The Split-Level Surprise: 12 Transformations of a 70s Relic

Table of Contents

• The Craftsman Revival
• Coastal Chic Transformation
• Concrete & Glass Modernist
• Rustic Industrial Fusion
• The Modern Farmhouse Makeover
• Mid-Century Modern Revival
• Zen Minimalist Retreat
• Dark & Moody Modern
• Charred Cypress Shou Sugi Ban
• Scandi-Japandi Serenity
• Traditional Japanese Influence
• Desert Modern Retreat
• Planning Notes for a Split-Level Facade
• Regional Cost & Fit
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Sources & References
• Why the Split-Level Bones Work

The Craftsman Revival

The Craftsman direction is the natural first instinct because the house already has good horizontal bones and a steeply pitched roofline. The concept clads the upper volume in James Hardie Artisan shake with a custom match to Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154 (a chip almost indistinguishable from the deep slate blue below). In the rendering, the lower level and the porch piers are faced in rounded river-rock cobble rather than squared ledgestone, which suits the bungalow mood and is worth pricing with a mason as a fieldstone veneer. The portico is 8x8 rough-sawn Douglas fir on Simpson Strong-Tie APVB decorative bases, sheltering a Simpson 7488 Craftsman door in quartersawn white oak. Window frames are stained a deep walnut brown to match the trim, and the carriage-style garage door is a Clopay Coachman Collection Design 13 in the same wood tone. The estimate for siding, stone, windows, doors, portico, roof, and flagstone path (Pennsylvania Bluestone Full Range, irregular) totals $112,400 at late-2025 pricing, and the stone is the single biggest line at $18,900 installed.

On this facade, Deep Slate Blue (#3A4B5C) covers all the shake above the stone, and its depth keeps the shingle texture visible instead of flattening it into a painted wall. River Stone Grey (#8C857B) is roughly the average of the cobble below, a mix of tan, grey and rust stones that gives the half-sunk lower floor a solid base.

Dark Walnut (#4A3223) is the stain on the portico timbers, the front door, the window frames and the garage door, so every piece of wood on the elevation belongs to one family. Overhead, Charcoal Black (#2E2E2E) is specified as a near-black polymer slate; from the street it reads as a plain dark roof and leaves the attention on the shake and the stone.

Two details decide whether this version looks built or applied. The porch posts need to be real timber, 6x6 at the very least, because brackets and wraps glued onto skinny posts give themselves away to anyone standing at the door. The garage door should take its stain from the front door rather than its colour from the siding: on this elevation the garage sits right beside the entry, and matching wood tones make the two openings read as a pair instead of a car door competing with the porch.

Coastal Chic Transformation

This is the palette we would pick if this house sat on a Kiawah or Isle of Palms lot, but the feel is appealing enough to run it in Asheville anyway. Upper siding is Maibec Eastern White Cedar pre-finished in Pale Mist (a cool oyster grey), installed horizontal with a 4-inch reveal. The deck and boardwalk are Kebony Clear 5/4x6 decking finished with Penofin Verde and left to grey gradually on its own schedule. The entry is a Fairway frameless pivot door in low-iron glass by ClearShield with matched sidelights; in the rendering its frame is a pale bleached wood that ties it to the deck, with mill-finish aluminum as the cooler alternative. Front-facing windows are Marvin fiberglass-clad casements in white, shown in the rendering as large undivided panes. Instead of a lawn the concept uses Carolina beach sand over landscape fabric, three Sabal minor palms from a regional palm grower, and drifts of Panicum 'Heavy Metal' and Muhlenbergia capillaris. All-in estimate: $118,600 including the oversized pivot door ($14,400), the line most likely to surprise anyone pricing a coastal look for the first time.

Pale Mist Grey (#C0C5C8) wraps both floors in narrow horizontal boards, light enough that the taller right-hand block does not loom over the entry at dusk. Bleached Driftwood (#D9CAB3) belongs to everything underfoot, from the wide front deck and its steps to the zigzag boardwalk out to the street, and it returns in the band of pale wood set between the windows and the garage.

