I'd save the money on the veneer and just go with some nice shrubs to landscape the property.

Dan, we just purchased a 1910 bungalow style house located on 5 acres and it has the Owens Corning River Stone veneer on the columns and foundation and it looks great!!! I would highly recommend it. I would post a pic but have no idea how to do that on this forum.

Me too! Me too!

dbruhn - It is such a difficult decision isn't it. I really want to do the same thing. Are there other old houses in your neighborhood? Do they have either the round stones or the long sliver looking ones? There is a small part of the original foundation of my house that is showing and it is the small sliver kind of stone (hope that description makes sense) So I think I will go with that kind even though it is not my first choice. To make it more complicated I have a few brick fireplaces and Brick for the front and back porch. I am afraid that mixing the stone and the brick might not look right.

It just doesnt look finished without something there though! I am assuming that is why you want to put the veneer on too. LOVE your house - and the color you chose for the paint.

Thanks for your kind words about our new house. We can't wait to move in! Since the house is yellow I think the ones in the running are Limestone (lake erie color) or Cobblefield (Austin). We looked at some grey ones but it kind of doesn't look right since the house is yellow and white. It's such a hard decision and just wanted some other opinions.

I personally think you should go with something with a little more color. Since your roof is grey and your chimney is a red brick, I think either the Cedar or the Chardonnay might look better and pull everything together, blending the yellows, reds and greys. Of course, I haven't seen the samples in person, just on the website.

Can I ask why you are not considering brick? I built a new farmhouse years ago that was in the country and painted a soft yellow like yours. Our foundation, chimney, and front porch were brick and it all looked good together. We chose brick because more homes in our part of the South are constructed with brick or have brick elements.

Have you looked around your area to see what type and color of stone occurs naturally? That might influence your choice of stone veneer for your foundation.

Check out Arnold Stone's website at the link below. They are manufacturers of natural thin stone veneer as well as full dimensional stone. They have a wide variety of colors and textures of limestone and sandstone. Their prices are comparable to Owen Corning's faux Cultured Stone, but Arnold Stone's veneer is real stone. I think the fake stone cracks and gets discolored over time and it doesn't look as elegant as genuine stone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Arnold Stone's Thin Veneer and Architectural Stone

Well, I'll offer the op-ed view: I live in an 1840-ish farmhouse with a stone foundation that is visible about 12-20 inches above grade. At some point around 1900 (about the apparent age of your building) the previous owners applied a smooth parging to imitate poured concrete, which is what you appear to have.

So, the (long ago) PO of an 1840 house pretty-ed up their house so it would appear to be like your turn of the century house and you want to pretty-up your authentic look so it imitates what my house started out with.

I am not a big fan of artifice when it comes to home improvement. Natural materials in their natural state always look better, and seem to have fewer maintenance hassles, in my experience. And I'm sure a hundred years ago when concrete foundations began to be common they were considered a vast improvement over laid up stone, which charming as it looks, has its own drawbacks.

If you want to "disappear" your foundation wall, how about just painting it a nice dark color?

Molly~

Sounds like quite the project! I believe stone veneer would be a great choice for your home. Since your house is yellow i would recommend stone veneer from FauxPanels.com, particularly something of Golden wheat, desert sand, or rusty tan colored. check out the link below, and if you dont see something you want on that page, check out all the other styles on the side. there is a huge selection so there should be something that you will like.

http://www.fauxpanels.com/norwich-stone/styles-dakota-stonewall.php?color=28

Here is a link that might be useful: Faux Panels