did you have a vision of what you wanted, or did you just think about interior spaces, and this is the elevation that worked with the spaces created?

I think the farmhouse style has been done.

for this drawing, I would choose a traditional clapboard siding. ashphalt shingles.

for me, a full view front door is more attractive. Garage doors have limited styles, depending on budget, so that could move you into a style and color direction.

Look for pictures of features that draw you, you might be surprised at what you come up with.

By all means... don't copy your neighbor, be original within the neighborhood.

Contracts signed already, what will the builder allow you to change? If this is thru a developer/tract home type builder, everything you change will come with a price tag, and the price will be quite high in addition to change order fees.

Should have stayed with the other post https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6378752/black-windows-on-new-build-advice#n=14, this way gets confusing.

" So far the builder has been pretty flexible in terms of selections. "

Has he told you that you will pay full fare plus for these changes plus pennies on the dollar credits? Have you asked about this? Just because he has been agreeable does not mean there will not be considerable charges, as realistically he can and will charge for anything not off his standard list.

This does not look minimalist at all to me. But, I do think white exterior with dark grey roof and black windows will help get you there. If you can change the windows, door, and garage door to have fewer squares it will help a lot.

@millworkman: Yeah. I probably should have stayed with other post but thought the feedback I received changed the topic from just windows to full exterior. I’m a newbie.

In terms of the exterior, I can still select non structural items (siding, doors, roofing material). I could probably still remove/move gable or shift a window, but I don’t really want to get into that.

The black windows, metal roof, and B&B siding are all upgrades so I am aware of the big jumps in cost. I’ve done some due diligence to try to back into the numbers. For the most part the builder seems fairly reasonable for items outside of the standard selections. Thanks for your feedback

Here is how one of my customers finished their home - the windows are double hung and only have 1 vertical grill on the top half of the window. The roof is part metal and part shingle.

Hope this helps

@res2architect - I really appreciate the feedback.

We won’t be able to remove the center Gable or increase the length of the window next to it because of the roofline but I do like the idea. Regarding the posts, I did ask if I could remove 2 and they said they were needed for support (they could be bs’ing me). I thought about increasing size from 8” to 10” but thought that might be too big. The added window by the front door is an interior closet but I also really like that idea. Regarding the separation of windows on 2nd floor, do you think that would look okay on the interior (2 windows that close with molding around each)? It looks great on the outside. The windows we priced were 6 over 1 in black. Not sure on the black anymore but I like the 6 over 1.

Going down the colonial revival path you mentioned, would you stay away from vertical siding even if it is just on the peaks? Should I also skip the black metal roof on the porch? The black windows, metal roof, and vertical siding have a high price tag so cutting them if they don’t go with the style is a plus.

Here is a picture of the same house being built for someone else for reference.

Removing two posts from the porch is easy, you just need a deeper beam at the roof edge due to the longer spans. It's only a porch roof after all. Yes, they are bs'ing you, which is not a good sign.

There appears to be a collision between the gable train and the hip train.

Are the other three sides more boring than the front?

You could span the porch with only one post; it just means the beam must be sized propely and it's not holding up much. Buying a slightly larger beam would mean saving 2 posts and their footings — should be a no brainer.

What is behind the two windows in the big gable? You could raise the sills of both windows but the limitation is if either one serves as the emergy escape and rescue opening for a bedroom in which case the sill is limited to 44 inches off the floor.

Historically, pairs of windows were always about 6 to 8 inches apart to make room for the sash weights which are no longer needed but if you want the house to look traditional it's a good, easy way to do it and the header can be smaller. There would only be one wide trim board between them inside and outside.

I see no problem with deleting the black windows (can you get black sash?), metal roof and vertical siding. They don't belong on a Colonial Revival house.

IMO the irregular post spacing in the photo looks amateurish.

A farmhouse is a building use not a style. Historically farmhouses have been of many styles but east of the Mississippi they were generally of the Greek Revival style that swept the nation in the middle of the 19th century. The land west of the Mississippi was settled later and farmhouses were generally of the vernacular/folk Victorian style. You will find a bit of both styles in "modern farmhouses". Greek Revival farmhouses were often white but not Victorian houses which is where the dark windows originated.

I once modified the design of one of 10 rowhouses as they were being built. The developer liked the modified unit enough that he built the next 10 using my design. I mention this because I believe that if the builder is paying attention, he will recognize the value of a better design for less cost and adopt it.

There are many different kinds of Colonial style houses so there are also many kinds of Colonial Revival style houses. The Revival designs used the original as an inspiration and took a lot of liberties.

One of the earliest colonial styles was brought over from England. It's called Post Medieval English style. In the colonies the casement windows with diamond mullions were changed to double hungs with rectangular mullions and the walls were clad with stained smooth pine clapboards.

Here is an example of an early Post Medievel English house:

Here is an example of a 1920's Colonial Revival house based on Post Medieval English houses:

There is no decoration in the gable tops and only one kind of cladding. The rakes are also "close" instead of projecting.

Regarding the separation of windows on 2nd floor, do you think that would look okay on the interior (2 windows that close with molding around each)?

Here's how windows would look on the interior. This is with wider molding all around.

Normally I like vertical siding, but on that house, I think I would mix the 2 or go all horizontal.

I don't care for the 4 posts either. This pic above with 3 is nice.

Good luck!

I forgot to explain that I mentioned the Post Medieval English style Colonial house because that is the only Colonial style that used multiple front gables, however, they were not nested - an arbitrary affectation of which I am not a fan. Nested gables often weaken an otherwise strong facade or hide the absence of a strong design theme.

The early colonial house photo is of the House of Seven Gables in Salem MA
Unfortunately, few of these houses have survived.
They were also an inspiration for the Shingle Style.