Can you share what your inspiration pictures are? Because your house does not look at all as what I'm picturing modern french country as. The Arched portal thingy does not work with that to me at all and looks more subdivision style of no particular type. The siding and that portion seem to clash to me. Often those are on brick and stone houses and not one with board and batten.

The first picture is more what I think of as an american interpretation of french country and note it doesn't have a 2 story arch. Also I tend to think of them as having stone or stucco and not board and batten which tends to be used more towards farmhouse styles trending right now and not french country.

Now 2 story arches are a dime and dozen in subdivisions and they are well represented on the McMansion blog where you can see just a couple of examples below, there are lots of these shown there.

Which style do you want to go with? Help us out what the look is that you want as you now seem to have multiple looks which IMO neither is leaning french country.

Here's what I see currently on your house and what it reminds me of

* 2 story arch - subdivision builder special and often used on what people often term McMansion

* Board & Batten - generally seen in new houses with the current trend called farmhouse style, older houses it was used on farmhouses in my area and some ranch houses

* "Wader" stone or brick - I think this was first seen on ranches in the 50's and seems to have come back in my area in the last 10 years or so. I have never liked it as it doesn't look like it is making sense from a structural stand point and to my brain that just doesn't work especially when it is not carried all the way around the house. It looks pasted on and fake.

* The general shape to me looks like many farmhouses in our area. Seems like if you skipped the 2 story arch and the wader stone your house could look like the current popular style of modern farmhouse with the board and batten. I think it could look good with some changes with stucco as well.

Which of these items are you the most married to? Maybe pick that item and work towards elements that works with that.

Googling Modern French country I see pictures like the below. Is that the look you're going for?

You want west while the design is heading north. Start over with a talented experienced local architect. If you have a certain style in mind that you want your house to be, it has to be incorporated into the design at the start. Freighters do not make U-turns in the Detroit River and the design you have so far, will never be "modern french country".

The rear elevation is kind of charming. The front elevation and the 3d models make me feel like the house is leaning in close and yelling at me. Whatever you can do to get rid of the double height arch stone thing would greatly improve the house's front exterior appeal.

You are absolutely right on all counts! I do NOT really want "Modern Farmhouse". Again- my builder has been great so far, but the drafter, he is older... like mid 60's and I feel like his designs are dated!

I am solid on our floorplan -It's perfect and I don't really want to change anything major about it... and I know that obviously the interior will effect the exterior - there is only so much you can do sometimes without changing the floorplan. So I keep coming back to that and thinking "Okay, maybe this is the best he could do with our floorplan?"

Here are some pictures of what I like:

DARK EXTERIOR:

So if I'm not willing to scrap our floorplan, how do I get this look/feel to translate to our exterior?

Change the board and batten to stucco or all brick or stone would be a start.

I do think you could make some small changes to the floor plan to reap the benefits in getting closer to the exterior you desire, but without that it will be a bit harder. For example look at the entry. See most of the entries having the skinny gable with some interior space above the portico - although it could be fake interior space it is framed in with a window nonetheless. Maybe a change to have your arch just above the front door as the pics show and then include the space above that in your interior. If it is a 2 story foyer then maybe provide a cat walk to that area to have a little nook.

For the dormer side make that a dormer similar to your last picture.. It will increase the interior size some, but it will make your house look more like the style you desire.

Now the above is still a hybrid, but closer. See a very rough sketch below. You'd need to make the roof steeper though to get more towards your pics too.

If the dormer serves no purpose I'd remove it personally, or look to do one more along the style you want. I'm not redoing the sketch to show it as I'm out of time right now. Just wanted to show something to get you thinking.

Now all that said it really is important to consider the exterior at the same time as the interior when you're going for a specific style.

ETA: Ignore window placements as I think they are off on the side and the main house.

Thanks for your input!

The dormer does serve a purpose - it's an 8ft bump out for the bonus room that's over the garage. Otherwise the bonus room would just be a long skinny room.

I do want to point out a couple of things for context:

1- We are building this home on 5 acres of old farmland, with mature landscaping, in Idaho.

2- This house is about 2600 sqft. (so not nearly as huge as it looks)

3- There IS a two story foyer which the main purpose of is to bring light from the front of the house to the back because all of the windows you see in the front are bedrooms/office. The top two sets of windows in front are bedrooms, the bottom left is a small office and the bottom right is our guest room. So the large foyer light is the ONLY window that actually lets light into the house from the front.

