No shutters and IMO those fixed windows need to be the same style as the others but hard to do in such a limmited space at least on the left . I never like homes where roofs appear larger than the walls of the home What is in those attic spaces ??

Hi thank you for the feedback. There is nothing in the attics.

Shutters, even if faux, should attempt to look as real as possible. They should always be sized so that they look like they would actually cover the window if they were functional shutters.

The double window on the left has a set of shutters that would not completely cover the two windows if they were real shutters and closed.

I would remove the three sets of shutters currently included on the front elevation.

The windows in each of the gables don't look right to me. They look like they are placed too close to the edges of each gable + they look small.

The attic windows are too small and too high. If they are fixed they should be square, if double hung they need to be operable. Maybe they should just be vents. Rethink the black and white color scheme (yawn) and the timber porch thing- wayyyy too Colorado lodge for a brick house. Is this house on a slab?

Part of your discomfort with the small windows might be because the rooflines of the gables aren't identical and gives the facade a slightly lopsided look. Your brain expects these windows to line up and they don't quite. The white exterior with black windows suggests you're going for a Modern Farmhouse look. If this is true, simpler is better. This look is usually pretty spare. Eliminate the gables completely except over the front door as it deserves emphasis. Change the roof to a regular (not hip) roof. This will also save you money on construction costs. Also as Hallett says, the open timber look over the front door is discordant. Then imagine the house with landscaping. While I think some of trees in front of the house shown below are overgrown, it is a lush look and it is less severe looking than the white with black can be. The lighter color roof softens things too. Modern Farmhouses are usually done with black roofs which looks severe. Ask yourself what look you want in the end. Do you want something that looks welcoming or more sharply modern? Whatever look you want, tell your architect and have him/her present a modified drawing that commits itself to that look.

Modern Farmhouse · More Info

Appreciate all the comments so I'll try and respond to all.

In regards to the shutters, we've almost decided to have those eliminated.

In regards to the overall design of the roof line and exterior of the house, we really really love the look and the hip roof on both ends and costs has already been factored so that's no issue. I don't know if I would say we are going all the way to modern farm house. We are in middle Tennessee though so idk.

In regards to the open timber front gable, what if we eliminated the 3 star design and just left the post and beam? Or completely removed the beam and left it just an open gable design? Something kid of like this? Just a thought.

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1- Your shutters are almost as large as the front door. Cut some foamcore to their size and prop them up next to a window in your current house to get an idea of their size in real life.

2- Will you be using tempered glass in the first-floor windows? In some areas, very low to the floor windows require tempered glass by local code.

3- It's good to get what you really want when you have a custom house. Are you using a designer, drafter, or an architect at this point?

Using a drafter whose using chief architect. The windows aren't tempered. They are the same height as our current new house was in the same county.

I really don't want to get too far off the topic. We really do love this house and design. We love black windows and trim and don't really want to vear away from that. My only discomfort is the windows in the attics. I checked the plans and both gables left and right are a 10:12 pitch but they are different widths. I think that's the reason one window is closer to the top vs the other. The windows are put at the exact same level but the right window is closer to the top because the right gable is a bit lower than the left gable.

The big issue is the amateur mixed up style bit of the darn ungainly swollen big hip roofs and little cross gables are all wrong. They clash. Badly. That is the major unease in the design. And it, and the width and depth being almost ”square” are causing a whole host of issues with scale. Like the giant tall trussed voluminous roof hat that results from that width x depth issue, and is a huge amount of inaccessible wasted space that you pay for.

The wood trim on the gable is an affectated attempt at ”interest” and bring the giant roof scale down, and it clashes too. It matches nothing designwise in the design style, and is just an poor attempt to decorate a poorly massed structure. The non matching windows, and (sadly) fake windows in the fat top hat are just the cherry on top of the design massing failure.

The whole needs to be less fat, with an actual strong central mass that is gabled. Then the subordinate masses should all fall in descending line, based on it’s importance in the scale.

A software guy is not an skilled design professional. And it shows.

@Monique, how would you suggest we approach the height of the hip?

I forgot a crucial detail to mention. The house originally had a bonus room that we had scrapped last minute. The roof was never adjusted to compensate for the loss of the bonus room.

Photo below shows the bonus room that once was.

Here are homes similar to yours. I kind of like the smaller overhang over the entrance. The proportion might be better. I think some of the details on these houses make them a bit more special.

The simplest solution is to lower them so they no longer conflict visually with the angles of the roof.

@BeverlyFLADeziner, thank you for the simple approach at trying to fix it. Maybe it's as simple as just lowering the windows. We really like this plan a lot.

@BeverlyFLADeziner thank you so much. That really balances out the looks

I would lower the gable windows and make them square, the same size as the upper windows in the right gable. And shutters sometimes work, but not here.

@RappArchitecture, appreciate the feedback. I am going to start with the adjustment of the two windows followed by adding the two side lights to the main entrance and go from there. I'll provide an update once I am there

@BeverlyFLADeziner, @RappArchitecture,

We made some of the recommended adjustments and I honestly couldn't be happier. Subtle but effective.

Lowered the roof line in the middle

Added an extra gable end detail to garage

Removed shutters

Added side windows to main door

Thank you for your feedback. We started and completed footers yesterday. I'll post once it's framed and bricked to show how it's coming along.