I always prefer beefy trim. I think I like the 2nd gable, with the horizontal siding, since it seems to give the house less visual height...but that one's hard to say from the drawing. I'd choose Stairs #2, but do you need them to split? Where do you need to go to and come from when using those stairs? If they don't lead where you need them to, it doesn't matter much how they look...

I picked the same as rhome before I even saw her selections!

Wide trim, Gable 2, and Stairs 2.

Definitely the beefier trim, gable #2, and for the stairs... it all depends on the shape/placement of your driveway. Visually, I like #5 because i think it balances the garage door and windows on the right side nicely. However, if your driveway/entrance point is by the garage door, I'd choose #2

I'd choose gable 1 (no maintenance) and stairs 2 (more usable property space).

Wide trim -- yes, even wider if possible.

Nothing above that lovely arched window (so, gable 1).

I don't like stairs 1 at all -- don't want to have to go under the stairs to start climbing them.

I would go with the simple #2, unless there's some traffic reason to include two different landings at the bottom.

I am not really understanding why the bay has a piece chopped out of it for the entry.

I vote for #2 trim, #2 gable, and either #2 or #5 stairs depending on entry issues already brought up.

Could you somehow at least connect the bay where it stops on the third floor to where it stops on the first floor and make the porch another "opening" in the bay, like the windows?

You have spent so much time on the plan of this house, that I think you will be happier with a more complete expression of the facade.

Thick trim, gable #2 and stairs #5. If you have the double opening, then you or others won't have to walk around to the other side in order to come up stairs if you will be on the left side of the stairs often enough. Your mailman paid me to say that, lol....

Angela! So glad to hear that you're ready to commence with construction!

I like the wide trim. I like stairway 3 best because of the wide landing. For hauling crap upstairs, especially with the smaller entrance landing, having a good sized landing stage is really worthwhile. Also, the split stairs not only lets people choose to go toward the garage or around the other side of the house, it adds a lot of texture and visual interest to what started out as a rather blank facade.

I might like the fascia in the gable if it came down to the lower roofline, but it looks like too short bangs to me. I actually think I like it best without it at all. It gives a skirt and tunic lengthiness to the height, rather than skirt, top and big scarf choppiness. More elegant.

SO right on how long we have been planning !!! It will be FIVE years in October. I can hardly believe it is almost here. (thanks plllog! I trust you DO have your tile finally? : )

Where do you need to go to and come from when using those stairs? Outside stairs lead to porch/main entry front door which opens into foyer/hallway to bedrooms on middle floor. Also, right at the front door is the base of the stairs going to top floor and main living areas (reverse floor plan). The interior stairs will not look *exactly* like shown on drawing - I am unable to do winder stairs in the program how they will be, so these stairs are an approximation.

As it is now, the railing of the porch follows the line of the bay ... it's kinda hard to tell in the pictures. I can enclose the porch more, partially or fully, which will also provide additional protection from driving rains, and/or we can add a post (which I think we will have to have anyway). 1 shows no bay wall, 2 shows full bay wall with just an opening onto the porch, 3 shows a partial wall, and 4 shows the partial wall with a post. The above floorplan drawing shows the layout as a partial wall.

Stairs do not have to be split, I just think its kinda a cool look and like remodelfa I think it balances the house as well as gives some interest on that side instead of the big blank section of wall. I saw split stairs on some beach houses in real life and really liked it, so I tried to think of a way to incorporate in our design. Plus, it encourages parking to the far side and not blocking the garage. Although, design 2 is pretty much the way it has been since we started these plans and I really like that too. I could always do a pretty plant grouping on the blank wall.

Our entire house is only 36 feet wide (which allows 4 cars wide) and the lot is only 50 feet wide, so no parking space is going to have very far to walk. Setback from the street side of the property line is 25 feet and from there to the street is about another 10-15 feet of useable space (I am showing 10' to street edge in drawings). The building permit will require us to have parking for 6 cars. Under the house (thru garage door) will already park 3 cars in tandem, so all of these layouts work above the requirements for permit purposes. At the beach, all the houses always have to have cars parked tandem (and the resulting moving cars to let someone out). The cars shown in these drawings are just showing different ways people could park, but not the only ways. (I am only showing layouts of stairs options 2, 3, and 5 since they are the ones people have liked)

Layout of stairs option 2

Layout of stairs option 5

Layout of stairs option 3

The people access and aesthetics on 5 are better, but for the size parties you'll be hosting that extra real parking space in 3 is worth the sacrifice. I don't like 1.

