No expert opinion here.

There should be a song about brick and stone - something about breaking my eyes.

In a general sense, having multiple materials in an elevation should be questioned. There is a tendency for people to gravitate towards excessive variation in home elevations. Sort of like a Hawaiian shirt. Very few people with fashion taste thinks this is a good idea (the Hawaiian shirt) and, maybe more importantly, it might be good for one occasion at one point in time.

A home elevation should last every day for every occasion for 50+ years.

But - I might be the wrong person to ask. Why - because your elevation already suffers from excessive variation. Too many window sizes, the slopes of those roofs don't match and that bugs me, and I am not crazy about the sharply contrasted garage door color that draws attention to it.

Does your house face South? Those overhangs would seem only appropriate if it did. Otherwise, they look like excessive variation. To my eye, there is a strong imbalance of windows - way more on the left - and it makes the house lopsided.

That house has a very busy facade. Choose one material, choosing more doesn’t give you the best of all worlds, just more confusion and a headache.

Keep in mind that what you do to the front should be carried around all sides of the house. If one were to have a more typical home style and wanted to add stick-on-stone in an effort to “upgrade” (as so many posters are wont to do) the stone should only be on the lowest level of the home because it’s supposed to be the support, unless, of course, it’s a stone house, in which case it would be ALL stone.

Adding stone as in your rendition implies it’s capable of floating in air (which of course it is, because it’s “stick-on stone”). So you don’t want to highlight that fact and thus, no stone.

There is an unfortunate tendency with all builder-grade homes and even some purported “custom” homes to put all the appeal on the front facade and leave the rest of the home, windows, trim to be very utilitarian.

One of the architects may be by to give a professional critique or suggestion, but as to your question: all one material, please. Remember that simple is always better.

At first glance I like the contrast on the 3rd from afar. However when I clicked on the pics I really love the all brick. (First option). It allows you to enjoy the wood trim accents.

Looks like a pretty modern house to me, and the brick without the stone keeps it more clean and modern looking. I think any stone looks too rustic for this house. The first option looks neat to me!

What is going on with the other three elevations? Is there continuity in the overall design or are they left to happenstance?

Not to disparage your design but I think it could use a little more tweaking. Those sloping roofs at the front don't seem to be working well as part of the composition. Also, the recessed portion on the far left give the house a sort of 80's vibe that I don't think has made it as a retro style. The brackets you are using on those roof extensions are undersized. I would suggest rethinking the design overall and as part of that whether to use all brick or brick and stone. Good luck!

I don't think anyone will notice the masonry choice.

All brick

IMO choose one or the other a mix is never a good idea. It is best to keep exterior finishes to as few as possible .

Stone depends if it is real or just stone veneer. If it is real stone, be aware of grinding out the mortar every 6 or 8 years in places that crack and redoing it, an added expense most are not aware of.

All brick.

Also, I would highly recommend taking your current plans to another architect for review. On first glance, I see potential drainage issues where the brick meets the siding. I strongly suggest taking these plans elsewhere for someone to work out some glaring issues.

suzyqtexas - never have I ever had to do that with a real stone house. Not sure what you are referring to.

I would select the first one - brick with the wood siding as shown. No extra materials.

One major material: brick!

I may have to agree with RES here, many people (like me) will not be able to get past the weird angled roof elements.

Are they roofs?

I thought the angled pieces were broken portions of the roof after a storm. The house is otherwise very attractive. I would go with all brick and straighten those angled pieces.

Go with all brick and maybe stone for the water table.

all brick!

No chance to change the dotty design. Masonry only. Would be nice to upgrade to white mortar, but probably little chance from a production builder. Prices to die for vs. urban centres!

Masonry is far too heavy and substantial for Post Modernism/Post Structuralism. How about a deconstructed Modern Farmhouse wiith white board & batten, black windows and hazard tape.

The greatest risk is taking this kind of thing too seriously.

"Deconstructionism Modern Farmhouse", I think you're on to something.

Thanks everyone for the opinions! As @worthy pointed out, no architectural design changes here - just masonry options. Besides, we actually like the design, so I'll chalk most of the differences in opinion to just that, but I'll definitely ask about any potential drainage/functional concerns. Otherwise, I appreciate the validation on what I was leaning toward as well: all brick. Guess it wasn't much of a dilemma after all since pretty much everyone voted for that. Thanks for taking the time!

To my surprise, I see that Allen, Tx. actually has about 1/3rd more rainfall annually--41.2 inches on average--than here in Toronto and 10% more than Seattle. Hopefully, the builder doesn't try to drain much of that roof off the front ski slopes. (Artist renderings are light on such details as eavestroughs downspouts!)

In the developers website,

https://trophysignaturehomes.com/plan/van-gogh

elevation "E" looks the least contrived and elevation "G" looks the most contrived and pretentious.

As far as the floor plan, I will not go into the criticism it deserves, but I am curious to know what the void space between Bedroom #4 and the "Open To Below" space is??

Aptly named the van Gogh, no?

I think its ear is missing.

I know this is not the question you asked, but I cannot make any sense of all the random angled roofs on your home, so I made some adjustments. I would build the house of brick.

I think you should listen to the criticisms offer here. I have to agree; it was my first reaction. I think BeverlyFLADeziner rendition is so much better.

Agree, so much better. But not cheap.

Historically speaking, the use of stone and brick in the same wall is rare for a couple of reasons:

1) these materials have very different coefficients of thermal expansion. Typically brick expands about twice as much as stone (and concrete). That's why its necessary to create a cavity between a single wythe of brick and a concrete block backup wall as well as continuous control joints where these materials meet on the face of a wall. Therefore experienced detailers avoid using these materials together.

2) brickwork is cheaper in material and labor and generally became the commonly used material wherever it became available.

Therefore, to most well traveled and observant people, brick and stone in the same wall looks somewhat forced, contrived or even fake. However, on a house where there is no semblance of order or logic, mixing these materials might be just another unconventional, in-your-face feature.

I guess you really can't go wrong.

I once saw stone and brick used together in Honfleur, France where British and French influences are mixed. It was so unusual I took photos. I think the dark units are probably stone.

Honestly if you have a choice, i’d go with Elevation E with all brick. It’s the cleanest of the three

Alternate Suggestion

I didn't pay attention to the location, but if you get snow, I could see some teenage boys attempting to snowboard down those angled roofs!

If you are trying to distract from the dominating garage doors you have succeeded.

Brick is available in different textures, colors and sizes. Possible try a different color brick in a different size and alter the application from 1/2 to 1/3 to change the texture/appearance. Look at the options that Glen-Gery offer for this look. Good luck

Three years ago. I wonder what they ended up doing?