I like it but I am not sure about the vertical and horizontal siding?! Love the walk around? porch!

Thanks peytonroad. Yes, that's a walk around porch. It walks around to the parlor and dining access. And ya know, I saw that horizontal and vertical combo on an inspiration pic and really liked it but I would not have thought so had I not seen the pic. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Inspiration House

Have you thought about orienting the home differently so as to make it appear to be more slim in profile? Instead of having the broad side of the home be it's "face", turn it so that the narrow side faces front. That will hide some of the mass and present a slimmer profile that is more in keeping with your inspiration picture which is much taller proportionate the width than you have here. If you notice the dimensions of the home, it indicates that it's 64' wide and 120' deep, whereas yours seems to be the opposite, lending it that "chunky" air.

Your current layout is too squat in proportion because there's too much second floor. Your inspiration has 2700 on the first floor, and only 800 on the second. That gives it that tall slim look coming out of the well grounded apron of the porch. Yours also has inappropriate style elements such as the cupolas. They would more suit a Victorian with additional gingerbread, corbels, and overkill. You also have to many large windows, double windows, etc. If you want more glass, they should be mostly single windows.

Why didn't you just purchase the plans from the original architect rather than attempting to have an architect do such a poor copy?

Hi Green - thanks for your input!! The windows were already fixed because I agree with you... although now I'm worried they are too busy. You can see them here: updated windows Thoughts?

The inspiration house was simply inspiration, it wasn't meant to be a copy and I'm sorry I gave that impression. The architect was trying to fit our needs inside first and foremost. No plan ever fit our needs which is why we went to an architect. Our issue is that we needed a large home but I needed all the bedrooms on the second floor which necessarily made the second floor bigger than I'd like. And, because we can't have basements in S. Florida, all the living area had to be on the first floor (bonus room would have made 2nd floor even bigger) so we couldn't get the tall feel. That said, I tried to at least get a bit of the feeling of the inspiration... I think my change in windows (in the link) helps as does losing the cupola on the garage. The width of the home is due to the way the lot works/the neighbors/the street, etc. It will already be set at an angle but turning it the other way won't work from a lifestyle perspective of having the back yard off the kitchen and family.

Thanks so much for taking the time to help!