Thanks, Angela, yes, I'm still finishing up details, but I do have tile and have been moved into the kitchen for some time now. Check out my tile tour.

I like the wide trim. I don't like the the gable trim because I like the feeling of this building being tall. I like #6 for a couple reasons but don't know enough to vote. Your facade has a symmetrical feeling to it but with little violations here and there. Am trying to figure out whether it's better to make irregularities more or less prominent. How formal are your interior and your furniture and your neighboring houses?

Functionally, how much would you enjoy the split stair at bottom? How likely is it that you will want to go directly to either side of the split stair? Is the major parking and arrive/depart activity only on the right of the front door as we look at it from street--if so should you throw some architectural stuff to the left side to balance out the inevitable auto stuff on the right?

(In our new addition we will have a new front step but it's delayed--currently using a makeshift pile of palettes--so we've had a chance to rethink the original plan while we experience the actual walkpaths. We now realize that we walk THREE major directions from the front door so we're going to create essentially a half-hexagon step that will allow us to launch for the driveway/car, the mailbox/street, and the compost/garden/back yard on the run. You've only got one or two.)

Your split bottom stairway gives more visual weight to the lower stair and echoes the roof line, which I like. But more importantly I'd urge, if you can afford it, to add more stair and landing space to make entering and leaving more gracious and functional. That up and down trot to the car should seem comfortable, not restrictive.

Compare the width of the autos to the width of the passageways of the stairs for some perspective. If you go with #4, for example, I suggest expanding the landing that is halfway up the stairs--broaden it enough to plunk a cooler or such; even wide enough to put a pair of small folding chairs or a built in board seat. At the very least, people should be able to pass one one another on the stairway here like a pullout on a highway. It would also allow you to carry in sofas, etc. more easily. And allows a big pot of geraniums or something at the landing to add to the facade decor.

You currently don't have a porch, you have a front stoop a story into the air. How will it feel when two dozen people are using the place? if there were a wider landing at the "porch" cantilevered out away from the building so that it extends out as far as the side of the bay that would also be helpful visually because it would echo the swing to the left on the first landing of #4. Imagine a group of people, including old ones and parents leading little ones, etc. And teens looking for a lurking spot.

I don't like those couple steps at the top of the stair being different unless you gain something in functionality at the little landing below them. Does this spot restrict traffic and make the entrance counterintuitive or does it aid the access to the door for people hauling stuff?

Stuff is inevitably going to accumulate at the bottom and top of a vacation stairway. I am used to hauling things to and from a small lake cabin. We have all kinds of things piled to go into the place or come out of the place: insect candles and sprays, luggage, coolers, food boxes, shoes, bait and fishing tackle and things hauled from beach, garbage, you get the idea. It all has to be plunked somewhere. Yes, I know you have an elevator and an entrance elsewhere. But this particular stairway leads you out of the house to the outside world and is the front facade of the building as seen from the curb. From the front door and from the car and from the street, it needs to be welcoming and not daunting. It's on the front page of the rental pamphlet.

WOW WOW WOW, what awesome creative tile work. You are so much more bold than me - my step towards daring is wanting Fire & Ice, LOL. I know you are so thrilled to be in such a happy kitchen.

flor, When we are in our home, we will be pulling our cars into the garage and will probably never use the front door. We will use the elevator and the interior stairs. There are also outside stairs on the ocean side of the home which we will use all the time (these pictures are the street side). However, during June July August (and hopefully some off season as well) this is a weekly rental home. I have to try to anticipate how it is going to be used by the renters. There is the potential for just a few or a lot of cars as the home will sleep 23+ (10 in beds K,K,K,Q,Q, 2 in office Q Murphy, 2 in sitting Q Murphy, 5 in lower bunks D,D,S, 4 in upper bunks S,S,S,S, plus options for pullout sofas and cribs/toddler beds). All 6 stairs options allow for either 8 or 9 cars parking (3 in garage and 5/6 outside). The real question is how do you think YOU would use it if your family was staying there ? : )

Our interior will not be 'formal' but also will not be decorated beachy informal. We plan to decorate it like a very nice regular home. Our immediate neighbors are not very fancy (we are between the pink and blue house below). However there is a full range of home types within blocks of us, anywhere from 800sf homes to multi-million dollar homes. The entire island is only 7 miles long.

Ours will not be as fancy on the exterior as these houses which are the exception rather than the rule on our island, just a typical NC beach. But our house will be much fancier than a lot of the houses that you can find here. Here are some of my favorite houses on our beach, some kinda close, some further away (we can see the red house from our house) ...