"he is older... like mid 60's and I feel like his designs are dated!"

Yikes! Watch out for those guys in their '60's!

Seriously, you probably WANT someone with a little gray hair. And I think you need to look at the whole house which will likely mean a completely new start as it's going to affect the plan also.

Steve Jobs observed.... "People think it's this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works".

So take a path that will make the whole house work.

It's just that big hulking entrance gable and arch that appears to be an afterthought that has to go.

Maybe this style is closer to what you are looking for???? Here is the link.

https://giannettihome.com/blogs/architecture/atherton

I would try to remove the two story entrance portico. Perhaps, invest in a wrap around porch ,something like this instead , to add charm . I think vertical siding can impart more of a contemporary look. This inspiration home pic. has horizontal siding for comparison. Notice the dark color being used on the porch elements. I think an overgrouted stone is always the epitome in bringing a look of character to a farmhouse style, especially French country. Maybe just doing the portion below the porch roof would be an option, if it is not cost prohibitive for you.

... here is another example of what I believe has a more French country look. It has combined brick and stonework.

following

It may be helpful to post your floor plan, but as many people know . . .

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.

House is being built in 1.5 weeks. Maybe time to let the post your plan stuff go?

If I understood you, the two story arched entrance is for the purpose of letting light deep into the house but its actually blocking light. Remove it and expose the window behind it to more light.

Unlike your design, traditional French roofs are steep and often flared at the eave, Unlike your design, traditional French roofs are hipped; front facing gables are an English tradition. Unlike your design, traditional French walls are masonry (stone or stucco); brick is an English tradition.

A 2 story arched entrance is purely an American fad and a favorite of builder designed McMansions.

There is nothing about your house design that suggests any association with France of any century.

Your inspiration houses are emulating English rather than French design traditions.

Research the cottages and manor houses of the Cotswold region of England:

The big dark inspiration house is reminiscent of the Post-Medieval English style brought to America in the early colonial period. A good example is the House of the Seven Gables built in Salem, MA in 1668. Few of these houses have survived.

I recommend you hire an architect with a better knowledge of architectural history and forget the garish design fads of American builders.

Ironically, upon seeing your design I thought of the modern metal farm buildings of southern France.

I have to say I really dislike two story gables. If I were to change anything it would be that.

A gable is only a roof shape. What you are referring to is a 2 story portico with a masonry segmented arch and a gable roof that s so high it becomes part of the main roof.

Make the gable pitch 12 in 12 or steeper. For French hip the main roof and dormers; for English gable the main roof and dormers

The paired windows are typical of the Colonial Revival style of the 20's. Anything built in America in the colonial period was fair game for that revival style but the traditions of the original colonies were not French.

I did a renovation of a Colonial revival built in 1920 based on the early colonial version of a Post-Medieval English style. Notice the paired windows, double-hungs and roofs steeper than 12 in 12.

I'm not sure just how French OR English you can get things, at this point in the game. But I'll share a photo (and a link to the AD article) of a home in Connecticut that had both English and Swedish inspiration:

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/alexa-hampton-connecticut-home-slideshow

I painted our little cabin Iron Ore and LOVE it. Debated doing the house, but decided I wanted wood accents to jump out more. Our cabin and house are/will be mainly board and batten.

I think the problem with your exterior is that the garage roof is SOO long with only one dormer. Without any dormers on the main part of the house, the dormer seems extra out of place. I love the side elevations on your house, they will look nice. I would break the garage up into a 1/3 and 2/3 roofline if possible. So next to the middle house section, have the garage room higher for the first 1/3 of the garage, then lower for the second 1/3. You may need to adjust dimensions of the garage to make it work. Right now, it is just a long expanse of the same roof. If you could make the roofline change work, I think you get rid of the dormer and put it on the side or back. It just isn't working with the nice front arch on the house.

No on the stone 2 story portico. It's garish.

One way to pull a design together is to sketch its basic form without tacked on embellishments (like the huge brick portico) and wrapping forms around each other where possible

I always use a simple arbitrary color (yellow is a good one) to help distinguish the main building form and I use parallel lines to show the slope of the roofs (like rafters) but none of that should suggest in any way what the final colors and materials will be.; that's for later, right now I'm trying to understand the building and find opportunities. If you even think about those choices at this point you will be lost. This is not like assembling a wardrobe. If you get the forms right, the rest will follow.

