Not sure re: the windows, will leave that to a pro, but isn’t it a bit last minute to make these decisions if framing is tomorrow? Also I would really reconsider that arch over the entry.

Thanks for response.

Porch can wait a few days as we are starting in the back and architect is on call in morning. Just need another opinion at this point. Trying to determine window shape and style - as well as gable. What would you suggest? The whole porch is new as you can tell from before photo.

To be honest, I'd put a halt to everything until you have a clear plan and set of drawings from the architect. Just winging it could land you in a world of pain.

Thanks - and I agree. I have this set ready to go but I just don't like the window he has chosen and wonder if the pitch is worth giving up the window height. I have enough time to change the front professionally, hence the question tonight.

This is a question for the architect. Period. We'll hope neither of you turn a Mc mansion farm to a Mc Muddle : ) as seems to be the plan.

Hi, Anne,

I agree with others about hitting the pause button until everything is how you want it. It's less expensive to experiment with different exterior looks in the computer than it is on the home.

I'd caution against adding yet another feature (arch at porch) and against using such a variety of materials (stone, shakes, horizontal lap siding and board and batten, maybe brick if that's on the foundation, too.) Our rule of thumb for exterior materials is a maximum of three.

I don't know if you can de-McMansionify this home, but I applaud the effort.

These are the architect suggestions. I’m not super happy hence the questions. It seems to be a lot to me as well and I just want a softer farmhouse look with the existing general structure. Your feedback is helpful.

Can you maybe expand on the notion of what farmhouse means to you in this context? Because I know what it means to me, living in an old farmhouse in rural VA, and I'm not seeing a clear path between your home and that. We see a lot of that style of home out here on estate properties and there are ways to make it sing with the site just with great landscape design and some upgrades on the home's exterior. It sounds like you're pretty far down that path so I'm not trying to change your mind, just trying to understand the vision.

Is your architect still under contract with you?

Thank you. Your drawing is the second plan we were considering- Going ahead and pulling off part of the roof and creating a gable at that hip roof. The architect and I are meeting again this afternoon. I had a vision for some components and he tried to incorporate it but probably went against his better judgment with some of the features. I will also just switch back to siding rather than the other Hardiplank materials. Should I keep the pitch on the porch gable or just switch to a shed roof?

Yes, the proposed addition, plus the existing house, have far too many unrelated and discirdant shapes--hip, gable, arch, segmented projecting bay, etc.

What's needed is a simplified and consistent architectural vocabulary.

As others have recommended, the best strategy (and cheapest) is to stop all construction and get this worked out before resuming construction.

Good luck!

Glad Sophie hasn't posted. Ouch!!! lol

I'd have not entertained the board and batten for one second. Stone........, perhaps a re working of entrance, and no "porch" .

You can't marry that which was already hybrid........with more and more hybrid and get anything but total mish mash. Just because someone will "give" you what you requested does not mean you should have it. Maybe what you should have is an arch who knows the NO word.

I would certainly try drawing the porch roof without the portico element and paired columns or just making a small gable at the entry stairs to identify the entrance. The ridge of the gable would be no higher than the high point of the porch roof. Try it with at the model with no materials shown other than a medium grey on the roof.

I wouldn't think about materials until you were happy with the design. Then find something that would reinforce the design.

I'm still having trouble with the heavy handed classical cornice returns and the very French bay window and hipped roofs. The design is stuck in the middle of two incompatible design traditions. Maybe the gables could lose their rake overhangs and cornice returns.

Next time, do not start demolition until the design is finalized.

(I said that mainly for lurkers and followers)

I like the simplified look of PPF. suggestion.

One other word of caution. Be careful about having the roof of the porch end so close to the bottom of the window. Any snow at all can result in water accummulation in the sill area.

PPF's version looks SO much more inviting.

So, if I'm reading correctly, the french (hip roof and bay) elements are fighting the classical (gables, rake, cornice returns) in the original design. I can change all design elements and go toward a vernacular country house style. Thanks for the quick education!

I love classical style and those are my favorite elements of all the designs. Not sure it is right in this rural setting...any ideas on how to keep a classical style in this setting?

Well...if the hip roofs have to stay, take a cue from Mr. Wrignt's Martin house. Siding treatment also deserves study.

