it looks like a mishmash to me.

It is :/ that’s why I am trying fix it. It was a rushed build . Ran out of time . Hand no help from a designer when built

What do you think are Craftsman features? I don't see any.

This below is a modernized Craftsman style home.

• Tapered Columns
• Brackets to hold up roof extensions
• Stone & Siding for exterior.

The home you posted is simply random exterior materials applied to a some what Colonial home. It's not Farmhouse and it's not Craftsman.

The stone selection doesn't really complement the other materials. That area should have been siding or brick, but NOT fake stone.

Shutters might improve the appearance of the house.

The oversized evergreen have to go.

I am so sorry I did not realize this is your home. I think is just fine, no labels needed. A landscaper could jazz up the curb appeal!

I know the house I very mixed. The windows are craftsman style bars. My builder promised me a more craftsman / farmhouse look , but after it paid him the HOA denied the house . It forced me to have to quickly slap brick on it :( and I was out of state. It was a disaster. 7 years later I am stilll bothered by it & would like to give my house a more definite style and color pallet. Maybe it’s too far gone ? I was thinking painting the hardy board, a new front door.

Amber, it’s a nice house but Beverly has a good point about the stone. Maybe consider replacing it at some point? I like your brick but the gray siding might be easier to match. Removing the two big bushes would improve the entry and expose more of it.

Do you want wood, painted or steel ? It would be nice to see the entry better those shrubs alomng the walkway need a big haircut they hide the entry to your home

This is a tough crowd, it’s an attractive house that would look great with a little bit of landscaping no matter what ”style” it is:)

I love those ideas

It looks like a builder's special to me. I am guessing the brick and stone only appear on the front of the house, and there is a fourth siding material.

No , the HOA made us put the brick which clashed with/ the stone .

I don’t hate the idea of shutters

Love Minards ideas. The mulch color really throws it all off for me. Good landscaping with some silvery blue toned shrubs mixed with other colors to compliment the stone could really help pulls this together.

You guys I appreciate these suggestions so much . That mock up w/ the shutters is sooooo helpful .

I am so confused as to how this house got built in the first place.

Your builder was not your builder. He and his management company had determined the development phase of your community prior to selling the lots. He and the HOA was everyone's' builder.

He could not promise you anything unless the design and finishes were HOA approved. But, you say he promised you Craftsman style. He lied to you. There is no wiggle room in an HOA.

IMO,"your" builder owes you big time.

Okay, back to your post. The house could be Craftsman style had the builder added finises to make it relate. He could also make it Victorian style had he added finishes to make it relate.

So, let's call the style ambiguous.

Sadly no. He owned the lot, I assumed he knew the the bilaws but he had never built in this sub. Before . I love my neighborhood so much so the exterior of my house not being perfect is ok w/ me . I was livid w/ my builder , but he just blamed the HOA & made me pay more $ for a style I never wanted . I can’t go backwards only forwards . Shutters ? Landscape ?

He owned your lot and he owned all the lots. An independent builder just can't buy a lot in a HOA subdivision and build you a custom home. The HOA drives the bus and the builder and the HOA are married (to put it simply). Charging you extra for a style you never asked for? Up to you, but I would talk to an HOA-specific lawyer.

Can you paint the applied brick white? I think that would give the house a more farmhouse look.

No shutters, as you have double windows and a single shutters will not fit appropriately.

Get rid of those big bushes that hide your entry. What about a blue gray shutter? Also paint the door.

It will be a charming house after some tweaks. Get estimates to replace the stone with brick. Propose shutters in the gray blue suggested by vinmarks above and run the brick and shutters ideas by the HOA board. In Michigan, you have a good long winter to consider new landscaping.

First mountain you gave yourself to climb over was choosing to build in an HOA development without fully examining the rules. Your best course is to give up your preferences and accept having a new build to live in. If you think you'll need more, begin looking for a non-HOA lot for your next build. Your house will sell when the next property is finished.

I love my house. I don’t need to “accept it” . I love my neighbors, subdivision, even the HOA. Yes , I suppose it was on me to have trusted the builder who advertised a specific build , on a lot in a sub. In which that was not possible . But my house did get built - just not 100 % in the design I had originally chosen . I lost sleep over it. But I am at peace now .

These are custom homes. My builder owned only 1 lot ( mine ) . This sub is from the 90s. I got lucky there was a couple lots left .

