Before Choosing a Style, Ask Yourself Three Questions
- Does it fit the surroundings? A glass modern box in a traditional village, or a European palace in a modern estate, both look out of place. Harmony between style and setting is a value in itself.
- What do you actually love? Collect images of houses you like and look for the common thread — what draws you may be a particular material or proportion, not the whole style.
- Can the budget carry it? Classical mouldings and columns, or custom joinery for neo-Chinese, all push the cost up — modern is usually the most economical, and also the most demanding of design skill.
The Four Mainstream Styles, Deconstructed
Modern: restraint carried to its extreme
Flat or low-pitch roofs, long horizontal windows and clean geometric volumes are the three calling cards of modern design. Materials lean on fair-faced concrete, aluminum panels, glass and timber slats, with a palette of black, white and grey touched by wood. Modern costs are controllable, but it is unforgiving on proportion — a little off and it looks cheap, precisely judged and it looks expensive. The difficulty is not the materials; it is the design skill.
European classical: symmetry, columns and mouldings
The skeleton of the classical style is symmetry: the door on the central axis, windows strictly mirrored on either side. Mansard or hip roofs, columned porches, layered cornice mouldings and window surrounds are its signatures, with stone or GRC trim giving the facade weight and grandeur. The price: costs typically run 15–30% higher, and the decorative elements need regular maintenance. It is the most-used style for villas, but beware the pile-up effect of a "miniature palace".
Neo-Chinese: pitched roofs, upturned eaves and courtyard spirit
Neo-Chinese does not copy ancient buildings; it distils them: the pitched roof with upturned eaves, the tones of grey tiles and white walls, touches of timber structure and lattice, with space organised around a courtyard enclosure. It suits a site with a garden best — the style is only fully expressed when house and courtyard are designed together. Most elements are custom-made, so set aside budget for them.
Nordic: gables, timber cladding and pale tones
Nordic houses are built around double-pitch gables, clad in horizontal timber boards in pale tones — white, grey, beige — with windows that are small and many, often set with window boxes. It feels friendly and costs little, suits rural and small-town plots especially well, and blends naturally with green surroundings.
The Three Proportions That Decide the Look
- Three-part composition: the proportions between roof, wall and base are the facade's skeleton. The classical ratio is about 1:3:1, while modern design often compresses the roof almost to nothing to let the wall speak.
- Window-to-wall ratio: keep it between 0.2 and 0.35 for homes — too little glazing makes the facade dull and energy-hungry, too much makes winters cold and summers hot, and the glass itself is expensive.
- Window rhythm: the spacing, size and alignment of windows should form a rhythm. Regular arrangements age best; haphazard "windows wherever needed" is the number one cause of a chaotic facade.
| Style | Roof | Facade materials | Colours | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern | Flat / low pitch | Concrete, aluminum, glass | Black, white, grey + wood | Low–medium |
| European classical | Mansard / hip | Stone, GRC trim | Cream, white, ochre | High |
| Neo-Chinese | Pitched with upturned eaves | Grey tiles, white walls, timber | Grey-green, white, natural wood | Medium–high |
| Nordic | Double-pitch gable | Timber cladding, paint | White, pale grey, beige | Low–medium |