Joria: That's sorta what I was going for. Modern-prairie, not fully "modern," but also not your conventional farm house; somewhere between
this and
this. I am, however, considering a switch to vertical slats for the siding. We'll see, when I have more time.
Speaking of "this," this is what I ended up with in the limited time I had to play this morning before getting ready for work:
Per your suggestions, I tried shortening the roof. It still looked "off," even after adding the windows above it; however, dragging the garage over to meet that right-hand wall and extending the second story has sort of fixed that. I still think that it is definitely going to require some landscaping to help further define it, but I'm content with how it's coming along thus far.
Thank you for the suggestions re: the roof. I may have gotten there myself eventually, but it's less frustrating this way.