Crisp White (#FFFFFF) outlines the windows and the garage door, a brighter choice than cream, which would turn muddy against cool grey boards. Sandy Beige (#E6D8B8) is the ground itself, the sand bed the grasses and palms grow from, warm enough to read as a garden floor rather than a stage-set beach.

Inland, this look only holds up if the grasses are fully committed; a mown fescue lawn with palms dropped into it looks like a costume. When going bleached, real wood decking such as Kebony, Accoya or Ipe ages more convincingly than composite, which in driftwood colours tends to look plastic in full sun. The pivot door brings its own homework: confirm early that the deck framing or slab beneath it can carry a glass leaf that heavy, since adding a footing halfway through the job is how this budget gets blown.

Concrete & Glass Modernist

This was the most ambitious of the twelve and the one most likely to meet builder pushback. The concept doesn't pour new concrete walls; it bolt-clads the existing wood frame with 1-inch board-formed GFRC panels from Stepstone Inc., using their Formliner Collection Western Red Cedar #4 profile to get that authentic formwork line. Upper-level corner glass is Fairway 3-panel direct-set with structural silicone joints and Marvin Modern ebony frames where the panels meet solid wall. The recessed entry is deep enough (42 inches) to legitimately shelter you in rain, with a TruStile TM9340 ebonized white oak door. Garage is Martin Marietta-style flush-concrete Garaga GT Modern in Matte Grey. The walk in the rendering is one wide band of smooth concrete, and Stepstone 30x30 slabs laid with tight joints would give the same look in sections; the beds around it get 3/4-inch black lava on Typar fabric, and three Yucca rostrata from a specialist nursery. The concrete panels plus glazing dominate the $212,000 total. Modernism of this caliber is rarely cheap, and anyone telling you it is hasn't priced the glass.

Architectural Concrete (#979894) is the board-formed cladding on every solid wall, and its horizontal formwork lines catch low light differently through the day. Matte Black (#1A1A1A) draws the thin frames around the big corner glass and the long lower window; order it as a powder coat rather than paint so the edges stay crisp.

Ebonized Wood (#2C241F) is the tall door at the back of the recessed entry, the one warm surface in an otherwise grey front. Dark Metal (#363A3F) runs over both standing-seam roofs and the fascia, keeping the roofline thin and quiet above the concrete.

Board-formed GFRC is cladding hung on the existing frame, not tilt-up structure, so get an engineer's letter on the attachment early. One warm material has to survive the edit, whether the ebonized oak door, a teak bench or a Cor-Ten planter, or the front turns cold and institutional. The sparse planting also hides real groundwork: large concrete pavers like these need a mortar-set bed over compacted aggregate, or they start rocking in year two.

Rustic Industrial Fusion

Upper-level cladding is Pioneer Millworks Settlers Plank, genuine reclaimed hemlock from demolition barns in the Finger Lakes, not a stained imitation. Lower level is Cor-Ten A (0.075 gauge) in 16-inch-wide concealed-fastener panels from Bridger Steel; the plan lets it weather ten weeks on-site in a staging pattern before install so the patina is already full when the panels go up. Windows are Marvin fiberglass-clad units in Ebony, 2W2H. The glass garage door is a CHI Overhead Doors Planks Collection in black aluminum with obscure glass. Walkway is Pennsylvania Bluestone Full Color rectangular, sand-set. Landscaping is intentionally kept loose: Panicum 'Shenandoah', Schizachyrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation', Nassella tenuissima. Total $138,700. The reclaimed wood and Cor-Ten together run $42,800 installed; this look reads as cheap, but the real materials aren't.

Weathered Barn Wood (#7A6855) covers the upper floor in mixed vertical and horizontal runs, its greys and browns shifting board to board in a way no stain can reproduce. Below it, Rusted Corten Steel (#8B4C31) wraps the garage level and the entry surround, deepening as the patina forms over 18 to 24 months.

Black Aluminum (#000000) frames the windows and the glass garage door, the single modern line that pulls wood and steel into one composition. Blue-Grey Slate (#5D6770) is the rectangular walk and the entry steps, a cool stone that keeps the warm cladding from tipping into orange.

