Willow Oak: is actually a good choice, dense shade can cause grass not to grow

Swamp White Oak: it would work, but it will drop lots of acorns

Red Oak: gets way too big, gets small acorns that cover the yard. no grass will grow don't even consider

Shumard Oak: same as red oak, don't consider

Sawtooth Oak: gets too large, also same issue as red oak. don't consider

Red Maple: great choice! they get tall not wide, don't make a mess, great fall color. the only issue is they have a large root system, still a good choice

American Yellowwood: great choice, you may need to be concerned with spacing them apart, they get wide

Ginko (male): no! they lose their leaves way after the Christmas decorations should come up (November 1st we should have lights on those trees)

Sweetgum: NOOOOOO!!!! spiky seedballs that hurt your feet, large rootsystems that can destroy strong foundations and water lines

European Hornbeam: WHY? plant native and use the American Hornbeam, it looks pretty much the same

Black Gum: no complaints with this tree, would work good in the space

Littleleaf Linden: no, I personally despise this tree because it looks similar to callery pear

American Elm ‘Liberty’, “Valley Forge’, ‘New
Harmony’: don't know much about these trees, never dealt with them

London Planetree: sorry, these are just ugly, go with red maple instead

Chinese or Lacebark Elm: sure, why not it would work good in the space

my top picks: red maple, american yellowwood, black gum, american hornbeam

I personally would like crepe myrtle 'natchez'

paired with Forest Pansy Redbud

I like flowering trees in the front yard, I like to save the big ones for the back ;)

Chinese elm 'allee' is very attractive

I vote for Swamp White Oak for the largest tree. There's one in Greenspring Gardens in Alexandria, VA near the visitor center that is worth seeing!

What do you want out of a tree? Fall foliage, shade, flowers, wildlife value, elegant form? What is the soil like? Sandy, compacted, swampy? Is the area windy? How much work are you willing to put in? How patient are you?

Yellowood is the prettiest. Pretty little leaves. Decent fall color, flowers. Smaller then many of your options. Can be vulnerable to wind and requires skilled pruning.

Black gum and swamp white oak are trees your children will thank you for planting,. Black Gum has great fall color and strong wood but is slow growing and hard to transplant. Both these trees live along time and are disease resistant. A bit slow growing,. Same goes for ginkgo.

Red maple is a decent tree with good fall color but overplanted. Would be hard to plant under...dense shade and shallow roots. (Generally the oaks are easier to plant under). American elm is vulnerable to disease. Willow oak is an inferior oak to a couple on your list. Red oak gives you the best chance of good fall color of those oaks. (But not as good as red maple, Black Gum or sweet gum). Are Oak Wilt, oak decline or Dutch Elm disease problems in your area?

I think it's often a good idea to plant both a fast growing tree and a long lived one...a tree for now and a tree for later.

I'd choose a yellowood and a black gum. Actually...I did. I recently planted to small yellowood, and am planning on planting a couple Black Gum net spring.

doorih, get a tape measure, go out and measure 12 & 18' and put a stake in the ground, then walk to your entrance and look back. This is the only way to get an accurate feel for how close this will be to your house. What genius dreamed up this list? Are you crammed onto a tiny lot? Only shrubs 12' from the house, 18' from the house you can include sassafras, amelanchier, most magnolias, Japanese maple, franklin tree and the likes of that. When large, towering trees are planted close to the house you will have leaves & litter on the roof & gutters, this is especially a problem if the roof doesn't have much pitch.

BTW sawtooth oak & lacebark elm will keep you & neighbors busy with unwanted volunteers.

I agree with Sam that 18' is far better than 12' for planting a tree (other than a small ornamental crab or similar) from the house so you don't have to worry about size. Everything on the list is too large for 12' from the house. Place them so that they don't block views you want visible such as the front door - they should frame the house not block it totally from view.

I would avoid Chinese or Lacebark Elm due to seeding issues, and I just don't find them particularly attractive - don't have the graceful form of the American elms, and little fall color. I pass by several on my walk to work and they just leave me cold.

I would happily grow any of the others that are hardy here. Look up the ultimate height and width of all the others on a reliable website such as the Missouri Botanical Garden's plant finder and write down on your list so you can compare. Do a web image search for autumn color of each. If you like to walk barefoot, you want to avoid the sweet gum, but it is a really nice looking tree IMO, especially the fall color.

Favorites on the list:

ginkgo - disease free, beautiful form once past its teenage years, stunning clear yellow fall color, and my favorite leaf shape of all time. Plus it tends to drop all its leaves within a day or two (where I work there's a pool every autumn as a fundraiser as to the day the ginkgo will drop its leaves) so cleanup is easy, unlike many trees that require repeated leaf gatherings since they drop leaves over weeks.

red maple - early and lovely red spring color and stunning fall color if you choose a tree that is selected for fall color. Or the Freeman maples are red x silver maple crosses.

European hornbeam (though I'd prefer the American one) medium-small, tidy, yellow fall color and cool seed pods on the tree

Little leaf linden - tidy, medium size, great tree for pollinators, fun looking seeds.

Red oak or scarlet oak - choose one with good fall color. Turns later than many others, so extends the color season.

Are you allowed to choose sugar maple?

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. The builder can only plant from the list,
but there's nothing stopping us from pulling up the trees and planting
something else once the home is ours. Sounds like given how close the
trees are we should go with something on the smaller end of the list or
go with one that isn't on the list.

Everyone is too cautious about these things nowadays. A black gum will eventually get big, but not for many years, and the wood is so strong there is minimal risk of branches falling on your house. Dito for ginko. I'd prefer the American hornbeam to the European, but it to is very strong wooded, plus it's pretty small. That list isn't terrible.