Luxury House Exterior Ideas and Designs

River House - Riverside New Build in Oxfordshire

HollandGreen Architecture, Interiors & Landscapes

Modern new build overlooking the River Thames with oversized sliding glass facade for seamless indoor-outdoor living.
Photo of a large and white modern bungalow render detached house in Oxfordshire with a flat roof.

Kew House 3

Vibe Design Group

Design by Vibe Design Group Photography by Robert Hamer
Design ideas for a medium sized and brown contemporary two floor house exterior in Melbourne with wood cladding and a flat roof.

Kooyong Residence

Matt Gibson Architecture + Design

Shannon McGrath
This is an example of an expansive and brown contemporary two floor house exterior in Melbourne with wood cladding and a flat roof.

House in Cabarita

Zouk Architects

Photo of a large and gey contemporary two floor house exterior in Sydney with mixed cladding and a flat roof.

Lucerne

Daniel Marshall Architect

Emily Andrews
This is an example of a contemporary house exterior in Auckland with mixed cladding.

City Modern Farmhouse Town & Country Charlotte

Linnane Homes

This is an example of a large and white rural two floor painted brick detached house in Charlotte with a pitched roof, a shingle roof, a black roof and board and batten cladding.

Urban Lake House

DEMESNE

The simple volumes of this urban lake house give a nod to the existing 1940’s weekend cottages and farmhouses contained in the mature neighborhood on White Rock Lake. The concept is a modern twist on the vernacular within the area by incorporating the use of modern materials such as concrete, steel, and cable. ©Shoot2Sell Photography

Modern English Farmhouse | Hillsboro, Oregon

Westlake Development Group, LLC

Justin Krug Photography
Expansive and gey country two floor detached house in Portland with wood cladding, a pitched roof and a metal roof.

The Savannah: Best of Ohio Custom Home Over 5,000 SF

Justin Doyle Homes

This gorgeous modern farmhouse features hardie board board and batten siding with stunning black framed Pella windows. The soffit lighting accents each gable perfectly and creates the perfect farmhouse.

Beach Style Exterior

User

New custom beach home in the Golden Hills of Hermosa Beach, California, melding a modern sensibility in concept, plan and flow w/ traditional design aesthetic elements and detailing.

Victoria | Bellevue

JayMarc Homes

The Victoria's Exterior presents a beautiful and timeless aesthetic with its white wooden board and batten siding. The lush lawn surrounding the house adds a touch of freshness and natural beauty to the overall look. The contrasting black window trim adds a striking element and complements the white siding perfectly. The gray garage doors provide a modern touch while maintaining harmony with the overall color scheme. White pillars add an elegant and classic architectural detail to the entrance of the house. The black 4 lite door serves as a focal point, creating a welcoming entryway. The gray exterior stone adds texture and visual interest to the facade, enhancing the overall appeal of the home. The white paneling adds a charming and traditional touch to the exterior design of The Victoria.

Brookhaven Model Home

AR Homes | Nashville

One of our most poplar exteriors! This modern take on the farmhouse brings life to the black and white aesthetic.
Photo of an expansive and white traditional two floor brick and front detached house in Nashville with a pitched roof, a mixed material roof and a black roof.

Mayfair Estates Lot #49

Perry Custom Homes

Large and white two floor brick detached house in Atlanta with a hip roof and a shingle roof.

Franklin Park Custom Home

WINN Design+Build

Photo of a large and white two floor brick detached house in DC Metro with a pitched roof and a shingle roof.

Holly Springs Drive

Shannon Crain

Design ideas for a large and white classic two floor detached house in Houston with a shingle roof.

Passarelli Custom Homes - Grayfriars

Nedoff Fotography

Nedoff Fotography
This is an example of a large and black scandinavian two floor detached house in Charlotte with wood cladding and a mixed material roof.

Chestnut Hill

J. Stewart Designs

Exterior Modern Farmhouse
Photo of a large and white rural bungalow brick detached house in Jackson with a pitched roof and a shingle roof.

New English Tudor Cottage in Margate, NJ 08402

QMA Architects

QMA Architects & Planners Todd Miller, Architect
Large and white bohemian two floor render house exterior in Philadelphia with a pitched roof.

