Diggity said:
My wife had the same question when we were looking up in the burbs.
Literally 90% of the elevations were ****ing hideous. There was one builder that seemed to have some semblance of taste.
I understand that on the lower end of homes you just have a ton of constraints. Not much you can do with a 3/2 thats just a garage and a front door on a tight lot line. I don't really have an issue with those homes.
Its the middle of the market builders that just tacks crap onto the house that is barely or isn't functional at all. And then the top end of the market still has these monstrosities. When there is enough money to buy taste, it still doesn't happen. I think its partly because people stretch their budgets and push out architects. You can afford 3400 sq of a semi-custom build if you use this layout, or 2800 sq ft if you have the same budget but want an architect to draw it up and make it look nice.
Nobody cares about the 'weighting' of the facade being in the center of the house or at least balanced.
In my mind, thats at least what the farmhouse style gets right (initially). They are mostly evenly weighted because they're updates to single story ranch homes with a wrap around porches.
Now, farmhouse style on the middle of the market is just the same jumbled elevations with white paint and black windows.