What a gorgeous location, your house will look awesome I am sure, since you are doing all the planning so well. I am certainly not qualified to suggest stairs, but as a person with a bad back and challenges with climbing stairs, I do like the splits and wonder if you can incorporate a built in bench on the landings. Might be helpful for when folks have things to carry up the stairs. By all means...plant some palms too, they look so fabulous!!!

recording my Dad's votes ...
1. "thick trim looks better"
2. gable - "Yes but may mean more maintenance"
3. stairs - "which version stick out in the yard the most?" (A: 3 & 4 stick out most others are same - 2 stairs width) "Will there be room for car between the street and the steps on all versions? any versions?" (A:yes room for 3 cars in garage plus 5-6 cars outside on all versions) "I like the landing height on #3. Sometimes may stand on that and have a drink and watch traffic or wait for someone. I like split at bottom, easy access from either side you park on." (This was his initial answer until he saw there was a 5'x5' porch at the top of the stairs on all versions and then he said he would prob not use that landing but instead would more likely stand on the porch. By this time we were on phone together instead of instant messaging. His final answer was he liked 2,3,or 5 leaning towards 2 and 5 because the cars would be parked further from street, but couldn't go wrong with any of them. He did not like 1 at all.)
4. he liked 4 with the partial wall and post (1 was too wide/chopped opening, 2 looked like too small opening and couldn't watch street while sitting on porch chair, 3 needs a post for structure, 4 was best - kept the feel of the bay continuous from top to bottom and gave him good opening for view)

vampire, we are like the kids in the Disney commercial (too excited to sleep!!!)

Anyone else wanna weigh in with a vote or expand their vote since I have answered some of the questions above ?
Current Tally ...
1. wider trim by a landslide
2. 4 for no gable 6 with gable
3. stairs (including double votes) 7 for #2, 2 for #3, 6 for #5
4. porch #4 (only 1 vote so far)
We are leaning towards wide trim, no gable, stairs ???, porch 4.

OMG.. really... with that location I'd be happy with a leantoo(?)

I like the variations where you completed the bay somehow, through the area of the entryway.

Did you try a larger rectanglular window or a window with a triangular top for the center window? This is being really picky but the palladian window seems out of place to me on this house.

Now that it is pointed out, the palladium is the only curve in the house. Can you try a transom window instead of an arch top? If you want to go nautical, a full round window up there would be cool (above a normal, functional one).
I like porch 1 because it is more open and if you are moving large objects, no pole is in the way. If you need the pole, then 1 is more open anyway, even with it because of less wall surround.

I still think 5 looks best and is most convenient but that 3 would be better if you really get another parking space out of it. I agree with Palimpsest that completing the bay gives it a finished look, so another vote for porch 4.

Unlike the others, I like the arched topped window better with the tall, pointy peak than a square topped window, but I'm not really familiar with this style of house (gables, shingles, etc.). If square is what's usually there, go for that! Or maybe be unique and do a peaked top that follows the roof line.

Really really really really go for the extra parking space. Really. The split stairs are nice, but the parking is prime. Remember, your guests are going to be fighting with all the day visitors for street parking. Every single off street space you can give them is worth gold in your pocket. Parking is more important than beds. People can sleep on floors and airbeds. If they can't park their car, they can't go to the beach! (Or they have to park in town and have someone come get them or something.) Parking rules all!

awwwww thanks remodelfa ! We feel the same way.

Just to be clear with everyone (we had to warn our builder the same), we are not the normal people who are rich and can get an oceanfront beach property like this (no marble imported from Italy for us!!) - and it will be a rented weekly during the summer. We got the lot many years ago for an amazing price because it was not buildable at the time. We thought it would be many more years still before we would be able to try to get a variance to build on it. But, the rulings have changed and it is buildable now with a lot of restrictions (2500sf max -we slightly cut our plans down to exactly 2499.71sf, no pool allowed, certain setbacks from the ocean, etc). During the process, the proposed rules were originally 2000sf max and we were just thrilled they were going to allow us to build at all. We truly feel the same way - with that location I'd be happy with a lean to!!

Here is an exterior of the ocean side of the house (more round top windows) and the view of the living area from the kitchen. (click to enlarge)

Hmmmm, I cannot figure out how to add a triangular/peaked top to the window in Chief. Here are some other window options mentioned above.

I think I have been looking at the plans so long with the round top window (years) that I have a hard time seeing it any other way, lol.