Might want architect to redesign exterior elevation styling. The current style is not conducive to “porch”.

Jenna thanks for the additional recommendations. I am a fan of the look with the pergola as well. We both really like the three french doors on the front so I think we definitely need to be able to access those. Especially from the study. Here are some beautiful European country style homes that used timbers and I love the looks.

Another favorite that incorporated timber post. This is the same stone and roof we plan to do as well

Those definitely help me understand better what you are looking for. I think the one commonality of those is that there isn’t symmetry on the main block of house (where your front door is) I think thats what is throwing everyone off and really is the difference between your inspirational photos and your drawing. Most of the larger porches also seem to be to one side or on the side or back of the house not across the whole front. Again its up to you, just what I noticed from where you posted.

Heavy beams take your style to more English and that is not French! Never the twain shall meet!

I agree with Jenna. It seems you are more interested in having your front entrance secondary or hidden within an asymmetrical overhang (gable or timbered porch/balcony. Based off of you inspiration photos. You may need to rework the large main roofline to be more of a gable than a hipped roof.

Perhaps it may be helpful to go back and restate why you want a front porch and how it will be used.

If the porch is to actually be functional, and not simply decorative, it will have to be a minimum of 8-feet deep (not 6-feet).

Thank you for all the people offering suggestions. They are all being considered and evaluated.

We will use the front porch mainly my husband will access it from the study. He works from home majority of the time and is constantly on the phone for work. He frequently goes onto our current front porch for change of scenery from office but, mainly if me and the kids get loud while he is on important calls 😁.
However, I simply just love a large front porch. It makes a house feel like home to me and I find them very welcoming.

Hum. Not sure exactly where your hubby’s office will be in relation to front yard, but a great way to accomplish some of what you want but stay in French style, is to put authentic 3 panel French doors to the outside and create a “Secret Garden” there with a water feature. A bistro table and chairs would be delightful. I actually did this on a home I designed several years ago in French style. I will see if I can find photo for inspiration. Bbl

These are photos of photos so the quality will be less than optimum, but i could see one set of those front windows including French doors. I used Japanese Blueberry for natural screen and French concrete edge to seating area for defining space. Loved it.

If a front porch is high on your list of must-haves, I have to wonder why you're planning a French manor house style house. There are so many lovely house styles that include the gracious porches you like, why not look for a plan in a style that incorporates one? I'd suggest looking through Allison Ramsey's stock plans, as her style often includes great porches.

https://www.allisonramseyarchitect.com/house-plans.cfm

This one, for example, has many shared characteristics with your original plan (master on the main, great room, study, mudroom, three car garage, courtyard for pool in back, garage tucked away, etc.), but I'd argue it's better done actually (not as overwhelming a roof, no crazy angles needed, better flow/organizing structure), and it has a lovely, classic look with a front porch.

https://www.allisonramseyarchitect.com/plan-details.cfm?planNumber=18364

Here is rough mock up using your picture. It could be incorporated nicely into front of home.

Not as good at paint as others Took what Jenna had and changed it to leave your big beautiful entry. I would make sure these mini porches were less deep than the main entry and more narrow than the side faces of the recessed portion so you could still see stone around the sides of the mini porch.

roof. Of course it will be much bigger in person as the sizing is difficult to do in paint.

Extending the center forward facing gable six or eight feet and adding shed roofs on each side of it would work.

Changing the roof over the upstairs directly behind that center front gable over the entry so it, too, is a forward facing gable ... with the shorter height forward facing gable -- extended to have a front porch with a shed roof on either side of a center forward facing gable.

However,

An alternative could be to have a porch that could be accessible from the front but not actually be a "front porch" by repositioning the car shelter so the drive thru it is from side to side rather than being from front to back, while leaving access to the porch from the front..

A large porch -- possibly a screened porch -- could be built on the left side of the house and have the car shelter and structure (now shown to the left of the house), instead of being built against the house, be built at a ninety degree angle to its currently shown location.