Martis Camp Lot 640

Kelly & Stone Architects

Roger Wade Studio
This is an example of a large and brown rustic two floor detached house in Sacramento with wood cladding.

Classic Island Beach Cottage Exterior Elevated

Sea Island Builders LLC

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

Luxury House Exterior Ideas and Designs

With so much attention devoted to interior design, the exterior of a home can often get overlooked, but as the first thing that welcomes both us and our guests, it is worth devoting some time tending to the outside of your house. Furthermore, focusing on the kerb appeal of your home can add significant value if and when it comes time to sell up. Georgian, Edwardian and Victorian homes, with their bay windows and elegant plasterwork, often benefit from built in architecture advantages, but even if your house design is unassuming from the outside, small decorative and structural improvements to the exterior of your home can equal huge impact. Key areas of building design to focus on are the front door, the driveway or approach to your home, the porch area, the windows, the facade and the roof. And just a note of caution... before any significant exterior architecture gets under way, check first whether you need planning permission for your exterior house designs– this applies particularly to listed houses or buildings in a conservation area, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Take a look through the house designs, exterior architecture and images of front doors and driveways on Houzz to inspire your facade or building design, or read on for a few more pointers when it comes to redesigning your exterior.

How do I give my home an exterior facelift?

You may feel like your home’s exterior architecture is unalterable but there are a wide range of options available to improve its external building design, no matter what raw materials you begin with. Begin with the front door and the pathway or driveway that lead up to your home as these are easy to improve without huge budgets. A driveway or pathway must be kept neat and tidy and you can consider replacing tarmac with attractive tiles or gravel. Repainting or replacing the fence, wall or gate that fronts your home can also offer an overnight transformation without breaking the bank. An area to not cut corners however is the front door, where spending a little extra can make a huge difference in quality, and painting it in a colour you love will pay you back every time it welcomes you home! Updating your windows can be a significant building design project but it is one that has benefits both inside and out, as well as potentially saving you money on energy later. If you are lucky enough to have period windows such as bay windows with sash or leaded windows, then maintaining them should be a top priority, but if they are beyond repair then there are plenty of window professionals that will offer modern, double or triple glazed equivalents that could still work in your bay window. Working with uPVC? Not a problem – the best improvement you can make is to ensure your windows are the right size and shape for your home's overall proportions.

How do I update my home’s facade?

When it comes to updating the facade of your home, painting is the quickest and most affordable way to achieve a makeover, and if you opt for a colour other than white it can really make a statement (although sticking within the palette of your road and local area is advisable). A makeover that requires a bit more patience but can add romance and character to the most mundane of homes is to adorn the walls with climbing plants – delicate trailing wisteria is ever a British favourite, whilst roses and jasmine offer fragrance as well as beauty. If you’re looking to make more significant changes to the exterior of your home, whether that is adding timber cladding, hanging tiles, installing a bay window or rendering, then you should first check whether your house designs require planning permission. A New England style wood boarded home is beautiful and bright, but remember that it will need frequent repainting if it is going to stay looking its best, whilst stucco render or Tyrolean render can tidy up a home's exterior but think carefully before covering over original brickwork.

What should I consider if building a home from scratch?

If you’re working with an architect on a brand new build, the options are endless when it comes to deciding on the exterior architecture. But first things first, you will need to check planning permissions, building regulations and local restrictions, such as being in a conservation area, to make sure your plans for your exterior house designs will meet stipulations. If you are building in a street with predominantly Victorian facades, with bay windows and side returns, you might need to ensure your house designs fit in with the rest of the homes on the street, but if you’re building in a more remote area you’ll probably have more freedom for your building design. There are many architectural decisions to make, do you want a flat, gabled, hipped, mansard or perhaps even a curved roof? Do you want bay windows? Crittall windows? Perhaps external shutters? Do you want glass walls? Do you want wood cladding? Do you want a very symmetrical building design or something more contemporary? The decision is all yours but remember to consider the benefits of various materials over others and the effects that some architecture styles will have on everyday life, for example glass walls will look attractive but will give you less privacy. Your architect or builder will be able to guide you through the best exterior architecture choices for your house designs.

United Kingdom

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