And remember, you will never see the house from the air; its just a helpful viewpoint for studying the house. And you'll never see the house as shown in the elevations; they're for the contractor as evidenced by the riduculous red things on the windows.

I send my clients the 3D model so they can rotate it but not edit it. And I never give a client anything in black and white.

RES - thank you! That is very helpful advice.

I am happy to share the floor plan and understand that doing so will come with criticism and additional advice.

One thing I think many people don't always understand about actually building a home on land is that in some cases, sure, you have years to take your time and sort everything out IF you buy the land first and build later... But, in other cases, like ours, you do not have the luxury of unlimited time. We live in an area where land is selling extremely quickly and in order to secure our land - we have to submit our plans to the bank for financing fairly quickly. So yeah, it's easy for some people to sit back and say "Start over." but the reality is we can't.

I LIKE our floor plan. I spent hours thinking carefully about each space and where I wanted specific rooms to exist. It's very intentional. Before that, we spent hours, days, and months pouring over house plan websites and could not find one that had every component that we wanted, where and how we wanted it AND met the specific requirements for our area. Some people are less picky with their house plans and so it's probably easier for them to look at the exterior first. I don't want to sacrifice form for function but we are where we are with the exterior because the floor plan is EXACTLY how I wanted it to be - so now I am trying to work with that to create an exterior I am happy with.

Additionally, we have a budget, people! It's easy for people to suggest adding rooms or changing a layout... but every sqft costs money. That's the main reason I tried to avoid hallways as much as possible. Yeah, I am confident that I could create a floor plan AND exterior that is completely amazing... and like, 3500 sqft... but we can not build that house.

ON TOP OF THAT - the land comes with specific limitations and requirements per the area HOA:

-We HAVE TO build a house that is a minimum of 1800 sqft on the first floor, if building a two story house. We can only afford a house that is about 2600 sqft TOTAL (pre bonus room) in order to include the high end finishes we want.

-We are required to have a 3 car side garage.

-We are required to have at least 30% of the front of the house be brick, stone, glass or have visual interest.

-I don't want any upstairs bedrooms over the Owner's Suite or the Great room.

-We wanted a small "pocket office", plus a guest room with full bathroom on the man level, plus a master with a large enough bathroom and closet.

-I WANTED a corner kitchen with backyard views.

-We wanted our bonus room to be over the garage.

-We don't need a formal dining space at all.

-Our lot is only 140 ft wide; so it's incredibly long, but not very wide, and there are easements to the left and right of 10 feet.

SO allllll of these needs and wants gave us this floor plan.

LOWER:

UPPER:

I would still lose the portico.

Just one change besides removing the board and batten. No changes to the interior.

Where are you building, and what direction will the house face?

We're in Southwest Idaho (not far from Boise) and it's a true East (back)/West (front) facing home. Morning sun in the back, afternoon sun in the front.

I specifically thought about this with room placement. In the summer the evening sun is very hot. Downstairs, only the office and guest room will have full sun, while the large foyer window will let light in to the back of the house which will be shaded at that point. Two of my kids will have to deal with sunny evening bedrooms- but this is why curtains were invented. ;)

A few years back I would have labeled this as Modern French Country. This was build in IL back in 1998

Why not orient the house on an east west axis? The only south facing windows are in the bonus room.

Generally you want to maximize southern exposure, and reduce western exposure.

Our lot has phenomenal backyard views of the mountains to the East which, as is, will be visible from the main bedroom, the kitchen, the Great room- everywhere we spend most of our time. If we rotate the house at all, we will have "amazing" views of... neighboring lots.

Can you share a site plan?

At this point, just make the entry portico 1 level. The window above the front door will be a little smaller but will bring in more light because it is not behind a portico. You can add brick to the bump-outs on either side of the front door if you need more to comply with HOA reqs.

If we rotate the house at all, we will have "amazing" views of... neighboring lots.

You would use a different plan. Like many who post here, you seem to have focused on the "perfect" floor plan and not given much thought to the exterior or how the house interacts with the local environment.

Here is a quickly drawn concept that opens the house to the east and south.