The Devil (a.k.a. Reward) of the Timber Frame is in the Details
The devil of architecture is in the details. You can take the same basic rectangle and what you do with it will determine your style. Use vertical siding like ship lap or board and batten, and you have a Barn Style Home. Change that to clapboards and add a porch, stick with traditional windows spaced fairly evenly along the facade and you have a Farmhouse. Keep the vertical siding, add roof dormers, and you have a Carriage House. Change the siding to shingles, add dormers, a porch, keep it small and you have a Cottage! The exterior style of your home is determined by the exterior features you choose.
A New England barn home.
A newly constructed New England style farmhouse.
Neo-Victorian Carriage House
A post and beam cottage.
When designing your home figure out what you need for space. A home should work for you from the inside out and the outside in. Work out exterior and interior details at the same time. The floor plan really needs to work while curb appeal (for investment value, among other things) needs to be present from the get go! In other words, you need to think about all aspects of your home from the start. It will pay off in dividends down the road. Think of your floor plan like a beautiful cake. The style, or those devilish little details are the frosting – you know, the part that people can’t resist! 
Curb appeal is very important!
Living in a small New England town gives me a unique appreciation for architecture, particularly that which is constructed in the post and beam tradition. As you travel down Main Street one can see all types of architectural styles sitting side by side: Federal, Greek Revival, Victorian, and American Four Square. Many are the old mansions of the industrial age; a time when trolleys took people to larger towns close by. Most of these homes are totally, or at least partially, post and beam. The strength of these homes is often overlooked because of their charm. Again, I say, one must plan the outside as carefully as one does the inside. It goes to show you the flexibility post and beam allows in achieving any architectural style while simultaneously creating homes that are built to last. After all, good bones are good bones, no matter the style or age of a home!
Main Street in my New England home town. Notice the different styles and periods of post and beam architecture sitting side by side.
The old Richards Mansion is now our public library.
