My first thought is the combination of the board and batten and the shingles will look hokey, like an unexperienced designer throwing exterior wall finishes on a house like throwing darts at a dart board.

First off, design all sides of the house at the same time. Do not design the side that is facing the street and leave the other sides to happenstance like many of the houses presented here on Houzz. Design the plan with the massing and form in mind. This is your opportunity to create something great that meets your needs and responds to the site. Tell your designer to design something other than the builder special box.

Your peaks are properly called gables.

I'd start by simplifying the architecture. Here I've made a few changes, and would recommend more if I could see the plan.

Ask your designer for some color renderings so you can see your options.

No to three materials, yes to simplified plan. Do the first AND second floor in lap siding, choose board and batten OR shingle for the gables.

Way too complicated. Good is simple. Simple is good. Ditch the board and batten and do plain lap siding. Maybe some shake at the gables, separated by a belly band.

Thanks all! He does have all three sides designed, but we were only considering board and batten for the front, which is why that’s the only elevation I attached. Out of curiosity, why would you simplify the plan by removing one of the gables? Is it price or just overall look?

He does have all three sides designed, but we were only considering board and batten for the front, which is why that’s the only elevation I attached.

I believe Mark was referring to continuity -- don't decorate the front and neglect the sides and back.

Out of curiosity, why would you simplify the plan by removing one of the gables? Is it price or just overall look?

Looks.

Adding unneeded front facing gables is the current trend, as is mixing multiple types of siding (especially B&B), in an attempt to add 'interest'.

In your elevation, the house looks top heavy.

If you want B&B, I'd do the entire house. Otherwise, all lap, or lap with something else in all the gables.

Getting the details correct on any house is important. Besides the obvious roof changes, I moved the paired windows apart allowing room for trim between them, and increased the height of the door to match the window head height.

"we were only considering board and batten for the front"

That confirms my fears.

PPF.is correct.

Since there is a limit on the length of boards for board and batten, I'd use the shakes on the gables and the board and batten on the main part of the house, topped by a belly band.

IMO too many gables and I would not want to add to that clutter . I would just doa mix of horizontal and vertical siding. BTW yes all sides of a home need to be done the same.

Too many everything. Too many gables and materials and lines.

IMO mixing formal narrow horizontal siding and informal wide board & batten siding is awkward.

If you add shingles/shakes put them on the upper walls and wrap the corners.

Ask your designer to add some more interesting detailing like frieze boards under the eaves and rakes.

Forget the current fad of board and batten. I have no idea how an unpainted vacation cabin siding suddenly became the hot trend. It is a terrible trend. Use traditional lap siding. Shakes on the gables. Belly band. Frieze boards. Listen to PPF on the too many awkward gables thing. That is another horrible fad.