we had our builder leave 1.5 inches overhang on the main house and then hired a mason to put the stone all the way around. the back is a 12ft high wall as it is a walk out basement. the labor alone was over $5000 a few years ago, the stone was around $1200... BUT the outcome was worth every penny, it turned out great! the rock on the foundation just gives a house an authentic natural look in my opinion. we are in the middle of adding an attached garage and wrap around deck now, which will hide most of the rock we have now, but we plan on adding it on the piers under the porch and the foundation of the garage.

Board and batten is rustic by nature, so it should meld perfectly with rustic brick. Unless the brick is some sort of ugly I'd definitely keep it! It provides interest with the other siding, breaking up the look, and is a no maintenance material. We can't say anything about what colors would go with your brick, without seeing what colors are IN your brick, which we can't tell from a computer drawing! We need an actual picture of the actual brick.

You seem to have the proper solution of regrading so the water runs away from the house. I'm not sure what your asking. Ron

I realize it would be best from a color selection standpoint to put the cabinets in first, but the contractor doesn't want to do it that way (which, having painted most of our pretty large house myself, I understand) and its not something I think is worth making a production over. At worst, if it looks bad, it wouldn't be a disaster to repaint it. The "white" cabinet is actually a very light grey, it was supposed to be a tinted varnish match to SW Repose Grey, but it turned out a little lighter than anticipated but we liked it as much if not more. That color will be used on the L shaped run that includes the brick. The grey stain is for the island, appliance wall, and lockers. The door style will be the same and recessed, rather than raised, panel. The samples were just color. We do really like the brick and I suppose we will try and keep it with a sealer. It's original to the 110 year old house, so nice to keep a part of it intact. I cleaned it up a little last night which makes the transition at the top less obvious and it will broken up some by the hood duct cover. My research is that people that actually have sealed brick behind a cooktop/range seem to think its fine. Suppose we can always cover it later but once its covered going back would be tough. Wife (our roles are reversed in this endeavor from what I think the more common scenario is, I've done most of the hardcore planning while she weighs in about the things she has a strong opinion about) decided she wants the light blue (Tradewind) on the perimeter and the interior pantry/closet/appliance walls to be either Sea Salt or Comfort Grey. I had sort of pictured it as majority a greener shade with the blue secondary, but I think either would work.