Cor-Ten sheds rust-coloured run-off for its first year, and the stone steps here sit directly below it, so detail a 4-inch black polymer-modified drip edge under the panels. Reclaimed hemlock needs thermal modification or documented pressure treatment before it goes outdoors; untreated century-old boards cup within two seasons. The joint between wood and steel decides how polished the front looks, and a 3/4-inch matte-black reveal lets each material end cleanly.

The Modern Farmhouse Makeover

The modern farmhouse call is the safest on resale of the twelve and probably the easiest to justify per dollar spent. Upper and lower siding is James Hardie Artisan V-Groove board-and-batten, factory-finished in ColorPlus Arctic White (dead on to Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65 but holds color longer). Roof is Drexel Metals DMC 175 standing seam in Matte Black. Portico is 8x8 Douglas fir on Simpson APVB bases, sheltering a Simpson 3333 knotty alder door in natural cedar finish. Windows are Marvin fiberglass-clad units with black exterior frames and 2W2H grids, which is how they appear in the rendering. The spec lists a Clopay Canyon Ridge Collection Design 12 carriage door, but the image shows a flush dark-brown garage door with a row of glass along the top, a simpler choice that suits the clean board-and-batten. The stone retaining wall below is Eldorado Stone Ledgecut33 Buckskin. Landscape: four 'Endless Summer' hydrangeas from a local garden center and a flagstone path in Tennessee Crab Orchard. Estimate $98,400, the most approachable number of the twelve while still looking custom.

Pure White (#F5F5F5) is the board-and-batten on both floors, a bright field that lets the black window frames and the cedar porch register from the street. Dark Charcoal Metal (#333333) is the standing seam over both roof sections, and its hard contrast with the white is the farmhouse signature in this version.

Natural Cedar (#C4A484) shows up in the portico posts, the knee braces and the front door, the warm material that keeps all that white from turning sterile; the garage door in the rendering is a darker brown, a step away from the cedar rather than a match. Matte Black (#121212) is on every window frame and should come factory-finished, since black paint applied on site wears first at the sash corners.

Board-and-batten only reads as farmhouse when the battens sit on 16-inch centers; stretched to 24 inches, the same siding starts to look like an agricultural shed. Window grids should be factory-installed, either simulated divided lites or grilles between the glass, because muntins stuck on later tend to peel within four summers. Skip the decorative barn-door slider over the garage that this style often attracts; the plain flush door in the rendering already does enough, and the track adds a yearly service item.

Mid-Century Modern Revival

This direction leans into the split-level's one honest advantage: the horizontal volume stacking is native to mid-century modern design. Upper level is Western Red Cedar 1x6 TG siding, clear grade, finished with Sikkens Cetol SRD in Natural Oak. Lower level is Sto Cirritex stucco in a custom match to Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain 2134-30. The portico is a low-slope flat-roofed overhang in Douglas fir 4x12 beams, deeply cantilevered. Front door is a Simpson 7488 pivot in vertical-grain Douglas fir painted Benjamin Moore Tangerine Fusion 083, the only genuinely bold color choice of the twelve. Windows are Marvin Modern Ebony black-clad awnings. Garage is Clopay Avante Collection frameless with dark grey anodized frames. Landscape is a true xeriscape: Agave parryi 'Truncata', Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights', 3/8-inch Mexican beach pebble. Total $84,200. The cedar and the painted door do the emotional work; the savings come elsewhere.

Warm Cedar Plank (#B87E48) runs across the whole upper floor and down beside the entry in tight horizontal boards, the material that ties this look to the late 1950s and early 1960s. Charcoal Stucco (#4A4A4A) covers the lower level around the garage and the basement window, dark enough to contrast with the cedar while staying short of black.

Vibrant Tangerine (#FF6B00) is the front door, framed by black posts and a narrow sidelight, a colour lifted straight from a 1962 Palm Springs street. Light Concrete (#D0D0D0) handles the wide entry steps, the main walk and the square pavers that step off it across the dark gravel.

