This soft contemporary home was uniquely designed to evoke a coastal design feeling while maintaining a Hill Country style native to its environment. The final design resulted in a beautifully minimalistic, transparent, and inviting home. The light exterior stucco paired with geometric forms and contemporary details such as galvanized brackets, frameless glass and linear railings achieves the precise coastal contemporary look the clients desired. The open floor plan visually connects multiple rooms to each other, creating a seamless flow from the formal living, kitchen and family rooms and ties the upper floor to the lower. This transparent theme even begins at the front door and extends all the way through to the exterior porches and views beyond via large frameless glazing. The overall design is kept basic in form, allowing the architecture to shine through in the detailing. Built by Olympia Homes Interior Design by Joy Kling Photography by Merrick Ales

Photos by SpaceCrafting
Victorian gray two-story wood exterior home idea in Minneapolis

This custom home was built for empty nesting in mind. The first floor is all you need with wide open dining, kitchen and entertaining along with master suite just off the mudroom and laundry. Upstairs has plenty of room for guests and return home college students. Photos- Rustic White Photography

Classic Island beach cottage exterior of an elevated historic home by Sea Island Builders. Light colored white wood contract wood shake roof. Juila Lynn

Graced with an abundance of windows, Alexandria’s modern meets traditional exterior boasts stylish stone accents, interesting rooflines and a pillared and welcoming porch. You’ll never lack for style or sunshine in this inspired transitional design perfect for a growing family. The timeless design merges a variety of classic architectural influences and fits perfectly into any neighborhood. A farmhouse feel can be seen in the exterior’s peaked roof, while the shingled accents reference the ever-popular Craftsman style. Inside, an abundance of windows flood the open-plan interior with light. Beyond the custom front door with its eye-catching sidelights is 2,350 square feet of living space on the first level, with a central foyer leading to a large kitchen and walk-in pantry, adjacent 14 by 16-foot hearth room and spacious living room with a natural fireplace. Also featured is a dining area and convenient home management center perfect for keeping your family life organized on the floor plan’s right side and a private study on the left, which lead to two patios, one covered and one open-air. Private spaces are concentrated on the 1,800-square-foot second level, where a large master suite invites relaxation and rest and includes built-ins, a master bath with double vanity and two walk-in closets. Also upstairs is a loft, laundry and two additional family bedrooms as well as 400 square foot of attic storage. The approximately 1,500-square-foot lower level features a 15 by 24-foot family room, a guest bedroom, billiards and refreshment area, and a 15 by 26-foot home theater perfect for movie nights. Photographer: Ashley Avila Photography

Atlanta modern home designed by Dencity LLC and built by Cablik Enterprises. Photo by AWH Photo & Design.
Example of a mid-sized minimalist orange one-story exterior home design in Atlanta

Contractor: Prestige Residential Construction; Interior Design: NB Design Group; Photo: Benjamin Benschneider
Inspiration for a 1950s two-story exterior home remodel in Seattle

This post-war, plain bungalow was transformed into a charming cottage with this new exterior detail, which includes a new roof, red shutters, energy-efficient windows, and a beautiful new front porch that matched the roof line. Window boxes with matching corbels were also added to the exterior, along with pleated copper roofing on the large window and side door. Photo courtesy of Kate Benjamin Photography

This David Adler home was formerly a Princeton Eating Club and was moved to its current location in the early 1900's. Our Princeton architects designed this front porch addition to restore the home to its original grandeur while also adding a second floor master bath and separate entrance hall.

Traditional gray two-story wood exterior home idea in Indianapolis with a mixed material roof

Originally built in 1889 a short walk from the old East Falls Church rail station, the vaguely reminiscent gothic Victorian was a landmark in a neighborhood of late 19th century wood frame homes. The two story house had been changed many times over its 116 year life with most of the changes diminishing the style and integrity of the original home. Beginning during the mid-twentieth century, few of the changes could be seen as improvements. The wonderfully dominate front tower was obscured by a bathroom shed roof addition. The exterior skin was covered with asbestos siding, requiring the removal of any wood detailing projecting from its surface. Poorly designed diminutive additions were added to the rear creating small, awkward, low ceiling spaces that became irrelevant to the modern user. The house was in serious need of a significant renovation and restoration. A young family purchased the house and immediately realized the inadequacies; sub-par spaces, kitchen, bathrooms and systems. The program for this project was closely linked to aesthetics, function and budget. The program called for significantly enlarging the house with a major new rear addition taking the place of the former small additions. Critically important to the program was to not only protect the integrity of the original house, but to restore and expand the house in such a way that the addition would be seamless. The completed house had to fulfill all of the requirements of a modern house with significant living spaces, including reconfigured foyer, living room and dining room on the first floor and three modified bedrooms on the second floor. On the rear of the house a new addition created a new kitchen, family room, mud room, powder room and back stair hall. This new stair hall connected the new and existing first floor to a new basement recreation room below and a new master bedroom suite with laundry and second bathroom on the second floor. The entire exterior of the house was stripped to the original sheathing. New wood windows, wood lap siding, wall trim including roof eave and rake trim were installed. Each of the details on the exterior of the house matched the original details. This fact was confirmed by researching the house and studying turn-of-the-century photographs. The second floor addition was removed, facilitating the restoration of the four sided mansard roof tower. The final design for the house is strong but not overpowering. As a renovated house, the finished product fits the neighborhood, restoring its standing as a landmark, satisfying the owner’s needs for house and home. Hoachlander Davis Photography

The exterior face lift included Hardie board siding and MiraTEC trim, decorative metal railing on the porch, landscaping and a custom mailbox. The concrete paver driveway completes this beautiful project.

