After narrowing in on the look we were going for, we set out to finding the right materials to accomplish it.  As it turns out – we simply live on the wrong coast.  Who knew??  Apparently the exact type of house we love is so popular on the other side of the continent that it’s coined it’s own style.  A quick google search of ‘West Coast Modern” and you’ll know what I’m talking about.  We found a ton of information on expressed joint panel systems, & cedar cladding materials in the Pacific North West, but were hard pressed to find building practices & materials for that style of home locally.

Panel Cladding

Many, MANY google searches, builder forums & manufacturer websites later, we found that we could use HardiePanel fibre-cement vertical siding to achieve the look.  By simply installing it horizontally with a recess or express joint between the boards, the HardiePanel is transformed from traditional to modern.

Traditional installation of HardiePanel vertical siding via houzz

Traditional installation of HardiePanel vertical siding via houzz

Modern application of HardiePanel siding with EasyTrim via stormxconstruction

Modern HardiePanel siding with EasyTrim via stormxconstruction

 

Siding

With the panels sorted, we set out to source our siding.  It didn’t take us long to figure out that as beautiful as cedar siding is, it was going to be cost prohibitive for us (not to mention the maintenance that would be required to keep it looking pretty year after year).  As an alternative, we opted for HardiePlank fibre-cement lap siding.

HardiePlank lap siding via James Hardie

HardiePlank lap siding via James Hardie

Stone

Contemporary exterior with stone via househunters.ca

Contemporary exterior with stone via househunters.ca

There’s just something sexy about the right mix of materials.  Sharp lines & industrial cladding, mixed the with earthy feel of stone somehow speaks to me. So to ground the whole exterior look, we’ll be including a hint of stone across the bottom third of the house. We haven’t quite made our final decision on our choice of stone veneer just yet but maybe we’ll put it to a vote in a later post.

Any suggestions on a stone product you’ve had good experiences with or one you think would work with our design? Let us know!


Comments
  • December 3, 2013

    Our house is traditional, but our semi-detached neighbors went modern with their reno. They combined the red brick with cedar windows & doors and Ipe siding. The Ipe is maintenance free, but the cedar requires a lot of upkeep!

  • December 3, 2013

    I am fairly confident I am going to go over and hug your house when it is done. PS- the cedar and dark gray house from yesterday? Im fairly certain there is one in my old neighbourhood in North York! it was beautiful, but didnt fit in with the neighbourhood

  • December 4, 2013

    Love this look! When we bought our new home they had Board and Batten( cedar), the plan was to originally either paint it or replace it all with the same material. But when we realized how much up keep it was going to be we too decided against it. Up where we live so many homes have this look and we really loved it! We also looked at the Hardieboard product but we are not sure if we want to spend that much money on it. We also looked into a newer vinyl siding that comes much wider than regular siding and we might go with that in a grey tone with stone on the bottom half of the house as well.

    Your house is going to look so freaking amazing when it’s done!!

  • December 5, 2013

    These are such big decisions – this is where I would totally get paralyzed! Looks like you are on the right track – I’m sure it will look amazing!

  • Jenny Jenkins
    March 6, 2020

    Thanks, Dani! This was very helpful. The information about windows and colors felt very useful.

    https://conservationconstructionofdallas.com/siding/

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