Mid-century modern falls apart as soon as Craftsman details creep in, so leave out corbels, shutters and columns with turned bases. The flat canopy over the entry needs a built-in slope of at least 1/4 inch per foot and a full membrane roof, which is exactly where an inexperienced exterior crew tends to leave a leak. Keep the door in a saturated colour such as orange, teal, chartreuse or mustard; a black door in a black frame belongs to the 2018 farmhouse, not to a 1962 ranch.

Zen Minimalist Retreat

Of all twelve, this direction reorganizes the entry most. The concept removes the original 1970s foyer wall and pushes out a two-story glass atrium vestibule around the stair landing, giving the house a light well it never had. Exterior finish is Sto Cirritex in a custom white with a 0.5 mm texture, the mid-range smooth, because a truly smooth finish shows every substrate flaw. Roof is McElroy Meridian 16 standing seam in Matte Black. The atrium is Fairway frameless structural glazing with oil-rubbed-bronze anodized mullions around a TruStile TM14000 pivot door in Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain. The Zen garden is 3/8-inch Jurassic Pearl pea gravel raked into lines, with a single Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' from a specialist maple grower as the focal tree. The planters in the rendering are low, smooth cast-concrete boxes holding spiky yucca-like plants rather than clipped boxwood, so the plant list should follow that sculptural look. Estimate $186,800, with the atrium as the biggest single line at $46,400.

Minimalist White Stucco (#EEEEEE) covers every wall, a flat pale surface that picks up the changing Blue Ridge light from morning to evening. Oil-Rubbed Bronze (#3B3B3B) is the dark metallic note on the roof, the window frames and the pivot door, richer than plain black without drawing attention to itself.

Smooth Concrete (#A0A0A0) shapes the raised planters and the wide walk, plain grey masses that set off the spiky plants inside them. Light Beige Gravel (#D9D0C1) fills the raked beds around the maple; lay it at a 3/4-inch depth over Typar fabric so the rake lines hold.

The glass atrium needs high-reach cleaning every year, so put $600 to $1,200 a year for a window-cleaning contract into the budget before committing to it. Smooth stucco shows every framing flaw underneath, and continuous rigid-foam board behind the lath is what stops stud bays from ghosting through by year three. For the focal tree, one 2-inch caliper maple at around $900 does more than four $150 starts scattered across the gravel.

Dark & Moody Modern

Of the twelve, this is the version most likely to stay in people's minds a year later. Upper cladding is Bridger Steel 1.5-inch standing seam vertical in Charcoal matte PVDF (Kynar 500, the commercial-grade finish, non-negotiable at this color because cheaper coatings chalk). Lower cladding is Glen-Gery Rochester Dark Ironspot brick in a Flemish bond with flush grey mortar. The awning over the door is a custom fabrication: 1/4-inch blackened steel plate with internal angle bracing, cantilevered 32 inches. Front door is TruStile TM9330 in an eight-plank rustic white oak slab, finished in Rubio Monocoat Smoke 5%. Windows are Marvin fiberglass-clad units, 2W3H, in Ebony. Landscape: Cor-Ten 24x24 planters from Veradek with Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', 3/4-inch Mexican beach pebble in the paver joints. Estimate $124,600.

Charcoal Metal (#363636) is the vertical standing seam on the upper floor, a ribbed dark skin that looks sharpest at dusk. Dark Manganese Brick (#423A36) takes over at the garage level, nearly as dark as the metal but with the texture and weight of masonry.

Rustic Oak Plank (#8C6A48) is the front door, a slab of mixed-tone boards and the only warm surface on the house; without it the whole front would feel heavy. Aged Corten Steel (#6F4131) forms the raised planters along the walk and the driveway, carrying a similar rust-brown warmth out into the yard.

Use at least three textures on a facade this dark, here ribbed metal, brick and the oak door, or the eye has nothing to rest on and the house reads like a shipping container. Before committing to a near-black skin, check that the sheathing and air sealing can cope with the extra solar heat a dark wall collects. The river pebbles between the concrete pavers only stay put with a permeable paver system; on a conventional sand-set walk they migrate within eighteen months.