Agree with @Minardi- lean into the brick to simplify the facade, my first priority would be to remove the stone

NO shutters double windows nwever have shutters since the size would not work on your home . You hvae 3 posts on this house exterior now so you will bebusy reading . You need to pick as tyle and farm house not and IMO not Craftsman but a mismash of the 2 . If possible remove the stone and honestly HOAs are possibly the worst things ever IMO I think the siding all one color to work with the brick is what you need and IMO at some time all those windows done with no grids that will simplify the house at least . See if removing the stone is ALLOWED with the HOA of course .

I would replace the stone with matching brick, perhaps paint the siding a shade of sage and pick a new door color. No shutters. Refreshed landscaping with a different color mulch.

However, I think your HOA is probably going to limit your choices for all of these things, so find out what you CAN do first and then come back to us..

Sometimes approved HOA paint colors are online on the HOA website, along with other rules and regulations. That makes it a lot easier to see what kind of changes are likely to get approved.

First of all, you're in beautiful Michigan with homes full of character and charm. You came here wanting ideas and will surely get them! If this is your forever home, take your time assessing what cosmetic changes will have the biggest impact you're willing to spend money on. It is nice as is. :)

From what we can see of it, this looks like a very nice home. It’s in dire need of professional attention to its landscaping though. Remove those silver blue junipers now so you can see the house and its details.

The stone looks nice and the brick looks nice. But together, they are NOT nice. It looks disjointed, like two different homes slapped together. If you must have brick, removal of the stone would go a long way toward making your home look cohesive and attractive. Replace it with either matching brick or matching siding.

It is really so nondescript that I wouldn't call it either. No offense intended by that. It looks like a million other houses that don't respond to the local vernacular nor does it respond to its environment. That being said it can certainly be remodeled to look more farmhouse although the farmhouse look has lot popularity. Ultimately, the question is - what do you want the house to look like?

I 100 percent agree. And to be honest, in Michigan so many homes fit that description. These are NOT master planned common like I saw a lot of while living in DFW. Space is more limited, so if you want to build custom , you find a lot & many of the homes are from the 80s and 90/ . So materials / and exterior home trends have changed. I would be interested in paying a professional to help me “tweak” my home & give it more definition & help it blend with the somewhat French country homes in my neighborhood. I worked with the an architect designing the house, but nobody to help with color matching . I was thinking if I added shutters / or painted the hardy board / removed the shake , take off the veneer only since it’s kind of ugly , maybe take the farmhouse post on my porch and make them more …. Femanine ? I don’t know ? I love everything about my house . And plan to be here a very long time. When I drive up ..I wanna love it

Verify the "architect" license with the state of Michigan

https://aca-prod.accela.com/MILARA/GeneralProperty/PropertyLookUp.aspx?isLicensee=Y&TabName=APO

The house does look like many of the houses in sub-urban areas Michigan and beyond.

For everyone's enjoyment:

Almost everyone says take down shutters no matter what! But in your situation the gray shutters shown by Beverly really do tie the facade together.

I'd consider staining the stone and/or brick to harmonize better.

Unfortunately, there are few historical architectural styles that favored multiple randomly placed and sized front facing gables other than perhaps Victorian, Shingle and American Tudor which would be diffuclt to apply to your house. It's pretty much a modern builder/developer eclectic style often marketed as a "Transitional" style house.

Since a Colonial style house would not have had paired windows, you could always call it a Colonial Revival but the rustic bare wood porch posts would need to be dressed up.

If the house had been built before air conditioning it might have had bi-fold shutters on either side of the paired windows. The shutters would not have been for style but for privacy and ventilation at night. You can still buy real bi-fold shutters so you don't need to fake it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaiTjyFn9oo&t=8s

Typical Colonial Revival shutters were extremely dark green. I would avoid introducing other colors to such an eclectic design.

My house in 1891

Is that you or Stanford White on the open porch?

Mr. S. W. Jones is standing on the piazza.

I have been wondering what "transitional style" might refer to and have decided it's moving from one particular style to multiple styles which would explain the sense that several houses were joined together to make one or perhaps four architects were involved.

The house would be great if it only had one kind of cladding. I suspect the HOA would favor masonry but I would remove all of it and add wall shingles. If only one masonry element could be changed I would change the stone.

Replace the stone with brick.

Is there stone on the side wall?

It might helpl to know the HOA exterior cladding requirements.