The upside down L looks too modern for the rest of the house. Do you have to have it? To me or doesn't fit{{gwi:807}}.

Since we don't see the depth or have the floor plan handy to tie some of the bump outs to their usage it looks to me by just looking at the elevation like the gables by the front door are a bit odd. The little triangle piece between them I'm not sure about. Also the roof overhang on the left side and its depth vs the other gable returns looks off to me.

This post was edited by lyfia on Sat, Jan 3, 15 at 23:26

Disclaimer: I'm by no means a professional. I've read 'What not to build', and agree with most, but not all of the book.

The arch on the door (and its roof) seem out of place as they are rarely used elsewhere in the design. The one arch used over the large window also seems out of place to me.

Agreed with another poster that the leftmost assymetrical window appears out of place.

I like the triple dormer windows over the garage, though Im uncertain about the one over the attic space in the garage gable.

The large stacked windows in the doorway are the first thing i see, rather than the door. The door seems almost diminutive in comparison.

The lopsided stacked gables (with the upper one having a different top part) visually distort an otherwise symmetrical "main house"

Hope that helps.

Oh, as well, when considering placement of materials, the lighter material should be above the heavier one, as this makes 'logical sense' to the viewer.
You appear to have 3 different types of materials on your vertical facade (brick below, plus two different sidings? - this may appear 'busy'.

Do the corbels over the front of the garage roof match the house style, which uses the round columns? I'm not certain I've seen these two together.

What is the purpose/reason for using transoms in the big windows to the right of the front door? Why does the porch railing drop/not exist here?
Again, not certain it fits the traditional look of the house.

Couple of quick responses to your feedback so far:

- the columns are squared off and definitely won't be round
- we didn't have transoms on the front porch windows initially but they looked to long and out of place. The main floor has 10' ceilings.
- I'm a person that hates a busy exterior. I've often seen shakes accent a lap siding and brick exterior, and thought looked good as long as it was an accent or the same color but not wildly different. We will run all this past a designer as well for their thoughts.
- we are keeping the front porch close to grade so a railing won't be required. It really opens up the view. I think furniture on the front porch will de emphasize those windows as well, so the door is a focal point.
- I think the arch over the doorway and swooped gable and corbels all fit together nicely front a style perspective..,, will also run this past another designer.

I will have the architect kick around some additional gable options to bring back symmetry.

Also, I hear you on the L windows in the front. I will have the architect try some different options. I thought it was a neat feature, but am not married to it.

Thanks so much for the initial thoughts!

Eliminate themiddle doghouse dormer and link the two remaining ones together with a shed dormer. That will give more light and space to the future room there. And it will be much less busy.

Or, do them as two eyebrow dormers if the room isn't going to be used as living space. That would tie the detail over the door to something. Get rid of the L. It's not a 70's contemporary.

The entry section needs to be simplified. The gable within gable and shed on shed there is too many gables and sheds. One strong gable over the door is much better than two weak ones and a completely half hearted third. Extend the main gable forward to intersect with the shed over the porch. And then STOP. That's enough.

Definitely like this more than most I have seen in this class of build. It references 1900 American style without being pedantic, and idk how the tetris-element-shaped window (I presume the stairwell) works in reality but I'd love to see it in a rendering before dismissing it, it is a fresh, unexpected detail and maybe it is functionally the best shape to frame a particular view or make the area well-lit, etc..
The only thing that stands out as not quite right is the very short boxy set of dormers with the deep cornices. IMO if they were made more _tight _it would be better overall.
Casey

This post was edited by sombreuil_mongrel on Sun, Jan 4, 15 at 11:58

You hate a busy exterior???!!! Well, I can't see how this particular exterior could be any MORE busy. :)

Way way way too much going on here. It looks like a new construction project near me - it appears as though they finished their project and then had money left over, so they started adding more and more decorative touches till the money was gone.

To be clear, I was commenting on too many elements on the facade (brick, stone, shakes, etc).

Personally, I like gables, dormers and architectural details... Even if (gasp) they don't all match someone's definition of a certain architectural style, but they have to be done tastefully. I'm going to work with the architect to simplify a few things and will report back with v3.

Here is a snapshot of the first (simpler) version he did. It's definitely simpler, but just didn't seem that interesting to me.

I think we will definitely replace the shakes with lap siding, so there are only two elements (stone and lap). We will definitely have stone across the front porch area as shown in the first picture.

Maybe instead of two gables in the front, we go with one larger one that really makes a statement?

Finally, wondering if hipped roof might help visually get rid of the massive roofline that I really dislike... not sure if that would fit.

I'm also curious if the folks that dislike the current elevation feel the same way about the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Inspiration House

I think if you are going to go with something like this, you should look at the works of Frank Furness and Wilson Ayre.

They were Victorian architects and Furness worked in a style that was Eclectic-Grotesque and Ayre in Eclectic-Medieval Revival. Furness's work in particular was underappreciated at the end of his life and the era following so a lot of it has been lost, but now I think there has been a recognition of its value. It's really good stuff, imo.

You may actually need more windows, additional shapes of windows, like an oval or quarter window or two; and the upside down L would have been a cascade of narrow long windows stepped down on that wall in the hands of Furness or Ayre.