Charred Cypress Shou Sugi Ban

Authentic Shou Sugi Ban is the only move here. The brushed-sealed board sold by national siding suppliers is not the same product, and it does not survive Carolina humidity the same way. The concept uses Delta Millworks Japanese Cypress SSB in the Heavy Char profile, installed vertically with a 3-inch exposure and oiled on-site with the maker's tung oil. Door is a Simpson 7488 custom-carved panel in quartersawn teak, finished in Rubio Monocoat Pure. Stone is Oklahoma ledgestone, dry-stacked with a concealed mortar joint. The walkway in the rendering is Pennsylvania Bluestone Full Color cut into rectangles rather than laid irregular, set on 6 inches of compacted DGA. Landscape leans shade-tolerant: Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern), Hosta 'Blue Angel', Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola', Astilbe 'Bridal Veil'. Total $142,400. The SSB alone is $26,800 installed, half again what nominal cedar would cost, but the fire and pest resistance is real.

Charred Shou Sugi Ban (#1F1F1F) covers both upper volumes in vertical boards, a deep black whose alligator-crack texture changes as the light moves across it. Golden Teak (#B37E4B) frames each window and fills the carved front door, and that glowing wood against the char is the picture people remember from this version.

Stacked Ledgestone (#7F7B75) wraps the garage level and the low wall along the driveway, a grey-brown base that keeps the charred upper floor from floating. Blue-Grey Flagstone (#606C75) is the straight walk and the entry steps, running between the ferns and hostas to the door.

The char is the finish, so never sand, wire-brush or pressure-wash it; reapplying the manufacturer's oil every 36 months is the whole maintenance plan. Choose warm woods such as teak, white oak or cherry for the door and window trim, because mahogany turns orange beside the black. Keep the stone at the foundation, as the rendering does, since black cladding carried all the way to the soil line makes a split-level look top-heavy.

Scandi-Japandi Serenity

Japandi is genuinely the hardest of the twelve to get right because the tonal range is so narrow: one wrong wood stain and it either goes 2008-Ikea or 1994-ski-chalet. Siding is Kebony Clear 1x6 vertical in natural-weathered (no stain), with shiplap reveals at 5/16 inch. Roof is Taylor Metal Econo-Lock standing seam in Light Zinc Grey. The entry canopy is a minimalist 4-inch flat plate in powder-coated matte white steel, cantilevered over a Simpson 1501 slab door in rift-sawn white oak finished with Rubio Monocoat Natural. Windows are Marvin fiberglass-clad units in white, 2W2H, painted sash. Garage is Clopay Modern Steel flush panel in Ultra-White. Landscape is a few slender Betula nigra 'Dura-Heat' River Birch, Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster', and a 3/8-inch Pennsylvania River Washed pea gravel path between 8-inch-thick poured retaining walls. Total $108,200.

Natural White Oak (#D8C8B0) is the colour of the vertical Kebony boards on both floors, left unstained so the pale, slightly uneven tone stays organic. Light Zinc Grey (#AFAFAF) is the low standing-seam roof, a matte metal that almost disappears against an overcast Blue Ridge sky.

Matte White (#FFFFFF) is kept for the thin entry canopy, the window frames and the flush garage door, quiet surfaces that never compete with the wood. Poured Concrete (#B0B0B0) forms the retaining walls along the driveway and the walk, stepping the yard down its slope with plain, clean edges.

Japandi depends on restraint more than any other look in this set: clean lines, natural materials and a tight neutral range, with no pop-of-colour door to break it. The vertical boards add apparent height, which a low-slung 70s split-level needs. Hold the planting to three species at most; the rendering manages with just birch and one ornamental grass.

