What color is the stonework? Pick up a dark shade from that for the siding, and a very light shade for the trim and a medium for the roof. It adds to the experience to be carrying around a bunch of rocks when you visit the paint dealers, lol.

You did not ask but I think I need to say this:

You have too many different materials on your elevation:

I'd say forget the stone. Placing that bits of stone just to have stone? May I say I do not like that? (please underestand that I do want to offend you)

Is the material above the stone, brick or siding?
Hopefully it is not shingle style siding. If you can afford it, full brick front elevation is the best option - if not, full siding (with no stone) and it is ok to keep the wainscoat (is that what you call nichiha?)

I think, with the style of your house you should keep away of gray.

A tan, macademia, terracotta or beige are my suggestions.

meldy: the siding is prefinished. the stone will depend on the color we choose. trim will probably be white.

marthaelena: too many materials? there is only one siding material; the nichiha premium as described above (they are a shingle panel), the stone towards the bottom and the roof shingles. yes... it's a shingle style house.

Since nothing is picked out, do you want a warm color house (go with tan, terracotta, beige, etc) or a cool color house (gray, white)?

I wouldn't do a stark white trim on a warm house. Do an off white. If you're going for an old East coast/Maine shingle style home, then you should do it in grays with white trim.

Do a Google search for some examples.

I think your house is beautiful. And, I am in complete disagreement with marthaelena...I think that the house would be absolutely beautiful with gray siding and white trim. It is a very classic look and completely works with your elevation. As far as shingles, I'd probably just use some type of light gray...probably in a synthetic slate/shake rather than asphalt shingles.

(marthaelena- you need to proofread your posting! you said "please understand that I do want to offend you." I think you forgot a word in there! LOL!)

What a gorgeous home you are building! How lucky! Thanks for sharing!

Have you seen Mighty's post under the Dec. update? Also do a search on this forum for "creating the cottage look"-- on that thread if you scroll down a bit, you'll see some very beautiful pictures that might help you. I know he's posted other pics that are similar to your style, but I can't remember on what topic. Maybe he will post some pics/thoughts on your thread too.

Do keep us up to date with your build! It's lovely. Good luck!

OMG
I am sorry, I meant:
I DO NOT want to offend you.

I think that your house will look nicer if you have a combination of 2 colors and 2 textures plus the roof.
like: all trims, columns and wainscat in the same color and same texture or similar texture (smooth)
and the shingle looking siding in a different color.

Windows and doors: Are they going to be the same color as all the trimming? or a contrasting color?

And about the too many materials, I think that with fewer materials your house will look crispier, classier and not too dated.

Thanks dixiedoodle.

...

I think a very light gray looks nice and so clean.
Usually the weathered gray is dark and I do not like dark gray houses and this is just a very personal thing.
I relate the gray houses with those scary houses in the movies.

I love to use gray in the interiors and I have several gray outfits that I love.

I just think that is nicer to apprach a house with warmer colors - then again is just a personal preference.

And yes, the house is beautiful.

I agree with allison:
"I wouldn't do a stark white trim on a warm house. Do an off white. If you're going for an old East coast/Maine".

If you go with gray (hopefully is a light gray) it is ok to use white trims.

Hi Kate-

We are at about the same point in our build and I am struggling with the exterior colors too.

I am drawn toward a darker color with a crisp white trim and think that would look perfect on your home. We are doing hardi plank but like you, I can't find a home that has the color I want. It seems that most people in my area are choosing a lighter tan color (stonehouse or khaki) but I think the darker color looks richer.

If it helps for comparison, we are looking at Hardie Plank- Timber Bark with Bucks County Cut Stone and a Weathered Wood Roof by Timberline. Our trim will be painted BM Atrium White.

Our home is smaller than yours but also has a front porch and with the stone, I think the grey shingles would be a great contrast. There is a shingle style home in my area that is painted Galveston Gray ( I knocked on the door to ask:)) and I think it would look great for your home. It also has Bucks County stone and white trim. If we weren't going with the pre-painted hardie, it is the color I would have choose.

From previous photos, I know that your lot is beautiful- lots of gorgeous trees so I think it would be stunning.

The front elevation picture looks beautiful.

GL in your decision.

A stone wall on a Shingle Style house should really continue to the bottom of the second floor structure. Stopping it partway up the wall is a pervasive modern developer's detail that looks to me like too little, too low, and creates an awkward transition detail, unless it is a foundation material that stops at the bottom of the first floor structure.

Shingles on a Shingle Style house were originally intended be like a cloak that flows over the structure in strong contrast to the "Stick Style" Victorian houses that preceded it. Where possible the edges of the "cloak" should appear to drape over and around other materials. Flares at horizontal trim lines are therefore common and trim usually gets narrower toward the top of the gables to join the wall shingles with the roofing shingles although stronger Colonial Revival trim is currently the rage. But even Sanford White did it on the Head of the Harbour. (see photos below) Of course, he always used natural red cedar shingles.

I would think the color of the shingles would be greatly affected by the location of the house. The Shingle Style house I posted in the other thread is in the woods of coastal Maine so it was supposed to have natural red cedar shingles with green trim but the builder ordered white windows by mistake and the owners eventually decided on the more currently popular Nantucket style pale silver shingles (current bleaching oil stain will fade to a hard silver in a year) with a strong builders idea of what classical, colonial revival trim should look like. But they love it.

I see some detailing issues with the trim on your house elevations but they might be further detailed somewhere else in the drawing set. Get it all worked out ahead of time; it's expensive to do it while it goes up.