The three dormers on the right would have been something more similar to the suggestions above, linked somehow, or maybe its a shed dormer that eyebrows down into the roof on the ends to mimic the other curves.

This is messy and I didn't address the dormers, but a Furness type eclectic would have had more varied and exuberant window placement. The cascading windows on the left would have been picked out with siding details in Stick-Style fashion to further accentuate them: wood panels and such.

This post was edited by palimpsest on Mon, Jan 5, 15 at 11:01

Here are two Furness houses, Idlewild and Dolobran:

Stepped windows

Just a quick idea. Would require some slight changes to plan.

{{gwi:2133431}}

Nicke360 - That's a really nice looking option IMHO.

One word...

simplify

The original plan without the large central gable is a much better balanced structure. The addition of that large gable complicates many things, including trying to balance it out by adding additional detail to the garage that it does not need. Nicke's option also has better balance, but still isn't as pleasing as the original.

If you need that large gable for space utilization, then I think that the secondary gables need to be simplified or eliminated. And the garage needs the additional details to balance. I do prefer the suggestion of the two doghouse dormers linked by a shed dormer. I think that adds similar massing to the central gable, without the fussiness of the 3 dormer version.

I'm not sure.

Conventional wisdom is certainly to simplify and that was my first inclination. But if you look at Pal's photos, that seems to say "go big or go home".

I don't know if art can be designed by a committee, and that may be what happens on these boards.

Most of reflexively throw out anything too unusual or new or different. So how would innovation ever happen?

If you trust your architect, bounce it around more with them, and maybe one or two trusted others (on or off the boards) but don't let the "collective wisdom" design your house, IMHO.

I like your original and Palimpsest's.

I kind of agree with mtnredux.

My suggestion is to simplify it but in a different way: Use only one "main" exterior material, maybe two.

You can ask your architect to show a couple of different options, like showing shake style siding, only at gables (like above the garage)
or
Show all the house with shake and no stone
or
Stone water table, lap siding and shake at gables.

I am not fond of the arch at the second floor.

Maybe using single (thicker) columns instead skinny double columns?

See link for an idea.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cottage.

Here's our garage on our house we're building right now, ignore the mess. It has just one gable above the garage doors. I was worried about having just one gable when we were having the plans drawn up, but I knew I didn't want the roof to look too busy. I love the way it turned out. If you don't like the one gable look, maybe consider doing two gables, centered between the garage doors. 3 just seems to be too much for me, but everyone likes different things and that's okay. Good luck on your build.

{{gwi:2132821}}

Snookers

Would you mind posting more pictures of the front of your home?

Thank you

Had a good conversation with our architect this morning. He originally had a simpler design, but said that he really liked the additional elements we asked him to add. He said the biggest issue was that you really can't get a complete feel for a design in 2D... he said that his mind can visualize the end product well and he feels it will be great.

We're also going to have a 3D rendering performed to get comfortable with the exterior.

We will probably simplify down to lap siding and stone, but keep the three dormers over the shed and additional gable on the front.

The garage window top should align with the 8' high garage doors in my opinion.

Please take a look at the revision below. Two main updates:

1. Shed dormer between to dog house dormers as suggested by live wire oak. The architect said this is a traditional look, but will definitely be more expensive due to additional framing. I don't feel strongly one way or another one this one, so not sure it's worth the extra expense. I don't think three dormers over the garage is too much, personally.

2. Simplified the main gable over the front porch. I think this really accentuates the swoop and cleans the lines up a bit.

Honestly, I'm getting analysis paralysis at this point. We're going to pay for a 3D rendering, but at some point I think we'll probably just call it good and move forward. Huge decision and I'm not sure if I'll ever be 110% ready to call the front elevation "perfect" before moving forward.

Love to hear your thoughts!

Here's one I sketched up with a single garage dormer (which I like more and more every time I see it). It also makes the primary gable over the porch much more prominent.

You really have to like the chalet/cottage look for this one and I'm not sure how the porch/roofline would tie in. Just something to consider.

I like your sketch the best. I don't mind the 3 dormers though on the original.

I don't like that not all gables in your architects sketch look the same at the returns.

dear Shiltsy,
On you last sketch, please no "witch's hat" effect; repeating the flared eaves on both sides of the gable. The original sweeping curve of the original elev. is great, though; keep it.
Casey

Casey,

Totally agree and you actually helped identify the thing that looked odd to me on that sketch. Straight lines all the way down with a swoop at the end will work nicely.

Just ran the sketch past our architect and he really liked it.

BTW if you do a search finehomebuilding.com has an interior picture showing windows similar to yours in the stairway. Though they show one tall window with a square one above and a square next to it. I wonder how that would look on your elevation. The bottom two would be combined into one window.

Shiltsy - You are quite the artist. I know if I tried to sketch my house it would look like my 4 year old daughter tried to draw it. :) Again, I will say that I like the one gable look over your garage that you drew. The simplicity helps balance the more complex look of the front of your house.

Perseco2012 - if you would like more pictures of my house, enable the "e-mail me" option on your webpage and I'll send you some more pictures. I just don't want to take up the space on Shiltsy's thread.