Traditional Japanese Influence

We picked this direction as the lead concept for the house in this study. The bones of a 1970s split-level sit closer to the proportions of a traditional sukiya residence than most people expect, which is the real surprise of the exercise. Upper cladding is Hinoki cypress 1x4 boards finished with Sikkens Cetol SRD in Natural Oak, and the spec calls for authentic Japanese hinoki, not a species swap. Lower is American Clay Loma plaster in a custom cream pigment, applied at 3/16 inch over blue board. The written spec describes a 6-foot Shoji-inspired sliding assembly with laminated low-E glass behind white oak mullions; the rendering shows a narrower hinged door faced with a vertical white oak lattice, a simpler way to get the same rhythm. Windows are Marvin Ultimate awnings with applied interior grids in a Shoji pattern. The front garden is a full karesansui redesign that calls for a landscape architect's drawings: Hypnum plumaeforme moss mounds on sloped berms, irregular Japanese granite stepping stones, a Kinjiro tsukubai water basin with integrated bamboo kakei, and a 2-inch-caliper Acer palmatum 'Omurayama' as the focal tree. Authentic cultural design costs money: the estimated total is $158,400, with the garden alone at $32,600.

Hinoki Cypress Tone (#E0C095) is the pale, slightly golden wood on the upper walls, the window frames, the lattice door and the slatted garage door, the colour sukiya building is known for. Cream Stucco (#F0EAD6) covers the lower level and the entry bay, a soft warm neutral that reads as lime plaster rather than paint.

Weathered Brown Shingle (#5C493F) on the roof sits close enough to the cypress that the two blend instead of arguing. Aged Granite (#666666) is the stone of the water basin and the boulders set into the moss; specify real Japanese granite there, since cast substitutes give themselves away up close.

Keep true Shoji-style grids for interior sliding doors; outside, the grid belongs in the window muntins and the door lattice, where it does not interfere with waterproofing. This kind of garden is high-labour: moss needs weekly weeding for its first two years, so either budget a maintenance contract or swap the moss for a gravel-based dry garden. Work with a designer who has studied the tradition, because sukiya-fu, shoin-zukuri and generic pan-Asian landscaping are very different things.

Desert Modern Retreat

This direction tests whether Desert Modern can be pulled into the North Carolina mountains convincingly. The short answer is only sort of. This look is ten times more resonant in Phoenix, Tucson, or El Paso than in Asheville, but the palette is beautiful either way. Stucco is Portola Paints Lime Wash in their Acapulco terracotta custom tint, over a Sto one-coat base. Roof is Drexel Metals DMC 175 standing seam in the Aged Copper finish (not real copper, but the PVDF finish that matches at a sixth of the material cost). The entry and garage surround is Cor-Ten A weathering steel, 1/4-inch plate, which genuinely patinas to match the stucco within a year. Windows are Marvin Modern Ebony. Landscape: 3/8-inch Arizona Sonoran Gold decomposed granite over Typar, large mossy boulder specimens, and a desert palette of Agave parryi 'Truncata', Opuntia santa-rita, Hesperaloe parviflora and Dasylirion wheeleri, with the golden barrel and columnar cacti seen in the rendering filling out the beds. Total $96,800, with the $18,400 Cor-Ten work as the standout line item.

Warm Terracotta (#B96F4F) is the limewashed stucco over the whole house, an earthy red-brown that recalls sun-baked adobe. Aged Copper (#A87256) is the standing-seam roof, a metallic shade just lighter than the walls, so the roof extends the stucco instead of competing with it.

Rusted Steel Patina (#75402B) belongs to the Cor-Ten pieces: the entry surround, the garage door and the panel beneath the upper window, all of which keep shifting colour with the seasons. Desert Sand Granite (#D4C5A9) is the decomposed granite spread around the slabs, boulders and cacti, a pale base that leaves the terracotta walls to carry the colour.

Commit to the dry-garden planting or skip this style; terracotta stucco behind a green lawn looks unfinished. Check the local freeze-thaw exposure before choosing a clay-body stucco, because in Asheville's USDA zone 7a a lime wash is the safer call than fired adobe. Deer will browse agave and Opuntia in mountain microclimates, so a 36-inch electric-tape perimeter costs less than replanting every year.

