New Home: Exterior Aesthetics

[MAM]

Hi,
I'm niether a designer nor an architect. In fact, I'm a transportation consultant. However, even without a trained eye, I recognize that something is missing from this new home (left: above garage and below the window)

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can fill this empty space... that is if you do agree that something is missing.

Thanks,
MAM

[csintexas]

I guess you could put a star up there (those are popular these days) ..or some other bit of ornament.

[MAM]

A star would definitely capture the spirit of the season.

Any other ideas?

[davidaneff]

I might think about painting your garage doors a darker color. Currently the white doors contrast pretty sharply with the surrounding stone and stucco and draw your eye down to the lower half of the house. If there were less contrast, your eye would gravitate towards the upper half which is more interesting. some landscaping will also help. As for what can go over the door, maybe a light fixture- though it may look a little high if it's above the keystone which is probably where it needs to go.

[nanrehvasconez]

Lipstick on this pig will not make a dent, who ever designed this house had no idea of proportions, changing the dark paint may soften the contrast, more in tune with the stone walls.

[SDR]

I'm curious about which continent this residence was built upon.

SDR

[MAM]

It's actually built in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

Do I have a point of contention with the builder?

[MAM]

Here's someone else's home. Did the builder get this right?

[csintexas]

[SDR]

Note that the garage doors as built are different in width-to-height ratio from what was drawn. The left-hand window varies in proportion, in a major way, from that in the rendering.

Was the height adjusted (by the owner or the builder), or was the house squeezed onto a narrower lot than that for which the house was designed ? Obviously the plan was flopped left-to-right, so it may be that a "standard model" was adjusted for this client and his building site.

SDR

[MAM]

The home was only offered on a 36' lot. So the builder was aware of the lot size from the beginning.

The drawing also assumes an 8ft ceiling. Upgrade option to 9 ft which the owner has selected. But, simple math would suggest that raising the ceiling by one foot would result in a one foot gap between the window and the garage.

[MAM]

Any thoughts on the metal roof above the garage and tower?

Is the flashing from the metal roof to stone required (black lines attatching metal roof to stone horizontally)?

[csintexas]

We don't know all the facts involved.

It looks like the as built has an extra 4' over the garage door but now I see the roof over the garage looks like it is also a lower pitch than in the rendering. The original had more than a foot over the garage door so raising it a foot should have resulted in more than 2 ft. and not what is actually built.

It looks like the 2nd floor was also raised. And also the inside floor level as built is higher with a couple of steps up where in the rendering it is all about the same level. So the rendering may have shown a slab construction and the as built may use a crawl space. (or some such difference) Or it could have been modified to fit a sloped lot.

I don't know what those extra horizontal black lines are.

Well it looks like several changes where made without really considering how those changes would effect the exterior looks.

[MAM]

So here's what I found out via another forum for buyers of this particular house model. The reason there is so much stone above the garage is because of the 9ft ceiling plus a grade issue where there's an additional 2 feet from the foyer to the ground level. This is the 11 feet that CSINTEXAS noticed.

Now my home has the same 11 ft issue, howver my exterior package has a lighter stucco similar to the stone so there won't be that stark contrast.

My question is would changing the angle of the roof above the garage help create more balance?

Also, if I wanted to propose a solution to the builder, would I hire an architect to prepare the diagram/drawings? Ballpark estimate of level of effort required and rate?

[csintexas]

I think the most obvious problem is the proportion of the front garage. If the roof was lowered that would help.

That said, I think the house is still going to stick out like a sore thumb compared to the houses on either side because it feels much larger, taller and squeezed in. The main gable over the turret was also raised where the house in the rendering had a lower plate height there.

But really this just reflects my tastes. I do several turret like entrances a year so I think you will find buyers who like it as is. And the simplest solutions are the ones already mentioned.