Nice classic looking house. Hard to provide much help from one drawing. Make sure you treat all the sides of the house the same, and generally best to use no more than two materials. I also dislike brick ‘skirts’, brick or stone should be used in places where it would have been used if it was real structural material

What other views would be needed? It's a rectangle shaped house with a simple hip roof. I'm leaning towards dark but am open to other color schemes. If not a skirt, where should I put the brick/stone?

Stone doesn’t seem appropriate for this house, I would use brick for the columns and to cover the foundation (not all the way to the sills).

The windows are 6 ft tall with 9 ft ceiling so they are high. I like the wider siding suggestion. I don’t mind the lower brick height. Did you think the 3 columns were too many?

This is a brick that caught my eye. Thoughts about pairing something like this with a darker siding and black soffits and gutters? Note the wood at the porch.

Moved left side windows and stone down. Tried vertical siding on right side.

You really need someone doing 3D renderings so you see how these changes look.

Agree with Hallet about the stone. Here's how it would look if it was only used to appear as it were a real structural material. And that would mean bringing the stone around all sides of the house.

If not a skirt, where should I put the brick/stone?
See below.

Also agree with PPF that you don't need the middle column.

you could submit your drawing to Brick and Batten and they can draw up a redition for you.

here are some of there afters of ranch homes.

(ignore the garage on some of these)

I really like this one. you could tweak it to your house style. the stone and dark siding, the way the landscaping is done, and the natural wood elements.

more of a farmhouse style. redo the gable portion over the porch

A. Dreary colors

B. Metal roof dumps snow in front of garage

C. Orange wood and black masonry make Halloween house

D. Trendy

I appreciate the feedback thus far. Keep them coming!

It would be useful to see the land. Its size and N-S orientation for sun shading in summer and light penetration in winter. Possible site of the house on the land. What the rooms will be used for. To see if landscaping, berms, trees, curving walk, etc. might enhance the enjoyment of those areas. Seasonally. That could affect the height and open glass area of the windows. Third column? No.

The front of the house will face south. The 1/2 acre lot is empty as build has not started. Windows will remain where they are. Thanks.

Mark, where I live it's sunny 340 days of the year w/no snow. No color looks dreary when it's always sunny and surrounded by lot of plants and flowers. And since there is no snow, the metal roof over the garage isn't an issue.

Would I suggest a dark color in GreenBay? prob not. as for the roof choice, pick something else.

The massing of the house is low so the last thing you should do is make it appear to have sunk into the foundation. That unfortunate effect is increased by the roof eaves touching the tops of the windows.

Try raising the eaves and ceilings and adding a taller "frieze" board (not masonry) between the eaves and window heads. Increase the roof overhang; align the roof eaves and use one strongly horizontal cladding material.

The front "porch" looks more like a portico which should appear ancillary to the house so it should not be masonry. The portico supports will be an opprotunity to add some interest to the house. Avoid the sunken house effect of columns on masonry bases.

A lot of the above examples offer good guidance.

Shading from your eaves will be beneficial during the summer when the sun is at a high angle and intensity. Up to 89*. You can get good light penetration in winter when the sun angle can reduce to 46*. Depending on your location. My 28' wide room gets wall to wall penetration to brighten things up in winter in SE Michigan. Zero sun penetration in the hot summer months. The 92" windows go to the floor in a 10' tall room. Your roof offers a good surface for a Tesla solar roof tile install. Websites on Google will calculate both considerations. 6' deep buried coiled 600' ground source heat pump loop of plastic pipe likely can fit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUWjjjFgXdg&t=8s

Wow this is great. It sounds like I should go with a wide siding with brick around the foundation only. Instead of 3 masonry columns, go to 2 columns. Would a wood column be good knowing that the board at top will be wood as well?

This was my inspiration for the front porch.

You can use steel columns for structure and wrap them with expanded cellular PVC. https://www.architecturaldepot.com/square-columns.html

The longer windows and double glass doors help your inspiration house with a feeling of openness that makes it more current. Same with the grey metal roof.

I've yet to see an inspiration successfully translated into a new design.

Yes it is a bit of a stretch. But I’m where I’m at now. Trying to make the best of it.

Order doesn't mean produced. Windows orders can be changed before they're produced. Check into it and benefit. Your design lacks the key components that make the inspiration an inspiration.

Here is a rendering I had received some time ago. It shows a metal roof which is not correct. I agree that the center column should be removed. Still torn on the stone/brick material.