did it! Thank you all for helping with my elevations, floor plan and kitchen!

From this

To this:

The only mistake I made was that I didn't leave enough room to walk around my dresser so we had to move the bed in front of the window. Oops, didn't get that right!

Looks great, and I am glad you came back to show us!