Dark windows are all the rage these days with the contemporary style home influences. What kind of roof? Steel would look amazing on that home.

Love to go with steel but the cost prevents us I think. I would like some steel like over the front porch.

What does your architect recommend?

He never said except for how he drew it with vertical and horizontal siding and part stone. Which I think I want to add more stone to the front. I have a tendency to go with what’s “in”right now and of course in a few years I’ll ask myself “what was I thinking!” So I really was to pick a timeless color/style.

"...He never said except for how he drew it with vertical and horizontal siding and part stone. Which I think I want to add more stone to the front..."

I think I see the problem.

Your architect suggested three materials: stone, and two types of siding, as shown on your elevations.

You posted a photo which shows a gazillion building shapes, materials and colors.

Then you posted, "...I think I want to add more stone to the front. I have a tendency to go with what’s “in”right now and of course in a few years I’ll ask myself “what was I thinking!”..."

Here's a gentle suggestion: less is more!

Don't put yourself in the position you describe above of asking yourself "what was I thinking...?"

Good luck on your project.

PS: Listen to your architect. S/he's talking to you via the drawings.

Traditionally, Stone is used on the large central mass of a home, as that mimics the original home that was then added on to with different materials over time.

Great feed back, thank you so much!

One avenue is to take your colors from the nature that surrounds your home. Some objects have a solid color but many thing have myriad of color that make up the object's "color". Look close at the soil and the tree bark and leave (alive and dead) and at the distant vista to select colors you can see that are already there.

It also helps to continue the stone all the way around the house.

Jyll, if you want timeless and something you won't tire of in a few years, don't pick too many materials, and don't make everything grey. Virgil is correct -- less is more : ) .

In what region of the country are you building your house? And is it in an urban, surburban, or country setting?

I'm a fan of Maria Killam's blog. She's a designer and color expert, and has the following helpful posts,

Should I Paint my House Charcoal?

What's Next After the Grey Trend?

5 Steps to Designing a Classic Stone Exterior

The Best Way to Choose Exterior Stone (Ugly is On Sale; Don’t Buy It)

I suspect whatever stone you choose will nudge you in the direction you need to go. Pick what you like and is appropriate for your area and that will dictate your color palate, roof and window choices.

Thank you everyone for the positive and helpful feedback.

Becky, we are in Oklahoma in a suburban/country setting. I will look at that site today.

PPF, I’m amazed at how just taking away the porch gable changes the house to a more “simpler” look which I really like. What plan would you need to see to change the other gable? Just the floor plan?

Sophie, which part of the house would you stone? The entire front and leave the garage with siding only? Or can I stone just one main area as an accent? Should the porch be stone or siding then?

I would not stone any of it. I would stick to the 2 materials only. I would make the columns all wood look without the faux craftsman look.

Cpartist, the 2 materials being siding and wood? What is the faux craftsman’s look?

Jyll, you might find this recent thread helpful,

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5307456/need-help-with-picking-exterior-materials#22591042

I would consider this a Craftsman Style house:

I would consider this a faux-craftsman style house:

Here is how I'd do your house. Ideally I'd also switch to a gable roof and not the hipped roof shown. The roof is too massive for the house right now.

However, note how much more elegant the house looks now without all the lipstick on the pig? Note also the beam holding up the porch. Porch columns should never just end at the roof. They need a "beam" to hold it up.

A different opinion. Yes on hipped roof, but I’d keep the front gable. Also yes to the stone in the center. If you do use stone, use the real thing anywhere you could touch it. Use of multiple siding types will increase your maintenance costs later down the road. Here’s our house, built 5 years ago. Didn’t really try and pin a style label on it. It was bright out when I took the first 3.

All of the advice has been greatly appreciated and I am learning so much. We have until Tuesday to figure out the best exterior we can.

We drove around various neighborhoods endlessly before we decided. Then took our builder to the houses we liked and said use similar materials/style.

lkbum...I fixed the picture for you.

Floor plan is good, but makes it difficult to get a good roof.

Some random ideas.

I changed the floor plan a bit on the left here.

If the floor plan doesn't allow a good roof, it's not a good floor plan! Really.

PPF thank you for the roof ideas! It’s amazing how you can capture more of what we want with the info you have. I’m loving the roof line on the picture listed as #1. We are going to sit down tonight and talk about all of these great ideas.

Top view for image #1 above.

Would you say #1 is a easier roof to build? Is it a simpler roof than the original? Is this something our architect could change easily?

Mark Bischak, I like faux craftsman and I like the house you used as an example.

This is another Craftsman example:

Do you like this one better?

Mark, love that craftsman. But is it bad to still love the faux one? The green is a nice color. I wonder how black windows would look with that color? And wood color garage doors?

The Robert Blacker house by Greene & Greene. A modest Craftsman Bungalow.

@Jyll Baskin Think it's your definition of bad... the 2nd picture seems to be really commonplace and in style today, especially with the dark windows. I'll likely be building something similar since that's what will get by the HOA. Rest of the neighborhood will be similar so I say to each his/her own!