I've spent fifty years renovating and adapting mill buildings, historic marketplaces and large residences. In my opinion, no one will be able to find realistic design alternatives until you post floor plans and more informative photos of the house. It would also help if you could persuade your designer to provide a more accurately detailed computer model in a more realistic perspective view instead of an isometric view.

For this level of design difficulty there is no substitute for thorough field documentation and professional visualization.

Perspective View

Parallel/Isometric View

Perspective View

Parallel/Isometric Vie

For a house with classical detailing this would be my goal but I have no way of knowing if its possible.

I will say that its easier to add on to a house than to carve a piece out of it.

RES I saw your first rendering and thought 'That's amazing, its a complete transformation'

Then I looked more closely and saw it was a whole different house *sigh*

This house could be transformed but that process would start with field measured plans and elevations, then an accurate 3D computer model, then multiple solutions, then 2D construction drawings. It usually takes 3 to 6 months. The rendering to which I think you're referring involved an addition that more than doubled the size of a house and went through an extensive historic approval process. the model proved that most of the addition could not be seen from the street.

So what's the point of showing a completely different house?

^^^To show how the process works and in that case to show the difference between a perspective view and a parallel view.

Lovely Linda, maybe if you read the thread, and didn't have your panties in a bunch anytime someone tries to help an OP you too might learn something.

Lovely Linda, the OP asked for suggestions; did I overlook yours?

The key to getting the look you want would be to rip the hip roof off the house and replace it with gables. Even then the proportions of the massing may be off enough to retain an odd look.

I'm hesitant to post but appreciate all the thought and would welcome more suggestions. I am working with the lead architect and his employee, also an architect. This is what they have come up with after I told them I am open to any and all suggestions.

Reminder, we do have a budget and there are many other changes I would make if we had no financial limitations. The property itself is an amazing 20 acres with 9 stalls close in to Atlanta so the house is what it is. I have still not decided on the front siding. I may just do traditional siding, rather than the mish-mash.

Couple of notes: The garage is a future addition, not to be done at this time. This is a renovation so we used existing garage space to add a family room off the kitchen. And, I have already told architect the shutters were a lazy addition and size them for the window or lets do away all together.

What do you think?

I count 5 different materials -- is that the look you are after?

Have you read up on shutters? -- https://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/residential-architecture-101-shutters/

WARNING: Posting your entire floor plan opens you up to facts you may not want to know, but should. Be prepared for suggestions that will make for a better design. Keep a thick skin, open mind, sense of humor, and a glass of wine within arms reach. You may not enjoy it, but everyone else will and you will be better off in the long run if you heed well the advice.

Show us a photo of the house from close enough to see what the cornice returns really look like.

The computer model just looks wrong and its very important to get it right. I'm not even sure the roof slope is correct in the drawings or the model. The photos look like 12 in 12 but the elevations are 9 in 12. PPF appears to be using 10 in 12.

photos from afar

3D model

Elevation drawings

3D model

true classical cornice returns

Thank you. That is very helpful. Here is the actual house. Looks like a poor man's return accentuated by gutters.

The returns look much better than in the drawings. Your architects are sloppy or lazy or both.

Can you get into the attic and measure the rafter slope? You can use a carpenter's square and a level or measure the angle with a laser device or even an iPhone but measure in several locations.

My builder said it is 10/12. We were planning on following the exact trim pattern to match, so I don't think they spent much time on it. I am concerned about the porch since there is nothing to copy.

That was a helpful visual about the cornice returns. I thought I read that the roof of a return was not tsupposed to be seen from the ground. Based on those pictures, that appears to be correct.

The OP's cornice return takes the poor man's cornice return one step further from a classical return by using an aluminum gutter instead of a molding. That forces the gutter at the return to protrude from the rake, an odd configuration since the gutter has no function at that location. I guess it could be called a "gutter return".

The old solution was to have half round gutters suspended from the eave by brackets and the gutters did not return at corners.

How the corner boards meet the cornice returns will be an important detail. I would not trust your architects with this detail.

Here is a corrected elevation without distracting material patterns and simple strong round Tuscan columns. If the big ideas are well executed, the little ones will follow.

Now if you could rotate this design on your own computer... That would allow you to see how the hipped roof falls away as you approach the house.