Brick probably has a slight edge in terms of energy efficiency but not by much. The insulation in the wall come from what is underneath the outside sheathing. Check with your local housing department to see what is the minumum and recommnded insulation factors and then the house should meet that standard.If you are buying an existing house, some rules of thumb are that 6 inch walls can contain up to R 20 whereas 4 inch walls contain only R12. The more insulation, the greater the initial costs, but the less energy the house will consume. It's a trade off and depends what part of the country you are in as to what makes sense. I am on the frozen prairies so our minimum now is R20. The overall tightness of the structure and window numbers, placement and energy efficiency all have an important bearing. Check out the Dept of Energy or housing for more information on how to assess this.

In that case, a nice fiberglass entry door with some good graining, nice stain, and decorative glass would set the project off. I would go with a more classic color on the roof (or metal), and then change the siding to a solid board design with an earth/muted tone. Make the door a hard contrast so go with a darker stain against the lighter stain.

Love red windows! This is a great color and the limestone is beautiful This dark gray and stone looks good with red. Another attractive combination. Mountain green:

What did you decide to use? We are considering the Oyster Shell lap siding and shakes. The color looks so different on each side of our house. On the south side it is very light and seems more a trim color. On the north side, depending on the time of day and cloud cover, it looks darker and really pretty.