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Planning Notes for a Split-Level Facade

The awkward split-level proportions are really an opportunity. A two-story front elevation with a half-sunk garage gives you a built-in plinth, and any style that grounds the lower third in a heavier material such as stone, brick, Cor-Ten or concrete visually rescues the proportions. Garage-door scale works the same way: where the garage takes up half the elevation, a single oversized 16x8 door in place of two 8x7 doors reads custom, so make that upgrade wherever the framing allows.

Windows are where the budget should not bend. IECC R402 in climate zone 4, which covers Asheville, requires a fenestration U-factor ≤ 0.32. Bargain windows fail that standard, and a facade fitted with them will show condensation streaks by year two. Landscape deserves real money as well, because the planting and paving shape the first impression as much as the cladding does. On a $100,000 exterior job, setting aside $20,000 to $35,000 for hardscape, plants and lighting is normal, not excessive. Do not skip the outdoor lighting within that figure: WAC Landscape LED bullet lights at 2700K and CRI 90+, uplighting the two most sculptural plants, matter because the house is seen for more hours after dark than before it.

Location and rules shape the specification too. Within half a mile of the ocean, swap every specified galvanized fastener for 316 stainless and every carbon-steel railing for aluminum or 316, or the new facade will rust inside three years. Before you settle on Cor-Ten or Shou Sugi Ban, pull your HOA covenants, because some 1970s-era Asheville neighborhoods have color and material restrictions that would send you back to step one. And keep one invoice binder. Appraisers look for documentation when they assess a facade-driven value increase at resale, so save every receipt for siding, windows, roof and permitted work, with the builder's license number on each.

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Regional Cost & Fit

The regional adjustment factors here are estimates based on typical 2024 and 2025 pricing across the Southeast and Southwest. The numbers below are for a full 12-style-category exterior renovation on a 2,000 to 2,400 sq ft split-level: siding, roof, windows, entry door, garage door, portico or awning, and complete front-yard hardscape plus landscape. Ranges span entry-tier to premium material choices.

Charleston, SC is the 1.00x baseline, where a full exterior runs $92,000 at the entry tier and $218,000 at premium, and the best-fit styles are Coastal Chic, Modern Farmhouse and Japandi. Raleigh-Durham, NC is the most affordable market at 0.89x, with $81,900 entry and $194,000 premium, and it suits Modern Farmhouse, Rustic Industrial and MCM Revival. Nashville, TN at 0.91x comes in at $83,700 and $198,400, with Craftsman Revival, Farmhouse and Moody Modern fitting the local housing stock best.

The Georgia markets sit close together. Savannah at 0.94x costs $86,500 at entry and $204,900 at premium, favoring Coastal Chic, Craftsman Revival and Farmhouse, while Atlanta at 0.95x runs $87,400 and $207,100 and leans toward Modern Farmhouse, Rustic Industrial and Moody Modern. Asheville, NC at 0.97x lands at $89,200 and $211,500, where Craftsman Revival, Shou Sugi Ban and Japandi make the most sense. Austin, TX is the most expensive at 1.06x, with $97,500 entry and $231,100 premium, and its best fits are Desert Modern, MCM Revival and Concrete & Glass.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is transforming a 1970s split-level worth it, or should you just tear it down?

In most markets, rebuilding from scratch runs $340 to $520 per sq ft, versus $38 to $95 per sq ft for a full exterior transformation. Even at the top end of premium renovation (concrete-and-glass modernist at $212,000), you're spending roughly a third of what a new-build equivalent would cost. Framing in 1970s houses, whether 2x4 or 2x6, is usually sound once it has been checked for rot and termite damage. You're reinventing the skin, not the skeleton.

Which of these twelve styles recovers the most at resale?

Of the twelve directions for this Asheville-style property, Modern Farmhouse and Craftsman Revival appeal to the widest pool of buyers, so they are the likeliest to be reflected in the next appraisal. The niche styles (Desert Modern in a non-arid market, Traditional Japanese, Concrete & Glass Modernist) depend on finding a buyer who wants that exact look, and recovery tends to be lower. Buyer-pool size is the whole story, and Charleston and Austin reward modernist boldness more than Nashville or Raleigh do.

Do you need an architect for a split-level exterior renovation?