As long as you leave at least a single wide doorway width between the car shelter support and the house for access to the porch, you will have a porch that can be both the place to greet "back door guests" and provide a large porch shelter that can be used as part of an indoor/outdoor entertainment venue, especially if you add a really great patio adjacent to it on the side and/or back of your home. You would also be paving less area of your lot -- no driveway paving of the more private back yard area ... a good thing unless, perhaps, you're planning a separate garage in the back.

That wide doorway opening accessible from the front could be situated so someone entering through it could enter either walking in from the front facing the back of your lot or, for more privacy, move the car shelter several feet closer to the road and have someone entering the porch through the wide opening enter from the right side facing the left side of the lot.

Well...there's all sorts of responses here, from "no, the architectural style of the proposed house is inconsistent with a large front porch", to "sure, it's your house, and you can do what you want to".

With enough will power and sufficient budget, anything can be done.

The real question is should it?

Suggested courtyard/porch next to the car shelter. One with wood columns one with stone columns.... Once again poorly done but gives ideas. (not sure which room I eliminated?)

I have been jumping in and off through out the day but just now getting around to posting.
KH- thank you for the visuals. They definitely help me to see the ideas. I’m going to recheck the plans for the size of the utility room that is what would be located behind that area. I do like the wood post that matches the main entrance so that’s an idea to consider I hadn’t thought of. It could also locate laundry closet to the master and make an entry from laundry into the closet. One thing I’m unsure of is if the would be appropriate having the door located in the beginning of the master hall.... bur I love the ideas that create new possibilities like that.

Flo- that is a great area. I love how you tucked it behind the landscaping for a great spot to be created. If the porch ends up being a no go then I will keep that idea in mind for sure. The one negative to lot position for us is we are rather close to the road. So I feel our front yard will be pretty tight for large tree placement.

Kristin- this floor plan actually was one of the best fits for our family. Also, my husband and loves the garage set up as well as me. I’m not a fan of forward facing garages or side load. We also love the back porch area that will create an L shape around pool area to help create a lot of privacy and outdoor entertaining areas. I guess I didn’t realize how the degree that people would feel so strongly about the manor style be strictly French country. I love how stately it is but, feel like material used can make it feel more European cottage. It’s not a small home but, it definitely isn’t a mansion so I think that allows us more ability to take away some of the stiffness.

Sue bell- thank you for the suggestions but due to lot size and liking the garage set up and L shape around pool area I think the current footprint is best option.

Virgil- yes, if it’s done right.

Our Designer is currently working on drafts with stone columns with the (small Y Brackett support in wood) will post once she gets them to me.

"...if it can be done right..."

Yes. That is the question isn't it?

It becomes much more challenging when an architectural style is selected for which large front porches are not an element.

When you put a substantially different style element on the front facade, even when carefully done, it will still not look authentic. So assess this very carefully so you don’t have big regrets down the road.

following, for our new build, in the planning stages we had one house drawn up & hubby realized all the wasted space this plan had, so we ditched that plan & started over. Yes we paid for it, but the 2nd plan was a better fit for us.

Please excuse the poorly shot pic but, this is similar to what we had in mind.

What are the two front rooms upstairs? I think to get the cohesive look, you need to extend the upstairs forwards including the roof and then build the porch under that using arched stone openings to duplicate the arched windows on either side of the entrance. The lower portion would be an "open" duplication of the front with the porch within. The center door portion would be brought forward as well but become open on each side so you have one continuous porch.

Below is the upstairs floor plan. The two front upper rooms are bedrooms. Do you mean to just pull the dormer window out further? And then surround the lower with arched stone in place of the timber post?

Sorry forgot to attach pic

I mean to extend the upstairs forward so it creates a porch overhang and the porch "posts" would be load bearing and actually be a duplicate of the stone downstairs from with arched openings .

That would create additional second floor square footage and second floor windows as shown would look weird because of semi mansard roof/window line. Then, porch roof would block light and create dark interior. Bottom line: you need thorough options from good architect that considers all the complications.

No offense DIS and you have a good basic concept but we don’t have enough info so hoping poster takes input to architect and gets a thorough look both from exterior elevations, interiors and site considerations. Never easy.

