I like the house below which is most like your first example.

2013 Luxury Home-Inver Grove Heights · More Info

If you like the looks of your sample house, I would suggest installing stone to the bottom or the windows and keep the same line going across the front of the house. If you decide to stone the columns, I would also keep them at the same height. Depending on your situation, if you use real stone, place a nice flag stone water table across the top. It really adds a nice detail. If your considering cultured stone, I would still install the water table stone on the top for define the stone line.

Good luck with the project

Craig Speak
Craig Alan Homes, Inc.

Here is my 2 cents. Lol