Colonial Architecture and Crowded Gardens

While I grew up in Utah and love the mountains and rustic aspect of the West, I have always been drawn to Southern or East Coast style when it comes to houses. I used to watch HGTV a lot when we built our first house in the the late 1990's and the cottage gardens were the most charming feature to these homes that I found myself falling in love with.

These crowded gardens among older structures....who doesn't love that? So each home we have lived in I have created something to this effect as far as the front gardens go.

But as I shared in my last post where we drove past a few of our old homes - the new owners have put in lower maintenance landscaping - such as shrubs. It's very possible that over time my plantings got too crowded as I did intend on having crowded perennial gardens. I love how wild they look.

Window boxes are especially sweet looking, but again, they need a little extra attention to stay looking healthy and lush.

And yet there is such beauty to simplicity too. As I am trying to imagine what I will do with our new house, which is a colonial style structure, I wonder if my gardening tendency will be to have an abundance of perennial blooms again or if I will go with crisp, clean lined plantings along the foundation.

 I have to say that I adore a quaint door - the one we chose is almost all glass with side-lites. I am imagining two matching pots on either side of the door filled with conifers like the one in this picture. I have got to do a little research to see exactly what it is. Maybe you know.

I love it - do you know what it is? My porch will be south facing but covered so I am not sure if this beauty will like that much sun.

Since we are building a home based on colonial period I was drawing inspiration for what I will chose for lighting and hardware. In the end, it will be what we can afford but wouldn't it be fun to add this enormous sconce to the sides of a garage door?

I love that crispy looking paint around the misfit handle.

I snapped this photo from a moving car but I couldn't resist sharing it even though it's a little blurry.

The molding around these exterior windows is super ornate and beautiful. We won't be going that far with our window trim but I am excited for a thick white border around the windows. I'm sure our builder would like to triple the price of the home if I requested this type of detail.

I share this house because the portico over the porch is curved, which is how ours will be. They call it a barrel vault with a wood ceiling and a metal roof. Not sure it will look too much like that one in the photo but similar in shape. It's not an inexpensive option but I want the entrance to be the most inviting and beautiful feature of the home.

Ooooooh, and I would love to get my hands on some iron posts like this...I'm not holding out for it but just in case I see some while I hunt around for items for my shop space - I love them!

Well, my heart is beating a little fast and I'm getting a little too excited about all this house talk so I need to sign out and go have a glass of wine and pray for patience.

We are shooting for March 2018 to have the house finished. Think I can make it? We'll see!

In the mean time thanks for letting me share my vision and ramblings with you. Have an amazing week!
xo,

Sharing with Savvy Southern Style WOW Us Wednesday #358