You are right, it looks ordinary. Unfortunately the exterior of a house is closely related to the interior of the house and how those spaces are arranged. To make changes to one may mean changes to the other, which would demand a lot more information. You may be best off starting from scratch and design a house that meets your needs, fits your site, and has the aesthetic you want. I can find no record of Tom Vavra being an architect in Virginia, even though it appears he claims to be one, which I think is illegal in most states. Seek out an other local architect and make your house the way you want it.

EDIT: Thomas Vavra is licensed.

Thank you for your response! We did look into hiring an architect when we first decided to build and even had some meetings with a well-respected one in our area, but in the end designing a bespoke house turned out not to be within our budget. We have since bought a plan that we like by Ross Chapin and may still go ahead with building that, however we are now expecting another baby and I’m now concerned that plan may be too small for our growing family. I found this one by TM Vavra, which seems like it would be perfect for our needs, but the exterior isn’t really in-keeping with the area we live in. I don’t want to make any major changes to the plan, it’s great as it is, I’m just looking for advice on how to alter the “dressing”, so to speak.

I did a quick search and confirmed Thomas Vavra is a licensed architect in Virginia.  Looks like he has pretty strong reviews on Houzz. 

https://www.dpor.virginia.gov/LicenseLookup

I stand corrected, Thomas Vavra is licensed (his siamese twin Tom, is not).

You'd like some of the exterior 'looks' of homes in your area. Drive around and post pictures with things you like from area houses and other inspiration pictures. Plus a floorplan.

Getting an architect to look at it and re-elevate it wouldn't be expensive. They're professionals and that's what they get paid to do, same as you get paid for what you do. It's not going to break the bank.

You live in the mountains, but you want a farmhouse look? Wouldn't that look even more out of place in the mountains?

Living in the "mountains" can mean a lot of different things (VT, CO, CA foothills, TX hills, etc), so I'll second the suggestion of showing what those mountain homes look like in your area.

When I think "mountain" homes.

Photo: National Association of Homebuilders

You can see the "Clintwood" at https://tmvavra.com/product/the-clintwood/

It's odd that an architect would call it a "Craftsman design". To me it's a Cape Cod but with the following un-cape-like features tacked on: "poorman's" classical cornice returns, fake doghouse dormers, a little portico and nested shallow gables. It doesn't appear that any standard builder's feature is missing. All of that would need to go if its to be a mountain house and by mountain I assume its snow country.

I would try pulling the main roof forward to align with the wall of the garage to create a large front porch and face the gable over the garage to the side over the doors to avoid dumping snow on the driveway. It might not work but it would be a good design excercise in keeping the roof big and simple.

If you want additional space on the second floor, add a substantial dormer but not for curb appeal.

It might even look more like a Craftsman.

This sort of question arises from time to time: "I like the plan, but don't like the exterior. What can I change?"

Unfortunately (and as Mark describes above) the interior and exterior are always linked together. One causes the other. Changes in one almost always cause changes to the other. Many consumers don't understand this. In fact, most consumers don't understand this.

If you are willing to make changes to the interior, then changes to the exterior are certainly possible. Without changes to the interior, any exterior changes are just superficial, like changing the siding material, paint, etc. Some roof changes may also be possible as Architectrunnerguy suggests. But there is a limit to these.

What, in your opinion, would look "in place" in your mountain area?

A house in the mountains of Vermont would be quite different than a house in the mountains of Wyoming or West Virginia, I should think.

Those dormers are too small to look good as shed dormers. I don't recommend picking something in a style you don't like and then trying to add or subtract details to adjust the style. It's like buying a country-western look and wanting a tuxedo Sure, you can replace the demin with black broadcloth and the cowboy hat with a top hat, but you're going to get something that isn't sure if it belongs in a barroom or a ballroom.

You should be able to eliminate the doghouse dormers. They don't provide light to any area of the house. They are just warts on the roof.

I am not sure about flat roof dormers. Now they repeat other gable roofs/pitches.

I think of wood exterior or stone exterior when I think of mountain homes. You could go with an exterior like these if you wanted. I personally like the red.

Good luck!