Who designed the house?

allison: i agree, i would go more towards a linen trim if we used a warm color exterior and cleaner, whiter if we went with gray. the "problem" is i truly can't decide between the colors. i think each would work beautifully. depends on the day though!

dixiedoodle & crescent50: i THINK today i'm leaning towards the gray. i agree it will look richer but also do really love the macadamia. have you seen persnickety's house? ...where is she?

eventhecatisaboy: yes, i remember the cottage thread but don't remember the pics. going to do a search to refresh my memory. thanks for reminding me. also hoping MA will take a look and give his thoughts. if you "see" him could you direct him over please?!

thank you, mightyanvil. i'll speak to our architect. he designed it (with a lot of input from my dh and myself who flooded his office with hundreds of reference photos). i'd like to get an elevation drawing showing the stone extending up to the bottom of the second floor as you suggested. i'm also going to look around more, as i can't recall seeing any shingle styles with the stone extended up that far. i'm not sure how i feel about doing that as one side of our home will have a walk-out basement, so the stone would actually cover two full stories at one end.

i see what you mean about the trim narrowing at the flares and will address that with him as well. as for location, we're in nj, seven miles inland from the shore, although it's more horsey around here than surfer dude. thanks for the input!

...but i could just get rid of the stone on the first level and keep it only on the foundation/basement level. maybe this would work better? more to think about. thanks again, MA.

Hi Kate. I've thought about many of the things you are considering here; so, I'm interested in seeing what you decide. We have the same stone part way up the 1st floor, but after reading a couple of posts that predict that that look will be dated, I've been reconsidering that. I'm thinking of flaring out the facade between the 1st floor and basement and putting all stone on the foundation. Here is a link to a website I found that has several different shingle-style houses, which we've used as inspiration (click on the new homes link). May be it will help give you some ideas:

http://www.rilldecker.com

hi gobruno, if i remember correctly we're building very similar houses. thanks for that link, i've never come across that one before. it had some nice interior examples as well. i have already called the architect and he's drawing up a new elevation that shows the stone on the foundation only, as suggested by mightyanvil. i think it will prove to be more true to the style and rid the exterior of some of the fussyness (obviously not a word) which is exactly what the point was anyway. even without having seen this new drawing, i prefer it already. we're into day three of framing and things are going very well. where are you at your build and what materials/colors are you considering? ...still thinking about using natural cedar. so, who knows what i'll end up with?

kateskouros,
Did you see the "It's december..." thread?
I just saw it - Mighty posted a house there and that is exactly what I was talking about. The house has a simmilar style as yours.
Not too many materials, the color is beautiful, it looks so clean. I love it even if I am not into that kind of style - that house looks timeless.

Here is a link that might be useful: It's December

Check this website for lots of photos ...

www.hutkerarchitects.com/index.html

Lots more photos at this site ...

www.bostondesignguide.com/guide/architects-boston

If you put the URL in the "Optional Link URL" box and give it a name people can click on it instead of cutting and pasting.

I've worked with several of the principals shown on the Boston Design Guide and two others were my classmates. Their clients are quite demanding and the cost of the houses is usually over 2 million. The design ideas are easy to copy but getting them to fit together at a reasonable cost is very difficult.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boston Design guide

I like the idea of weathered gray and white trim, however a tan that looks like fresh cedar shingles would look nice too.

I guess it really depends on what look you want. Do you want the house to look like it has been there for a long time I'd go with gray and white.

If you want it to always look freshly sided then go with a lighter tannish color close to new cedar shingles and a warmer white.

thanks chispa for the boston design guide link (thanks also MA for attaching the URL!). i had gotten one issue a couple of years ago and forgotten about them. it's a great resource! i already have the link to hutker and have been looking at it for a couple of years now. classic never gets old!

lyfia: we'd always liked the idea of the weathered gray as well, but as we cannot find a house with this color ANYWHERE dh and i decided (for today at least) to go with the macadamia, or tan color. the sample material looks beautiful since the prefinished is stained instead of painted; so it gives off a more transparent and uneven finish. we'll see how the wind blows tomorrow though. it's not over until ...well, no fat lady here (as i've mentioned before this housebuilding thing is GREAT for dropping weight!) anyway, it's not over until the order is placed!

We're still in the planning stages of the build. If I stopped tweaking the plans, it would help. I think that our builder hates that I found the GW forum bc I keep coming back to him with ideas that I've picked up from this website. I'm thinking the Nichiha shakes in caramel, mahogony, maple, or redwood, with a white/cream trim. What material are you using for the trim/moulding under that row of windows just left (facing your house) of your front door? I don't know what that's called, I think of it as exterior wainscotting, and I was wondering if there was a fiber cement product one used for that. I want something maintenance free. Anyway, could you please post pictures of your revised plans, after you change the exterior stone? I'd love to see what that looks like.

Thanks!

dh came home and told me to "lay off" the architect. he doesn't want to pay him "another dime". we all agree we should keep the stone to the foundation level of the house and it will look great so no new renderings are needed. fine. i see his point. anyway, good question about what material the panels will be. honestly, i have NO idea. we're planning on using azek trim so i'm assuming the panels fall under the same category, if i'm not mistaken. i guess i just sort of assumed this was trim. if it's not... well, then there's something else for me to do! don't worry, i'll be around pining for advice and recommendations so there will be photos for sure. actually, we're ready to begin framing the first floor, as of today. it's about time!

Unless you're building it yourself it's wise to give corrected drawings to the builder. The people who actually do the work are often the last to hear about changes even with good updated drawings. Changing the height of the stone could be a substantial change to the wall section and framing. Don't treat any change as simple or trivial unless you know enough about building a house and have thought carefully about what else might change as a consequence. I find I need to draw the new detail no matter how simple it seems.

ok then. MA has spoken. dh will just have to deal. thanks always for the sound advice!