DIS- I actually was speaking with the designer yesterday and we are evaluating how far to pull the windows out. We are carefully watching how that affects the side profile obviously, the flow will need to be there from all angles. But we have already made those upstairs windows much wider and it will be the double windows that open outward. I do feel that stone arches will keep with the concept of a stately appearance but worry that it will make porch area a little too heavy and closed off feeling. But, with that being said I will post drawings from our designer once she completes them. She was looking into mixing the stone with wood accents. I appreciate your suggestions. FYI- I checked out your design projects- beautiful job👍🏻

Thank you Kar1983.

Flo don't get me wrong it would be a major undertaking and there would be a lot to factor in but it is an option that would keep with the architectural style of the home.

Below are 3 options. We have requested a few tweaks but, will probably get those tomorrow. The pic with the red arrow shoes a difference in the wood accent trim. I prefer that side best. Other tweaks we asked to see involve doing a smaller Dutch hip to the roof line above the one car garage and adding a small one to the main stone entry frame. Also for decorative purposes adding attic vent between Dutch hip and garage window as well as a small decorative window between the Dutch hip and main entry.
For the pic with 3 upper dormers I requested to have copper roofing added to that one and then to raise it like in the additional porch picture example I attached.

If you have to choose from one of the three the middle one is my vote.

I like the second one the best! Making the windows larger and having the three dormers up top makes a world of difference to me.

I really like the first one, it is very stately. But after reading all of your comments I think the second one has more of a cottage feel which is what you are after :) So my vote is for the second one, they are all gorgeous so no wrong choice here.

The middle one because it repeats the lines of the windows and is more cohesive.

The other two are jarring with all the additional elements.

I also agree that the second one is the most cohesive in it's repetition of similar elements to tie together the facade. I like that the arches of the porch tie to the arches of the doors and windows, and the dormers up above. The dormers however should not be clad with stone as the surround appears to narrow to accommodate the weight, especially since they project off the face of the house.Make these a painted finish to match the eaves/windows instead.

I agree with A Fox on the material for the dormers. In your colored picture we have all been modifying it shows the dormers as a white almost stucco like covering. It is perfect to go with the stone facade you have.

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. We are definitely going over them all. For the dormer material that is being discussed with the builder as well. I just got back the two plans with all the adjustments. Posting below. Please share your favorite and if it’s still the same post the adjustments 🙂👍🏻 thanks so much!!

First one is most authentic.

Much prefer the one with the three dormers.

I think the stone columns for the porch overhang are out of proportion in the second drawing. They are too narrow. For some reason I feel something is off with the first drawing too. Maybe it's the overhang(soffit) it doesn't seem to match the rest of the house but it could just be the elevation drawing (the rest of the house looks like it has a wider soffit).

I think I figured it out in this picture: the main gable columns flare out at the top and narrow at the bottom where your current elevation it is opposite and it now makes the straight columns on either side of it look off.

So I asked her to mimic this one. It is wider at the bottom. I am just on my phone but will put on my large screen once I get home and see if it looks off. We can revert back to the straight post if needed

Does your designer do 3D renderings? It's impossible to fully understand how these different designs will look from an elevation.

I keep thinking that the wood looks out of place. Why would you have wood columns, brackets and a beam stuck inside an opening surrounded by stone?

Yes once we go to finals, these are just the preliminaries. Because, I think it’s pretty.

Because, I think it’s pretty.

I thought there were lots of things that were pretty when I was creating my house but that doesn't mean I used them all. Good design doesn't mean you throw everything you like on a house. It means choosing a few elements and then pairing down so those few elements become the star of the house.

Otherwise your house will wind up looking like a woman wearing too much makeup and jewelry. Or as Coco Chanel said, "Less is more."

Okay cpartist. Thanks for your suggestions?

My vote is for the three dormers, but make the stone columns wider

Did you ever decide on a final design?

This is the final pick💕

It is a beautiful home! I am glad you have found something you love. Ignore the negative comments here...........and use the ones you find helpful.