For siding, roof, windows, and doors only, no. A qualified design-build remodeler plus a stylist is sufficient. But the moment you add a two-story glass atrium (Zen Minimalist), a deep cantilevered awning (Moody Modern), or change the framing opening for a large pivot door, you need an architect and often a structural engineer. Large new wall openings, say over 120 sq ft, commonly need stamped drawings, so confirm the requirement with the Asheville permit office before design starts. Budget $2,800 to $9,500 for design services on structurally ambitious directions.

What's the difference between real Shou Sugi Ban and the brushed-seal boards at big-box suppliers?

Genuine Shou Sugi Ban (yakisugi) is charred through a live-flame process that creates an amorphous carbon layer up to 4 mm deep. This layer is fire-resistant, pest-resistant, rot-resistant, and lasts 40 to 80 years with oil maintenance every three years. The surface-torched or stain-blackened alternatives at national retailers char only the outer 0.5 mm and chip within five years. The cost difference is roughly 2.3x. Delta Millworks, Nakamoto Forestry, and reSAWN Timber Co. are three authentic U.S. suppliers to specify from.

How do you pick a style when your HOA restricts material choices?

Start by pulling your covenants and making a negative list of what's banned outright (often metal roofs, unpainted wood, and non-muted colors). The most HOA-compliant styles of these twelve are Craftsman Revival, Modern Farmhouse, Traditional Cape-adjacent Coastal, and the tamer Japandi. Styles that typically trigger an architectural-review-committee review are Concrete & Glass, Shou Sugi Ban (because of the black), Cor-Ten-heavy Rustic Industrial, and Desert Modern. Plan for an additional 6 to 12 weeks of approval time on any non-standard facade.

Are dark-colored exteriors really a problem for energy efficiency?

A dark wall does absorb noticeably more solar radiation than a light one, but how much that matters depends on the envelope behind it. On a wall with R-21 cavity insulation plus R-5 continuous rigid foam (current IECC R402 prescriptive), the added cooling load in climate zone 4 (Asheville, Charleston) is modest. If your sheathing is pre-1980s and the insulation has never been upgraded, the penalty is much larger. Address the envelope first, then pick the color.

Which of these looks works on a budget of $50,000 or less?

Honestly, none of the twelve at full scope. But a meaningful partial execution of Modern Farmhouse or Mid-Century Modern Revival is achievable at $48,000 to $62,000 if you keep the existing roof (assuming it's under 12 years old), replace only front-facing windows and leave sides/rear, paint existing hardboard siding rather than re-siding, upgrade the front door only, and do landscape yourself with contractor-sourced plants. The Mid-Century orange-door-plus-cedar accent treatment is the single highest curb-appeal change per dollar, and it can be done for around $11,800 all-in.

Should you commit to one style or mix elements from several of these?

Commit to one. The strongest of the twelve (Craftsman Revival, Modern Farmhouse, Shou Sugi Ban, Japanese Traditional) work because the material logic, roof line, window pattern, door style, and landscape are internally consistent. When split-level exterior remodels fail, it's almost always because someone grabbed the farmhouse board-and-batten and paired it with Mediterranean lantern sconces and mid-century planters. Pick one world and live in it.

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Why the Split-Level Bones Work

The point of twelve versions of the same house is not that the split-level is secretly ugly and needs the most expensive direction to look good. It's the opposite. The bones are forgivable. Every one of these twelve directions works on these exact bones. What separates the $84,000 MCM Revival from the $212,000 Concrete & Glass Modernist is material ambition, not structural capability. Start with an honest inventory of what your budget actually is, pick the one style that genuinely fits your life (not a Pinterest board), and commit to executing it fully rather than chasing three styles halfway.

If you're at the start of an exterior project, our twelve-style curb appeal makeover guide on a stucco base is the closest peer to this article and goes deeper on stucco-specific palettes. For another 1970s-era revival and a look at how much the base material drives the outcome, see our dated brown brick facade makeover. And if you're comparing drab-to-dream styling studies on a smaller house, the eleven-direction drab-to-dream exterior transformation study covers the compact-ranch typology.

The Layered Homes editorial team