Thanks for the inputs. mightyanvil - I'm glad we seem to be on the right track. I feel so much better about it this time around. I know that one can build Shingle Style anywhere, but this will be a very different look for Upstate SC. From our observations, most of the new construction around Greenville is typical neo-traditional, Tuscan, Old World/French, something called "Mountain" or some type of Craftsman derivative. Even though folks talk about how much they love Shingle Style, people don't seem to build it. I know that the gambrel needs some work and the entrance has always been problematic. It would likely be easier if we just had a covered front porch, but we were trying for a balance of outdoor seating areas. We have the screened porch and then the area under the deck will be covered on the lower level. I'm no great sun worshiper being a fair-skinned, blue-eyed blonde with freckles from Celtic heritage (quintuple-whammy for skin cancer), but after all these years hiding from the ferocious sun in TX, I would like to be able to have a place to sit to "warm my bones". By having the front terrace and the back deck, we should be able to have some sun for most of the day. Thank you for the link, the stone & shingles really integrate nicely. I don't want to impose, but are there any general tips you could lead me to for improving the front? Jay - we stalled for quite a while, but I think we're ready to get going, again. I hit my minimum FERS retirement birthday on Mother's Day & DD is graduating from UT-Austin, tomorrow, so there's not much holding in Houston any longer. eventhecatisaboy (what a great screen name; I chuckle every time I see it.) - what a super link. DH was looking over my shoulder as I brought it up and he is really impressed with seeing the pictures. Our problem now, is how to proceed with the architect since our vision is now so different. I'm going to start a new thread for that, but I really need to get my act in gear to head out to Austin. Thanks - Jo Ann

Is there any purpose to the dormers other than an exterior cosmetic change? Or are they just planted on the roof? (No opening to the interior. This is one way of doing attic dormers in my location, in the nearby suburbs anyway). The dormers are much too small and a barrel roof dormers are a kind of specific shape more common to the Federal Period and on houses with a very strict vocabulary of balance and proportion if not exact symmetry. Georgian dormers would have a gable, a pedimented gable or a hip. This is American Georgian architecture: in true Georgian architecture and its revivals Symmetry is the key element and relative Heaviness of details around doors and windows is key. This is Greek Revival: This is a rural example, which is much less concerned with symmetry than its urban counterpart but it still follows a rather strict formula--and has near symmetry within its two masses. And the two forms are separated historically by the Federal period, so there is little mixing of actual details between Georgian and Greek Revival. Greek Revival (especially urban Greek revival, is spare compared to Georgian--I live in a city with all three and lived in an 1838 Greek Revival myself). Your house is asymmetrical, garage, front, and has fairly slender profiles, and a Jerkinhead roof. The added pilasters and dormers are not enough to convert this house to anything with a classical look like Georgian or Greek Revival. Plus, even a revival of these styles would never have a beltline of stone around the first floor. The stone on Mount Pleasant, at the top, is the English Basement. And I think the three material mix on the facade of stone basement and brick quoins and chimneys with a stucco body is a rarity. Most of these houses would be all brick or all wood (exposed basement excepted). I think you'd get a lot more mileage out of improving the trim details and working with a neo-eclectic craftsman-y look because of the overall massing of the house and the roof.

Maybe I've just been looking at a lot of really bad Houzz postings, but I find this a whole lot better than most. It's not going to grace the cover of Architectural Digest, but it would fit into most neighborhoods nicely. I would amp up the detailing with wider trim at the corners, windows and gables, and beef up the brackets. To CP's point... There has to be a beam to support the porch roof but it doesn't really show up in this view. Maybe making the beam more pronounced would help. The stone is unresolved. You have either too much or too little. Do quite a bit more to give the house a solid base or get rid of it altogether. If you keep it, the stone should definitely go all the way to the ground. I really like the sage green in the first image. The bottom portion of the house appears to be stucco. I would caution against intense, dark stucco colors. For some reason, they seem to fade more than other materials. I learned this the hard way. The most beautiful, rich, warm, terra-cotta color faded to a drastic pink in about two years on the sunny side of the home. I hate driving by it!

Aren't most Tudor homes "mock" LOL? (Although I loved the "real" Tudor homes when we visited Shrewsbury in 2019.) Mine is a Tudor style too and I love it. And I live in Toronto so we don't have any genuine Tudors because...Toronto didn't exist during the Tudor era LOL. Agree that cream vs white is the way to go. It looks good with the rendering and half-timbering all the way across. My area of the city has lots of these Tudors and people have painted the rendering all sorts of colours - white, cream, tan, gray. IMO the nicest look is cream with a dark warm brown e.g. Benjamin Moore's Tudor brown for the half-timbering. I'd add some diagonal half-timbering too, just because I think it looks good. Where it makes sense, paint any white or dark gray wood in the same dark brown. Maybe your garage door just needs a coat of paint. Paint or stain your front door dark brown too and it will fit in. Your yew hedge will give you privacy once it's filled in. Not sure what your plans are for landscaping, but in the meantime if you had one large planter it would give your house a lift. Depends on your climate, we don't know where you are. Very nice house.