How about the tall ones but a little wider?

It isn't complete yet...there are no shutters yet and the front porch gable isn't finished. Perhaps that's why it doesn't seem quite right in your eyes. The only things that are discordant to me are the round windows which seem a bit too prominent and atypical for a colonial.

To my eye (for what it's worth), what jars is the "dot massive-windowwindowwindow dot" at center top. Why 3 windows without shutters, when all the other windows are singles with shutters? Can you eliminate the extra 2 skinny windows at this point and replace them with shutters -- seems like it shouldn't be horribly expensive and could make a big difference.

Then between the house and the garage, it looks a mish-mash of block shapes. The massing is not pleasing -- but plant a tree to soften this view, no one will see it and it'll be fine.

It's a bit late now, but here's a link to Colonial architecture site I've found useful. It might help you pinpoint what is throwing your facade off, in your eyes. Good luck, I love the functional simplicity of a good Colonial Revival house. And I love the gold butterscotch yellow, will that be its final color (I hope)? Link: Architectural Patterns-Colonial Revival

Nickel_kg: Thank you so much for your opinion! Very good point on the central triple window and I have not thought about that before. And the link is very helpful. :)

PPF: so true about the perspective ! It makes a huge difference and I am glad you did not think all is lost at this point :) thank you for your comment.

I’m guessing the third floor is not actually finished living space? If so, I’d absorb the cost of a new roof and just eliminate the dormers. The rest is spectacular. Will you share what state you are in?

Emilyam819: Thank you for your kind words, and eliminating the dormers is something I am considering as well :)

The round windows need to go, no historical precedence, and the dormers aren’t right so if they are fake the cheapest option is to remove.

Also the windows are narrower than those shown on your elevation.

Also I agree about the dormers. They add nothing and in reality they detract from a beautiful house.

How about this? A Chippendale railing over the portico and no dormers. Also, I would not have shutters on the house.

I agree that the dormers and round portholes are off. Houssan’s sketch is much improved.

Take the photo from farther away with a longer lens.

I would remove the dormers. Because it's too expensive to change the roof pitch.

For me, the round windows and the center second story window are bigger problems than the dormers. They are out of character. The roof pitch on the actual house looks lower than the renderings and is probably the reason the dormers don't look right. Since you aren't going to change the roof pitch at this point (way too expensive), maybe the dormers should go. All of this costs money so you'll have to decide what seems most important to you.

You have a beautiful home in the works and I can see how you are close to perfect but not quite there. Gil Schaffer is a brilliant architect who builds new homes that look as if they are two centuries old. Study his pics and you will see where your home goes wrong. Two pics of his new builds are posted below and here is a link to his portfolio of country homes.

There are a lot of proportions that are off in your home. I think you have suffered from the modern urge to make things too big in some places and not big enough in others. The roof is not pitched steeply enough - most homes of this style were two rooms deep where as yours is much deeper and so things like the roof are at an angle not typical of this kind of house and it throws off the look of dormers. The door is too wide in relationship to the windows, the windows above the door should be about the width of the door itself; the round windows seem like they were cut and pasted from another house - but with shutters and correcting the size of the middle window over the door, they could be ok.

What can and are you going to fix at this point?

The house looks good to me. Yes, if nitpicking, I'd find things to change, but on the whole, I'd say it's a nicely proportioned house. The thing that comes to mind with this kind of question is Gisele Bundchen's nose. It's a bit on the big size. If you focus only on the size of her nose, that's all you'll see. But that didn't stop her from being one of the world's most beautiful women.

Your house isn't perfect. No house is perfect. Love what you've got, don't nitpick over the few areas of less-than-perfection.

The house looks appropriate to me. Dormers could of been sleeker but look fine.Your architect followed the basic rules of a classical design. However, make sure the shutters are built half of the size of the windows to look like it can securely close the window if it were operable. Also, make sure the shutters are not cheap vinyl, especially with a raised panel style, it will ruin the elevation. I do not agree with the previous comment, I think the house absolutely needs shutters to complete the composition.

I would also reconsider the corbels that are on the plan. You have what looks like crown molding on the frieze board which is plenty enough for the cornice detail.

Since the house is built, It does not look like anyone will lose their lunch over it. I have always thought a pair of round windows in a home should be located in a manner that makes a face and give the neighbor kids nightmares for the rest of their lives. To me the house has an odd quirk to it that give it a feel of authenticity.

PPF.'s sketches are nice, but every house needs a bit of a twist to it.

I agree with @res2 Take a photo from further back where the lens doesnt have to be pointed up. It may give better perspective on the dormer relation to the hourse.

I think it looks fine, specially from the side. Your lot seems to slope a bit towards the front street, so you are not getting the same perspective as you saw on your elevation drawings.

The only issue I see is the neighbors house being a bit too close ... but pretty typical of 1/2 acre, or smaller, suburban lots.

I think the main reason the dormers look awkward is because the roof is not pitched steeply enough. You are also viewing it from below rather than directly level with it. But I don’t think it’s only a matter of perspective, but also due to the roof pitch.

When looking at your dormers, their backdrop is the sky, rather than the roof (compare to Kendra’s photo above).

The smaller dormers originally drawn may have looked better because they were shorter and took the specified roof pitch into account.

It is beautiful….there will always be something that feels not quite right until it is finished….I have a ten year rule….if it still irritates me in ten years, I do something about it.

When I look at the side view, the dormers look fine. I wonder if it’s the angle of the lens from the front. I really think your house is lovely and once you get landscaping in, it will look great. Maybe the circle windows arent pure colonial, but it’s your own touch on your house. My house is supposed to be historic midcentury modern and I am sure I’ve done things to it that are not consistet with the era to it.

The thing that I noticed on the dormers that bothers me a little is that the cornice line at the roof does not wrap onto the sides as in Kendrah's photos. I think they may also be a little too close to the main roof's eaves, but that will likely be a minor comment once it is all done. Otherwise I think their overall size is about right.

What color will this house and trim be painted? That will make some difference. I think right now the round windows are standing out so much for everyone because they are the only thing with white trim.

In either case, I would advise to finish the portico, get the shutters on, and get the painting done before making any drastic changes.

Thank you all for your great points and suggestions!

To me the house looks like a Colonial style remodeled with triple windows and round windows to make it look somewhat like a Colonial Revival.

It would have been better to go with one or the other of those styles.

You might paint it a more subtle Colonial Revival color rather than the heavy Colonial mustard yellow and paint the trim white. The shutters could be very dark green.

These house styles are very different; they were separated by a century.

Shutters are going to make a huge difference because now the outer end dormers look like the align with the gap between the lower windows, which looks odd. But having shutters will balance out that problem. What I don't get is where you will put shutters on the center window? It looks like they will interfere with the circular windows. Your yellow paint is lovely by the way. I hope you have black shutters. I'm a Steelers fan.

I love the round windows and bet they look great from the inside. Landscaping will really soften the overall appearance and help you not focus on details. I would not do any drastic changes. I like the 10 year rule! Another thing I tell myself is, if I was shopping for houses, would I not buy this one for that reason? Nothing shown is a deal breaker on the house for me.

I am building a new England colonial and I didn't even design the dormer...

so the front is facing north? How does the back look like?

I recommend extremely dark green shutters rather than black.

I'm going to guess that the color on the house now is from the pre primed materials used.

It would be interesting to know what the final color will be.