Thanks for the responses! Mightyanvil, I know what you're saying about asking our architect, and I will definitely do that, but I have to say that I've realized over the past 8 months working with him that he and I don't always have the same taste, especially on the details...maybe it's my east coast aesthetic vs. his west coast aesthetic. My "eye" still tells me that clapboard should be smooth like the New England farmhouses I remember growing up around, but maybe it's different for Prairie/Craftsman style? Also, he has not specified every single detail (such as colors). He's pretty much just spec'd materials and left individual color choices to us. Yes, I do have elevations, but since our architect is "old school" they are hand drawn and are not on my computer. Maybe I can reduce and scan them. I'll see about that. Ronnatilie, your house looks great. Thanks so much for the photo, which helps a lot!! Our house is similar in style with hip roofs and a mix of exterior siding. Our windows are white (we went with Andersen wood and vinyl clad so the exterior of the window, unfortunately, can't be painted), and I think this window color choice limits us in exterior siding colors. I don't care for the look of brownish earth tone colors in siding, up against a white window, so I'm thinking that we're going to stick to a dark charcoal grey on the stucco, some sort of lighter grey on the Hardiplank, and a stone with greys and other colors in it. I'd love to find a good photo of that combination or similar, but I'm having a hard time finding one. Thanks again for the help. Please keep it coming! Susan

artkillery, you changed the peak of the gable between your last post and the one at 9:13 am. If the second post is correct, I would change back to having the front gable in stucco and the two flanking masses all in stone. The reason is that if the gable does not reach very high, stone all the way up may make it look heavy and squat. I would ask about the roof pitch on that gable and only use the heavier material if it is higher, not lower. JMO! (But, I think whatever you do the house will look marvelous, we tend to obsess over the details here :)

This is a small house. The right elevation depicts a living room window, master shower and 2nd floor bedroom. Small lot with homes on either side so I wasn't too concerned with the look of the sides. Agree, elevations aren't detailed enough. The builder and I acknowledge that. House is southern facing on small lot and we actually do have many homes with dark roofs here in FL. I'm definitely not using stucco panels. It will be the "usual" stucco typically used in FL. How about a medium toned brick on the front, say near or at the botttom of the window line, stucco above that and then Hardie above the front porch? Then with the stucco sides it wouldn't be such a drastic switch from all Hardie front to then stucco sides?

Thank you, all! HAHA, Denita..I've never cared for those garage windows. We are replacing the garage door. I definitely like the clean lines of the windows above....thank you, Phuninthesun! I was hoping you would play with these pics! Is there a tool I can download to do the same? I love the denim color, just not in that spot. I really like arctic white vertical board and batten for the gables....we are contemplating metal sheeting on the right side..... your pic, Housegal200, seems to resemble the style of new homes in the neighborhood...I like it. Yes - we are dramatically renovating the exterior - the wood is termite damaged and literally falling apart in certain areas. We'll install Marvin windows and French doors; black has become popular on farmhouse style homes at the beach-i hope its not too trendy-i like them. here's a mock version we are thinking about but with a garage door that has windows LOVE this Hardie ARTISAN Series siding - - perhaps installed along both sides of the house?