Zen Modern. Soft Contemporary. Traditional clean lined modern, but with natural materials and colors. Think 60's MCM, with lots of glass and a strong connection to the exterior. Think 70's shed roof contemporaries, with their use of wood planking, stone, and geometric forms. Think 80's Contemporaries, but with a bit more color to their great volumes than oak, rock, and white. Think 90's greens and burgundies, but not so fake green and burgundy. Mossy rocks, red onyx, river rock colors. Think 00's light and bright, but without so much blinding white, and no fake marble. More the feeling than the colors. Think 10's grays, but without so much monochromia and dreary coldness. Warm granite outcrops, maybe with a bit of lichen.

Modern architecture is often perceived as cold. This isn't. You're already seeing a lot of wood cladding (with rainscreens) on a lot of Modern builds. And Corten steel. And stucco. The trick is to make it look like a natural patchwork type of color blocking, with maybe some real color too, for creating definition of the human wrought.

No multi gabled, giant roofed, whatchamacallits. Please!

This:

NOT this!

Or this:

Love the look, Oh but it will leak, rust, grab every leaf, and load with snow.

shou sugi BAN!

You mention beach and bay. Is this a salt water environment? Are you in a hurricane zone? Are you familiar with building in that area?

Our property (in the British West Indies) got hammered by Irma and Maria. Storms like that have made people acutely aware of the risks (and costs) of coastal living. ”Overbuilding” is an important selling feature.

Bahamas shutters are not only attractive, but useful for controlling the sun and can also provide wind protection. Glass needs constant cleaning if exposed to sea spray, so be sure windows are accessible.

What geographical area, roughly? First floor flood risk? Budget $1M, $5M, other? Budget and climate drive a lot of luxury choices.

Is a home that connects to its environment by using local materials and blends in with the local architecture and addresses the local climate a trend?

Do yourself and the community a favor and hire an architect to design a home appropriate for the area. Do not concern yourself trends, they become passe. (I cannot get that funny little punctuation mark to appear above the ‘e’)

Build a house with trends from any time period you want the house to be stuck in.

I love the coastal contemporaries I keep seeing in my area (south Florida).

Look for inspiration at the homes at Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach in the FL panhandle.

Thank you everyone! Lot's of feedback and i appreciate it! It is a salt water environment yes. We are located in Longport , NJ. We are looking just under the 2,000,000 mark when listing. We are also hiring an architect but i wanted to have some ideas before seeing him to give him something to work with as far as modern, contemporary, traditional, rustic, coastal, etc... Stucco, cedar shakes, vinyl siding, shutters, black trimmed windows or white, roofing, etc... There are so many choices. My husband is the builder and he builds phenomenal homes but he's leaving the home style up to me so i want to make sure we build something different and apart from the rest of these magnificent homes in our area but something still timeless for resale purposes.

These are homes my husband has built over the years and every home is different. Im thinking of a safe color yet i want to do something different than all of them. I love the homes with long tall windows and shutters with different A roofs and dimensions. I am thinking white cedar shakes with black shutters and then earthy wood beam accents. I love stone and wood with an earthy warm feeling. Maybe black windows and then we need to do a lot of decking in the front and somehow incorporate pool. We don't have backyards down here. You basically have room for the home and the decking and entertainment is in the front on the decks/porches. I'm sick of the white pic railings I want something more natural. Any suggestions?

There's the problem, I don't have an accent.

(little attempt on play on words humor there)

The forum is for "building a home" which, to me, implies the OP's family will live in it. I enjoy offering advice for homeowners but when the owners' goal is to sell the property for a profit I expect to share in the profit. That's the only thing that would cause me to be interested in the trends of 2020.

I love white windows and trim on a seaside home. Your husband does beautiful work.
I like the varying colors of the ocean, but not too pastel.
Are most of the homes in the area a blend of historic look and modern FEMA required first finished floor height? If so, I'd probably not go too modern. There's zen and comfort in authentic details, too.
I've never been a big fan of Mansard ish roofs, but I could certainly see myself in home #3. The curves make it so unique, and appealling. Plus the big front porches and balcony. Ditto the last home.
Both would be well beyond your price point, in my part of Florida, bayfront. What's the typical square footage?

Thank you Olivia. We need to be 13 feet above sea level for first floor. It's actually not bayfront. It has a view of the bay since it's one property in from the bay at the end of the block and there is a huge open space between two homes on the bay which will never be occupied by a home and always be open so the views are great from this property. The bay is about 80 feet from the property if that. There are a mixture of modern and not so modern homes but modern homes in this area are not as desirable. I personally love clean lines and modern but i'm thinking of the buyer.

Opposite coast, but you can lift ideas from these homes in CA

https://www.tollbrothers.com/luxury-homes/Porter-Ranch-CA?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgabHjojH5AIVEdVkCh2YDQLJEAAYASAAEgJJEvD_BwE

RES 3D Sketches...no worries you don't have to be in the discussion. I was only asking for advice because it's my first speck home and i wanted to help my husband with the project. i love sharing my ideas with other designers (I'm a floral designer and flower wall designer). Nothing wrong with putting great minds together.

You may have missed my point.

