I would change the columns to square.

Also - do you have casements on the second floor and hung on the first?

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This post was edited by Ibewye on Thu, May 9, 13 at 16:30

It looks like a traditional Greek Revival except the roof eave and the tops of the windows are jammed against each other no doubt because of the height of the porch roof.
there should be a frieze board between the eave and the windows so the porch roof slope should be lowered or the floor to floor height should be increased.

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This post was edited by Ibewye on Thu, May 9, 13 at 16:31

The upper windows are probably casements in order to meet the emergency escape and rescue requirement with such short windows. Why not raise the main roof to the same height as the cross gable and allow a frieze board to wrap around the house and tie it together?

The 18" above the floor window safety glass requirement only applies to glass panes with an area of 9 s.f. or larger and yours seem to be smaller than that.

If the porch columns were round they would probably be tapered and the one at the left would not be tight against the wall, so I had assumed they are square.

No offense intended but I'm seeing oddly amateurish detailing choices for an architect.

i think it's pretty. much more tasteful than a lot of what i'm seeing these days! however, i agree that the top roof seems to cover the top windows oddly. i too would prefer to see square columns.

I think it's pretty, but will be great if you take Renovator8's advice, all of which really makes much more sense and will be much more pleasing to the eye. Conrgrats!

just a thought.... how would it look with the entrance steps and front door on the right side of the porch or in the middle of the porch? just wondering. this way it wouldn't be crammed against the left wing of the house

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This post was edited by Ibewye on Thu, May 9, 13 at 16:34

Your original post doesn't have specific questions or direction for discussion. Do you have a specific concern or a want to steer discussion to a particular area?

I'm interested in seeing the other elevations and the floor plans with north arrow.

I think it would be worth studying the elevations with an increased slope on the major roofs, and see what you think. Seems a little timid as it is. In addition to looking at greek revival details, check out "gable front and wing" for clues on massing and composition. Also...one advantage to the direction you're going with the gable front is that it's thin--but I think you need windows on the side elevations to take full advantage of the light and air from multiple sides. The blank section on the left of the side elevation is begging for relief!

Also, an architect with some trace and scanner/copier should be able to, in short order, turn out a dozen different variations on the roof heights/slopes, and window sizes/types/placement--tweaks as many have suggested--without having to redraw everything. The simple massing is refreshing to see on the forum; however, without being able to hide behind dozens of stacked gables, you'll need to nail the trim details and the windows--but if done well I think you'll be really happy with the results.

Have fun and good luck

The requirement for safety glass near hazards has not changed in the New England building codes since the CABO one and two family building codes of the 80's.

The 24" dimension is the minimum Horizontal distance from an adjacent hazard (door, etc.).

The 18" distance is the minimum Vertical distance from the floor to the lower exposed portion of a glass pane that is 9 s.f. or larger in area.

For safety glass to be required by the code the window would have to be very large and the interior window stool would have to be lower than about 16".

It is always a good idea to read the applicable code section each time you design a building rather than rely on your memory; that's a lesson I learned from the best code consultant in New England.

This post was edited by Renovator8 on Tue, May 7, 13 at 13:53

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This post was edited by Ibewye on Thu, May 9, 13 at 16:35

It would not matter if the house was in New York or New England; the safety glazing requirements are exactly the same.

Your architect might be somewhat unfamiliar with residential design if he has not done much of that kind of work before so you might want to have the design reviewed by another architect.

This post was edited by Renovator8 on Tue, May 7, 13 at 18:44