Choosing a Home Elevation and Exterior Colors

In a builder's brochure, an elevation is the front style of a house: the same floor plan with a different roofline, porch and materials. In site terms, elevation is how high the home sits compared with the street, neighbors and flood level. Choose the style you'll love from the curb, and check the lot's height and drainage.

What does elevation mean in a house building?

It means two different things, and buyers mix them up all the time.

1. The architectural elevation. A drawing of one side of the house. In new construction, "Elevation A, B or C" usually means different front designs for the same floor plan: different rooflines, porches, window shapes and siding or stone.
2. The site elevation. How high the ground and the house sit, compared with the street, the lots around them and nearby water.

Both matter. The first is about how the home looks. The second is about how it handles water.

Which elevation is best for a home?

The architectural one you'll be happy pulling up to every day, that also fits the street.

A few things to weigh:

• The porch. A front porch was rated essential or desirable by 81% of buyers in NAHB's 2024 survey. If one elevation adds a usable porch, that's real value.
• Upkeep. More trim, gables and mixed materials can mean more caulk and paint over time.
• Variety on the street. Many communities limit how often the same elevation and color can repeat side by side.
• Cost. Stone, extra roof lines and porches add to the price. Remodeling data suggests exterior curb appeal holds value well. In the 2025 Cost vs. Value report for the South Atlantic region, manufactured stone veneer recouped well over its cost.

What is a good elevation for a house?

On the site side, a good elevation means the house sits high enough that water drains away from it on every side, and it isn't in a low spot that collects runoff from its neighbors.

Check three things:

• The grade around the house. The ground should slope away from the foundation.
• The lot compared with its neighbors. Is it lower than the lots around it? Where will their water go?
• Flood risk. FEMA's Flood Map Service Center lets you look up an address on the official flood maps.

How exterior colors usually work

In many new communities, exterior color packages are assigned or limited by homesite so the street has variety. Sometimes you choose from a set. Sometimes the builder or the HOA decides.

Ask:

• Do I choose the exterior colors, or are they assigned?
• What are the HOA's rules for repainting later?
• Can I see the colors on a finished home, in daylight?

Colors look different on a sample chip than on a whole house in full sun. If you can, look at a finished home in the same package.

Who's writing this. I sell new homes for D.R. Horton at Collins Ridge in Hillsborough, so I represent the builder, not you. This guide is general education from my years on job sites and in sales. It isn't legal, tax or lending advice, and it doesn't describe any specific home, price or incentive. Check the sources linked below, and talk with your own lender, agent or attorney before you decide.