Example of a large trendy multicolored three-story mixed siding exterior home design in Other with a mixed material roof

The goal for this Point Loma home was to transform it from the adorable beach bungalow it already was by expanding its footprint and giving it distinctive Craftsman characteristics while achieving a comfortable, modern aesthetic inside that perfectly caters to the active young family who lives here. By extending and reconfiguring the front portion of the home, we were able to not only add significant square footage, but create much needed usable space for a home office and comfortable family living room that flows directly into a large, open plan kitchen and dining area. A custom built-in entertainment center accented with shiplap is the focal point for the living room and the light color of the walls are perfect with the natural light that floods the space, courtesy of strategically placed windows and skylights. The kitchen was redone to feel modern and accommodate the homeowners busy lifestyle and love of entertaining. Beautiful white kitchen cabinetry sets the stage for a large island that packs a pop of color in a gorgeous teal hue. A Sub-Zero classic side by side refrigerator and Jenn-Air cooktop, steam oven, and wall oven provide the power in this kitchen while a white subway tile backsplash in a sophisticated herringbone pattern, gold pulls and stunning pendant lighting add the perfect design details. Another great addition to this project is the use of space to create separate wine and coffee bars on either side of the doorway. A large wine refrigerator is offset by beautiful natural wood floating shelves to store wine glasses and house a healthy Bourbon collection. The coffee bar is the perfect first top in the morning with a coffee maker and floating shelves to store coffee and cups. Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) flooring was selected for use throughout the home, offering the warm feel of hardwood, with the benefits of being waterproof and nearly indestructible - two key factors with young kids! For the exterior of the home, it was important to capture classic Craftsman elements including the post and rock detail, wood siding, eves, and trimming around windows and doors. We think the porch is one of the cutest in San Diego and the custom wood door truly ties the look and feel of this beautiful home together.

Originally built in the 1940’s as an austere three-bedroom partial center-hall neo-colonial with attached garage, this house has assumed an entirely new identity. The transformation to an asymmetrical dormered cottage responded to the architectural character of the surrounding City of Falls Church neighborhood. The family had lived in this house for seven years, but recognized that the plan of the house, with its discreet box-like rooms, was at odds with their desired life-style. The circulation for the house included each room, without a distinct circulation system. The architect was asked to expand the living space on both floors, and create a house that unified family activities. A family room and breakfast room were added to the rear of the first floor, and the existing spaces reconfigured to create an openness and connection among the rooms. An existing garage was integrated into the house volume, becoming the kitchen, powder room and mudroom. Front and back porches were added, allowing an overlap of family life inside the house and outside in the yard. Rather than simply enlarge the rectangular footprint of the house, the architect sought to break down the massing with perpendicular gable roofs and dormers to alleviate the roof line. The Craftsman style provided texture to the fenestration. The broad roof overhangs provided sun screening and rain protection. The challenge of unifying the massing led to the development of the breakfast room. Conceived as a modern element, the one-story massing of the breakfast room with roof terrace above twists the volume 45% to the mass of the main house. Materials and detailing express the distinction. While the main house is clad in the original brick and new horizontal siding with trim and details appropriate to its cottage vocabulary, the breakfast room exterior is clad in vertical wide-board tongue-and-groove siding to minimize the texture. The steel hand railing on the roof terrace above accentuates the clean lines of this special element. Hoachlander Davis Photography

Photography by Rick Keating http://www.rickkeatingphotographer.com/

Located within a gated golf course community on the shoreline of Buzzards Bay this residence is a graceful and refined Gambrel style home. The traditional lines blend quietly into the surroundings. Photo Credit: Eric Roth

Sun Room. Exteiror Sunroom -Photographer: Rob Karosis
Elegant two-story wood exterior home photo in New York

The renovation of the Woodland Residence centered around two basic ideas. The first was to open the house to light and views of the surrounding woods. The second, due to a limited budget, was to minimize the amount of new footprint while retaining as much of the existing structure as possible. The existing house was in dire need of updating. It was a warren of small rooms with long hallways connecting them. This resulted in dark spaces that had little relationship to the exterior. Most of the non bearing walls were demolished in order to allow for a more open concept while dividing the house into clearly defined private and public areas. The new plan is organized around a soaring new cathedral space that cuts through the center of the house, containing the living and family room spaces. A new screened porch extends the family room through a large folding door - completely blurring the line between inside and outside. The other public functions (dining and kitchen) are located adjacently. A massive, off center pivoting door opens to a dramatic entry with views through a new open staircase to the trees beyond. The new floor plan allows for views to the exterior from virtually any position in the house, which reinforces the connection to the outside. The open concept was continued into the kitchen where the decision was made to eliminate all wall cabinets. This allows for oversized windows, unusual in most kitchens, to wrap the corner dissolving the sense of containment. A large, double-loaded island, capped with a single slab of stone, provides the required storage. A bar and beverage center back up to the family room, allowing for graceful gathering around the kitchen. Windows fill as much wall space as possible; the effect is a comfortable, completely light-filled room that feels like it is nestled among the trees. It has proven to be the center of family activity and the heart of the residence. Hoachlander Davis Photography