Friend, I’m sharing some exciting personal news – we’re building a house! We bought some wooded land three years ago, met with several custom home builders, and started saving money to build our dream home. Then the world turned upside down, we paused plans for awhile, and construction material prices have been a roller coaster along with so many delays and supply/labor shortages…
(We actually broke ground in February – I debated publishing this post since it’s not furniture or decor-related, but I thought you still might be interested in our journey.)
With 3 growing boys, two dogs, and two adults who both work from home, we’ve needed more space both inside and outside for awhile now. The exterior of our new home will be a French Country Style House or even considered European Country Style. Below I’m sharing some of the inspiration styles that caught my eye, and we’re incorporating some of these design elements into our own home!
There are some ideas below, but there are 250+ more here on my Home Exteriors Pinterest board.
Image via The House the Smiths Built
Realtor.com listing via Pinterest
Image via My Texas House
Our new neighborhood is small with an HOA, and the front of our house must be full masonry. We are going with an off-white painted brick and overall neutral exterior. The plan (outside and inside) is for it to look timeless and not too trendy.
Image via Tennessee Valley Homes
There will be white windows and a grayish roof. We love curved gables and arches, and will probably have some shutters too. And then we’ll add a little contrast with a stained double door and bronze colored gutters and downspouts.
Image via One Kindesign. House by City Homes in collaboration with Studio M Interiors.
It’s funny – when we first started making plans I thought I wanted a modern farmhouse, but when I started saving ideas on Pinterest I realized my style was actually different! I noticed a lot of common design elements in the homes we liked, and thankfully we’re planning to incorporate many French Country home style elements that we’re really excited about. (Although the exterior plans aren’t 100% final yet, but we’re getting there!)
via Tennessee Valley Homes Listings on Pinterest
We have a few months left to go, and I’m excited to share more of our home building progress. Have you built a home in the last few years? I’d love to hear about your experience! I know we’re lucky to even get to build a home right now, but there have definitely been some unique challenges. I’d also love to know your thoughts on the gorgeous French Country house exterior ideas I shared above. – Jen, Girl in the Garage
Linda Hicks says
I absolutely love your ideas for your new home. I know having the whole family participating in this’ll endeavor is so rewarding and exciting. Best of luck to you. I am anxiously waiting future updated.
Barb says
That is exciting and a little scary. I loved the last 3 and the 2nd. one. There was something about the 1st. and 3rd. homes that seemed off to me, but I haven’t figured out yet what that is. It will be wonderful sharing your journey with you. I can live vicariously through your adventure.
Hilary Milner says
Love that you’re able to build your next home from scratch in these crazy times. I live in a home my Dad had built and everything here is special to me because of that.
The only downside I see is those severely pitched rooflines. When I needed a new roof several roofers passed on the job because I have a certain steepness they didn’t want to work on and my roof isn’t anywhere near the pitch of your examples.
Beautiful houses though and I’ll bet you will be very happy there.
Tree Cook says
I like the first one. It’s stately yet cozy… everything a French Country home should be.
Good luck (“God Luck”) with your search!
Donna Baggett says
Love Al of the French Country and European flare you’re going for. We built a home 10-12 years ago. It’s a fun and rewarding process to see your ideas come to life. The build process can be complex and problems do come up. We had a large active role in the construction even though we had a GC as our Construction Manager. I have been in the construction and design field most of my career so I dove right in. I learned a lot and can pat mayself on the back afterward.
Sounds like you’re in good hands with a builder. So have fun and enjoy!
Nancy says
How exciting! I definitely want to hear about your new build journey. I like aspects of all the designs and can understand why it’s hard to decide on “the one.”
Diane says
I’m also having a house built. I signed the contract in September of 2021. We got the permits in January. It’s been a long, frustratingly slow process due to everything that’s going on with…everything lol. I’m hoping to be moved in before the end of the year. Fingers crossed!
Lizzy says
That’s super exciting! I’m so happy for you. I like the more simplified exteriors. The ones you have pictured from Tennessee Valley Homes have too much going on, imo.
Mary Loveland says
Loved the 2nd home! I think the “odd” thing about the 1st and 3rd houses are the “secret” windows way up high in the design of the house.
Really enjoy hearing and seeing when someone gets to have their new house built, so exciting.
When I built my shop and gigantic garage, the city here was really really concerned with the amount of power I needed. Check the number of outlets you are putting in when you get that far! From battery recharging in the garage to electric toothbrushes, phone chargers and everything else.
Harjith says
Enjoy the process. The styles look good and am sure your new home will trun out looking fabulous.
Suzie says
I love the last two. The others all look a bit too busy/fussy for my tastes, that and the fact that simpler = easier-to-clean and I’m getting lazier as I age. I’m sure the final place will be gorgeous. I repeat the advice I saw above: decide how many power outlets you need and add another 50%, it doesn’t matter if you have too many, but it’s an absolute pain when you don’t have enough. Really looking forward to seeing this progress, it’s going to be fabulous.
p says
I love something about each of these houses. 🙂 So fun.
Good architectural details add so much character to a home. These have some really nice ones 🙂
I hope you are enjoying the adventure. Building an entire home is not something most of us do often.
I think I like the 1st (love the curved roof lines) and second best. The bonus upper windows are magical. 🙂
Enjoy !
p
Marietta says
I love the Tennassee home, third from bottom. O-la-la! The stone pulls me in on this one. I love all the bump-outs that would make beautiful niches inide for reading, and gazing out at bird feeders.