Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional two-storey grey exterior in Minneapolis with stone veneer and a gable roof.

This cottage style architecture was created by adding a 2nd floor and garage to this small rambler. Photography: Sicora, Inc.
Photo of a traditional exterior in Minneapolis with wood siding and a gable roof.

modern backyard with tudor home in Portland Oregon
This is an example of a traditional two-storey exterior in Portland.

The Port Ludlow Residence is a compact, 2400 SF modern house located on a wooded waterfront property at the north end of the Hood Canal, a long, fjord-like arm of western Puget Sound. The house creates a simple glazed living space that opens up to become a front porch to the beautiful Hood Canal. The east-facing house is sited along a high bank, with a wonderful view of the water. The main living volume is completely glazed, with 12-ft. high glass walls facing the view and large, 8-ft.x8-ft. sliding glass doors that open to a slightly raised wood deck, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor space. During the warm summer months, the living area feels like a large, open porch. Anchoring the north end of the living space is a two-story building volume containing several bedrooms and separate his/her office spaces. The interior finishes are simple and elegant, with IPE wood flooring, zebrawood cabinet doors with mahogany end panels, quartz and limestone countertops, and Douglas Fir trim and doors. Exterior materials are completely maintenance-free: metal siding and aluminum windows and doors. The metal siding has an alternating pattern using two different siding profiles. The house has a number of sustainable or “green” building features, including 2x8 construction (40% greater insulation value); generous glass areas to provide natural lighting and ventilation; large overhangs for sun and rain protection; metal siding (recycled steel) for maximum durability, and a heat pump mechanical system for maximum energy efficiency. Sustainable interior finish materials include wood cabinets, linoleum floors, low-VOC paints, and natural wool carpet.

Roof Color: Weathered Wood Siding Color: Benjamin Moore matched to C2 Paint's Wood Ash Color.
Photo of a large traditional two-storey grey house exterior in Boston with wood siding and a shingle roof.

Photography by Sean Gallagher
This is an example of a large country two-storey white exterior in Dallas with wood siding and a gable roof.

A new Tudor bay added to the front of an existing red brick home using new stone to integrate the base with the existing stone base. Fir windows and cedar trim are stained complementary colors. The darker window color draws out the dark "clinker" bricks. The roof is Certainteed Grand Manor asphalt shingles designed to appear as slate. The gutters and downspouts are copper. The paint of the stucco is Benjamin Moore Exterior low luster in color: “Briarwood”. Hoachlander Davis Photography

All Exterior paints are Benjamin Moore colors! Green and white are both custom colors! Green – Mooregaurd Low Luster Deep Base White – Laytex flat Exterior Pastel base Columns #1118 classic Caramel Ceiling – Wood Finish 005, silkens clear coating – color natural oak

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

A traditional house that meanders around courtyards built as though it where built in stages over time. Well proportioned and timeless. Presenting its modest humble face this large home is filled with surprises as it demands that you take your time to experience it.

Photo of a mid-sized traditional three-storey brick beige house exterior in Atlanta with a shingle roof.

This classically designed French Manor house brings the timeless style of Paris to Texas. The roof is natural slate. The elevation is Cast Stone. The sidewalk is Leuters Limestone inset with Pennsylvania Bluestone.

Photography by Sean Gallagher
This is an example of a country white exterior in Dallas with a gable roof and board and batten siding.

Originally, the front of the house was on the left (eave) side, facing the primary street. Since the Garage was on the narrower, quieter side street, we decided that when we would renovate, we would reorient the front to the quieter side street, and enter through the front Porch. So initially we built the fencing and Pergola entering from the side street into the existing Front Porch. Then in 2003, we pulled off the roof, which enclosed just one large room and a bathroom, and added a full second story. Then we added the gable overhangs to create the effect of a cottage with dormers, so as not to overwhelm the scale of the site. The shingles are stained Cabots Semi-Solid Deck and Siding Oil Stain, 7406, color: Burnt Hickory, and the trim is painted with Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior Low Luster Narraganset Green HC-157, (which is actually a dark blue). Photo by Glen Grayson, AIA

The site for this new house was specifically selected for its proximity to nature while remaining connected to the urban amenities of Arlington and DC. From the beginning, the homeowners were mindful of the environmental impact of this house, so the goal was to get the project LEED certified. Even though the owner’s programmatic needs ultimately grew the house to almost 8,000 square feet, the design team was able to obtain LEED Silver for the project. The first floor houses the public spaces of the program: living, dining, kitchen, family room, power room, library, mudroom and screened porch. The second and third floors contain the master suite, four bedrooms, office, three bathrooms and laundry. The entire basement is dedicated to recreational spaces which include a billiard room, craft room, exercise room, media room and a wine cellar. To minimize the mass of the house, the architects designed low bearing roofs to reduce the height from above, while bringing the ground plain up by specifying local Carder Rock stone for the foundation walls. The landscape around the house further anchored the house by installing retaining walls using the same stone as the foundation. The remaining areas on the property were heavily landscaped with climate appropriate vegetation, retaining walls, and minimal turf. Other LEED elements include LED lighting, geothermal heating system, heat-pump water heater, FSA certified woods, low VOC paints and high R-value insulation and windows. Hoachlander Davis Photography

Craftsman Style Exterior
Inspiration for a mid-sized arts and crafts two-storey exterior in Salt Lake City.

Picture Perfect House
Inspiration for a large country two-storey white house exterior in Chicago with wood siding and a shingle roof.

Residential Design by Heydt Designs, Interior Design by Benjamin Dhong Interiors, Construction by Kearney & O'Banion, Photography by David Duncan Livingston

Photo of a traditional two-storey grey exterior in Indianapolis with wood siding and a mixed roof.