Interesting, isn't it? I live in a bayside town with beachfront houses reaching up into the millions, but a very different part of the world. All of the OPs exemplars would look totally out of place here. That is not to criticize them (although there are a couple I do have issues with) but to point out that it's difficult to separate the house from its architectural environment. There are historical houses here where I live, but architects and designers don't generally try to replicate them: they're building houses to today's aesthetic, not yesterday's - so they look more like the two contemporary ones that Cook's Kitchen posted. I suppose my thinking is that a really "timeless" house is one authentic to its location and era, and not an imitation of something built in some other time and place.

I second looking at Alys Beach architecture. We vacation on 30A frequently and I love the style of that community.

I guess I am in the minority. I am not a huge fan of Alys Beach/ modern takeoff of Dutch Caribbean style. For me, it's too white, too plain, too far from its roots. We have a few imitators scattered around. One is only a mile or so from me. Though it's a pretty home, it doesn't work with its site, and it doesn't work with the surrounding homes.
for a spec house, I wouldn't take that risk.

I enjoy offering advice for homeowners but when the owners' goal is to sell the property for a profit I expect to share in the profit.

The topic of eventually selling a home or "resale value", for even "forever" homes, comes up in virtually every thread of any length about whole house builds, whether house specific or generic (ie: "Don't overbuild the neighborhood"). And I know as an architect, the topic is always there at the table. Sure, it's certainly a little bit different in an overt "for profit" endeavor but everyone's interested in building something that can be sold for a profit at some point down the road. I look on it as part of my job to keep that consideration at the table along with the many others.

Those are beautiful but the opposite of what I was expecting. Everything in CA is starting to look industrial or modern plain jane.

We have a beach house in a neighboring NJ shore community and yes that is what the homes look like here. Good luck with your project!

I love the idea of some sort of look out tower to go along with your multi tiered porches. These homes are along Mackinac Island. Similar styling but different twist that maybe you could warm up!

"selection choices on the exterior...what’s in for 2020." is a poor way to approach the design of a house.

A private residence is designed to meet the needs and means of the owners; a spec house is designed for what will sell. For me, the former is an interesting challenging puzzle; the later is just a way to make a living.

As for predicting resale value of a private residence, I've learned it is often a wasted effort. There is no way to predict a future market.

KH I love the first home. Thank you!

suszy q 53 I love industrial myself. I am just trying to build something comparable to what's in our area but make it more unique than the others. We have an abundance of cedar shakes down here. I would actually love to do a stucco home with a moroccan flair but i'm hesitant. Longport is a very small town. I want the home to relate to the others yet stand out.

RES 3D Sketches as i said it is a spec home. Regarding selection choices for exterior, i'm debating on the color choice of the home. I am thinking white with black shutters and accent wood beams. Black trimmed windows tall and large. A good amount of decking since the view is great from the lot (2nd and 3rd level of home). I am trying to get ideas of color for exterior. Everything was grey. I am so sick of grey. I like warm and earthy. I was trying to get an idea of something new that's pleasing to the eye to possibly incorporate into the design and look of the house. As i said before we already have an architecht....a very reputable one in our area. I just wanted to give him something to work with when we first meet with him so he has an idea of what we are looking for. If this were for a private residence as my husband has always worked with i wouldn't be asking these questions. I know exactly what i would choose for my home but i tend to think outside of box frequently and i want this home to be as appealing to others eyes as it can be.

I love a classic pitched roof with traditional colors and beautiful textures...but that's me. I would first start by finding an architect that you love. Then, find one project of theirs that really speaks to you and have them do an iteration of that, fitting in your own needs and budget for a home. This will help guide you as to what you like, but with the confidence in knowing that the architect will have the skill and talent to make it into a custom piece of art.

The nice beach houses in LBI NJ are getting classic cedar shakes and mansard roof lines.

One state south in Rehoboth and Dewey beaches, we found the highend builders going away from the pastel colonials with columns and grey shingled nantucket style homes towards modern farmhouse style houses (even at the beach). We saw white shingles, white board & batten siding, black windows, black screened front porches, black metal roofing accents, and black folding window walls are a must.

Thought this was neat too!

Have always loved this houses color.

If you're building in a community, mimic what the other houses in the community are like. If they're all victorian don't put in a modern farmhouse. If they're all shingle style, don't put in a modern farmhouse. A modern farmhouse white with black windows will not stand the test of time. What's already in your community will.

Having attended college in a town(Kingsville, TX) that was 8 miles inland from Baffin Bay, I would build to mitigate the flooding and damage risk from hurricanes/ nor'easters. You might want to read up on the house that survived Hurricane Ike on the Bolivar Peninsula.

Last House Standing Gilchrist, TX

I actually have a beach house on the bay so I can give you some tips. ONLY do all your outside lighting in plastic or composition. Don't let them tell you you can wax it, that doesn't hold up, or powder coat it, it actually will pit.

Next upper deck flooring. Do a poured epoxy floor. It holds up better than lifetime decking, and you don't want cracks between boards,even closed boards, because it will drip down onto people below.

Next, do your siding in the best product available. If you can afford Hardy board, that's the best on the market. The old cedar shakes you have to clean and condition or they split.

Aluminum can dent , vinyl can melt and sag.Hardy board has a cement composite, so it will be forever.