I think the problem is the eaves are too shallow

Here is a close up of the eaves. Still think too shallow?

It’s interesting. Did your architect design it this way?

Yes, here is the front elevation

Yes, here is the front elevation

Yes, here is the drawing of the front elevation

Wow, it’s going to be a great looking house!

Here is a home that was remodeled to french country style with similar roof line of your build. I think your home will look great.

It's a dilemma created wherever height limits have been decreed to accede to existing homeowners' rage at anyone building bigger homes than theirs. Suddenly, they're all levelers.

Your architect's solution is appropriate. Besides, a house is not designed to be appreciated from just 10 or 20 feet away. See example below. And the photo is from probably 50' away.

In our area, infill home designers have switched to mansard-style roofs---not always successfully.

In most cases, the local zoning guidelines have building height restrictions. Also, it is common that dwelling height is based on the average height measured to the midpoint between the eaves and the highest ridge and that goes for hip and gable roofs.

Hard to tell from your pictures because the elevation photo is straight on the front. Can you take a better front picture? It appears to be maybe an optical illusion since you don’t have all the trim below the eaves on the upper story.

Also roof pitch should be specd on the blue prints. You can check the pitch yourself from inside the house.

Are you going to change the roof pitch if a lot of strangers say it is, based upon a couple poor images? Have confidence in your designer, quit worrying, and enjoy your new home.

...it is common that dwelling height is based on the average height
measured to the midpoint between the eaves and the highest ridge and
that goes for hip and gable roofs.

In the jurisdictions where I have built, height has been measured from:

--the front line of the dwelling, either the most "forward" position or an average

--the crown of the road

to

--the midpoint of the roof

--the peak of the roof

And to stymie devious designers trying to capture volume without height, lower height limits have been placed on flat and mansard roofed homes.

The cleverest work around I've come across simply dropped the first floor two feet lower than grade.

Our current plan gains half a foot of interior height by using a reverse foundation. But at the expense of more complicated forming, two sill plates and a dampness barrier.

Like I said it is very difficult to compare elevations when you don't have a front facing photo. Here is what I notice between the two photos. Your home is a work in progress so you don't have all the trim, the portico isn't built up yet (in the green box). So the front of your house isn't looking correct yet. The other BIG thing I noticed is your windows either aren't cut out all the way yet or they are not the correct size. Even with the missing Frieze board that I highlighted in a red box It appears that the windows are too short. Even wide window trim would not make up the difference. You have a very tall house. So you are not going to see the roof unless you are far away. The only other suggestion I have is that you can gauge your chimney height and roof ridge to make sure the pitch is proper if you don't want to measure the inside attic pitch yourself. But I can't even tell from your photo because as you go up the elevation doesn't distort but the photo does. See my yellow lines do not line up.... Hope this is helpful and makes sense!

Windows still look too short from this view but the roof looks spot on!

The higher-pitched roof was more indicative of the French style homes built in the '80s. Now the style is a bit more relaxed and IMO that's a good thing. See the French homes below with a traditional lower-pitched roof not pretending to be 'castles'.

When you say stucco, you don't mean Dryvit, do you?

No, it is masonry 3-coat traditional stucco

K H, the windows are not cut out all the way, they were just rough openings.

BeverlyFLADeziner,
Thank you for these beautiful pictures of the way things could be!!

@grey324 I wouldn't worry. It looks like things are good. But it is always a good idea to ask questions! You should share your progress on the monthly building a home forum. A lot of really neat builds going on and a good group of people currently feeling the ups and downs of building :) https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6036107/december-2020-building-a-home#26319211

Thanks K H for the good advice and vote of confidence. I will definitely check out that forum!

IMO a heck of a lot closer to french Chateau than a whole bunch of over done gables and too much roof showing.

Please keep posting updates! Your house looks like it is going to be very beautiful.