- Exterior Photos
1,157,301 Exterior Design Photos
Use the photos on Houzz to inspire your home’s facade and exterior architecture. You’ll find home design ideas for every style, from contemporary to traditional, that cover all range of exterior features, including your front door, back patio, balcony, porch and garage.
How do I decide on the exterior style and facade of my home?
Your location, overall sense of style, budget and current home layout will dictate the style of your exterior. If you’re renovating a period home, the materials and features you use should reflect the date in which it was built, while a unique colour scheme could add contemporary flair.
New homes may prefer to look to modern or contemporary designs with structural simplicity, whereas, if you live by the water, a beach-style design may better suit your locale. That’s not to say you can’t build a new home that has period influences. If you’re a traditionalist, you can borrow architectural details from the Art Deco period, for instance, or use finishes that reflect more of a Scandinavian style, too.
There are plenty of 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 timber 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 home design.
What exterior house colours and materials should I use?
Traditional homes typically use brick and timber building materials, while stone, board-formed concrete and metal siding are popular contemporary options. Again, the materials you use will depend on your location and the statement you want to make. Your budget will also affect your choice. Vinyl cladding is affordable and easy to install, while stone is more expensive but durable and low maintenance.
If you’re not ready to renovate but want to update the exterior of your home, you can still paint it. Look to your neighbours when choosing exterior house colours. Consider the streetscape and what type of colours are already in use, firstly, so you don’t replicate next door’s shade; and secondly, so you don’t stand out like a sore thumb. If you’re renovating a period home, you could paint features or intricate details in a bold, standout hue. Front doors, garage doors and window trims also look great in eye-catching colours, even if the rest of the house’s facade is neutral.
How can I maximise my home’s street appeal?
To spice up your home’s architectural design, landscape the surrounding area with plants and pathways that accent the style of your home. If you just need a quick revamp, look at your cement and pavers – these can split and crack over time; and repairing or replacing them can do wonders for your street appeal, especially if it’s a large area like your driveway. Plants, garden paths or low walls can can also add structure to your front yard.
Light up your home with sufficient outdoor lighting to make walking up to the front door easy at night. You could use bollard lights along your entry path, or replace tiny wall sconces with statement pendant lighting at the entrance or on your verandah. Decorative elements such as house numbers, mailboxes and doormats will also add character.
Whether you want inspiration for planning an exterior renovation or are building a designer exterior from scratch, Houzz has 1,157,301 images from the best designers, decorators, and architects in the country, including Tan Hai Han and Johnston Design Group. Look through exterior photos in different colours and styles and when you find an exterior design that inspires you, save it to an Ideabook or contact the Pro who made it happen to see what kind of design ideas they have for your home. Explore the beautiful exterior ideas photo gallery and find out exactly why Houzz is the best experience for home renovation and design.
Marble accent facade for house - webuser_592900849
NO too square massive porch too dark - webuser_379917416
Kelvin Bing
Mixed materials for contrast - waiyew_kwan
Photo: Rachel Loewen © 2019 Houzz
Atherton has many large substantial homes - our clients purchased an existing home on a one acre flag-shaped lot and asked us to design a new dream home for them. The result is a new 7,000 square foot four-building complex consisting of the main house, six-car garage with two car lifts, pool house with a full one bedroom residence inside, and a separate home office /work out gym studio building. A fifty-foot swimming pool was also created with fully landscaped yards.
Given the rectangular shape of the lot, it was decided to angle the house to incoming visitors slightly so as to more dramatically present itself. The house became a classic u-shaped home but Feng Shui design principals were employed directing the placement of the pool house to better contain the energy flow on the site. The main house entry door is then aligned with a special Japanese red maple at the end of a long visual axis at the rear of the site. These angles and alignments set up everything else about the house design and layout, and views from various rooms allow you to see into virtually every space tracking movements of others in the home.
The residence is simply divided into two wings of public use, kitchen and family room, and the other wing of bedrooms, connected by the living and dining great room. Function drove the exterior form of windows and solid walls with a line of clerestory windows which bring light into the middle of the large home. Extensive sun shadow studies with 3D tree modeling led to the unorthodox placement of the pool to the north of the home, but tree shadow tracking showed this to be the sunniest area during the entire year.
Sustainable measures included a full 7.1kW solar photovoltaic array technically making the house off the grid, and arranged so that no panels are visible from the property. A large 16,000 gallon rainwater catchment system consisting of tanks buried below grade was installed. The home is California GreenPoint rated and also features sealed roof soffits and a sealed crawlspace without the usual venting. A whole house computer automation system with server room was installed as well. Heating and cooling utilize hot water radiant heated concrete and wood floors supplemented by heat pump generated heating and cooling.
A compound of buildings created to form balanced relationships between each other, this home is about circulation, light and a balance of form and function. Photo by John Sutton Photography.
Kevin Meechan - Meechan Architectural Photography
This charming exterior is reminiscent of a bygone era where life was simpler and homes were functionally beautiful. The white siding paired with black trim offsets the gorgeous elevation, which won first place in the Boise parade of homes for best exterior! Walk through the front door and you're instantly greeted by warmth and natural light, with the black and white color palette effortlessly weaving its way throughout the home in an updated modern way.