I personally like the current look with the brick water table and leaving the rest hardiboard. I do also like the idea of doing the 2nd entrance area if you want to add more brick. I think that would add a lot of character and save you the cost of the brick all over.

How about some painted shakes at the top of the turned gables and then hardiboard the rest of the way down? Very nice house!

Thanks! Good idea with the shakes. My hoa really wants me to add more mix to the front. If I did all brick they would love it. But I feel like resale would be the same and I like being able to play with paint.

I may do the tall water tables on the front and side door in stone if it is not over the top expensive.

I love it! I am a very simple person so I would do brick or stone on the water table and perhaps on the friends porch. Hardi everywhere else. I think it is difficult to envision what it will look like in person - it will have a lot more personality in real life than it does on paper.

As far as the brick goes, I probably prefer the hardi anyway. Although we did a red brick because we were painting it, my house looks much better now that it is painted. We have the corbeled rafter tails and vent holes. I guess it would be different had we picked a softer looking brick.

We have no mix of materials on our house (except bluestone porch and copper gutters and roof overhangs) and I don't think it looks plain at all. We have shutters going on but that is it. Once it is landscaped (in the next couple of weeks) it will have even more personality.

Thanks athens. Your opinion means alot since you are a veteran on here and your house is gorgeous!

this is great!

I think it has enough detail to be interesting and attractive without additional pimping. IMO I'd spend the 'pimp' money on a gorgeous front door and garage doors, and great landscaping and hardscaping (e.g., bluestone or cobble walkway, etc.) Imagine your house in a couple of years with lush foundation plantings, some ornamental trees, and so on. Beautiful, well-planned landscaping can take a house from pretty to knockout.

Might be worth it to take a copy of your plans to a landscaper and have them sketch in some ideas. You might not miss any additional brick or stone on the house at all. (And then if the HOA complains, show them the sketch with the landscaping.)

Gaonmymind I'll second the less is more look. Our houses have similar bones-- see my house pics on the May progressing thread --and we are planning on stone water table and just nichiha lap siding in butter cream. I have black window frames and am currently picking trim paint colors. We are not doing shutters as I am in PA and would like to keep this more farm housey since we are on a farm. But I Love yours with the shutters and I agree the best landscape will be knockout deal.

Chicagoans - thanks...yeah I want to use a landscape architect to do a phasing in of plantings. Landscape adds soooo much to a house. That is a good idea of showing the house with landscaping to the committee.

PPbenn - Yeah our houses have a similar feel. Your land looks so picturesque too! I think once I nail down the colors and landscaping it will really add to the house.

Around here, no builder would use fiber cement siding on such a custom home. If you want an established look, aged siding and tumbled, heritage or recycled brick would be the way to go. But you'll first have to ask your parents HOA. And, remember, they probably have the final word on your plantings, decorations, window coverings, choice of vehicles, visitors and whatever else they feel like meddling with.

That is certainly not the standard in Atlanta. Million dollar custom homes have hardi all the time.

Ditto what gaonmymind says. Many multi million dollar, architect designed, homes have hardi. In fact, my parents have slowly replaced their siding with hardi over the past few years. I would say 80 percent is now hardi. They used the profile that matched their siding perfectly. They love it. Paint lasts longer and no rot. Just an example of an expensive custom home having hardi. Buckheadhillbilly just built another house which many of us are familiar with - also with hardi.

The easy maintenance is such a draw, plus you literally cannot tell the difference. My parents have the profile with the bead and it matches perfectly the siding put on their house when it was built. They have replaced individual boards in many areas and side by side there is simply no difference.

I am not sure why anyone would use traditional siding, frankly. I know cedar is touted by some but the trade off for easy care is worth it!

As far as the tumbled brick recommendation, I second it. We used Old Savannah on our back terrace and lower patio and I love it - frankly might have used it instead of the bluestone on the walkways and front porches if I had known how it would look - it is lovely ;)