6 Takes on the Shingle House Exterior, From Moody Blue-Black to Classic Gray

There’s something effortlessly charming about shingle exteriors. At first glance, they bring to mind long summer days spent outside where you can admire their looks. Even in cold weather, dusted with snow, they offer a dose of eye candy. They invite you in, either with generous porches, a no-fuss patina, or cozy quarters. Domino home tours serve up shingles all along the Eastern seaboard, and even one in Los Angeles. Ahead, see six inspirational houses that’ll make you want to move right in. 

The Painstakingly Renovated Shingle Exterior

Studio Kestrel’s recent renovation of an 1800s home in Brookhaven, New York, included righting tombstones in a small cemetery on the property, clearing out old duck decoys, and restoring the weathered cedar exterior. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh, you need to replace that,’” says Paul de Andrade, founder and principal designer. “It was a super labor of love,” he says. We’d say it’s worth it, for the curb appeal and the story. Get a dose of what it looked like before in the full home tour. 

The Moody Blues Shingle Exterior

Fashion designer Beth Birkett (aka Bephie) lives with her family in a four-bedroom Los Angeles house that takes after her style—comfortable and authentic. Its central location in Lafayette Square, a historically Black neighborhood, was a draw when they bought it in 2019. It also had properties that reminded her of her family’s Harlem brownstone. But the exterior of this house, clad in navy shingles and black trim, is more reminiscent of other East Coast structures. However, the property’s palm trees are a reminder that they are, indeed, on the other side of the country.

The Porch-Included Shingle Exterior

The Hamptons are practically synonymous with shingle exteriors that are elegant yet laid-back. The same adjectives could be applied to this project, which came with a 50-page brief from the homeowners. New York–based designer Charlie Ferrer mixed patterns and colors in a balanced way that didn’t lean too cottagey. The front porch, with its purple cabana stripe–upholstered chairs, is a perfect example of that against the backdrop of crisp white and classic cedar.

The Stately Shingle Exterior

Designer and shopkeeper John Derian (of the eponymous label) keeps a vacation home in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he spent summers as a child. He was charmed by an 18th-century sea captain’s house in part because of the “flow on the first floor, where you can walk in a circle”; gatherings move easily from one room to the next. The buttoned-up exterior, complete with prim hedges, ionic columns, and gridded windows, belies a more relaxed vibe inside where help-yourself spreads, casual cocktails, and plenty of comfortable spots abound.

The Row House Shingle Exterior

It’s a party up front and business casual in the back at designer Jen Levy’s Baltimore row house. While she and her fiancé painted the once-gray front of the house pink, they left the back alone in all its shingled glory. The two-tone exterior leads to 1,350 square feet inside, which was already in great shape when they acquired the home. The one big thing to do was renovate the kitchen, focusing on cosmetic updates.

The Easy-Breezy Shingle Exterior 

Cookbook author and TV personality Katie Lee Biegel’s Hamptons retreat is as classic as they come: expansive porches, sloped yet pointed roof lines, a lawn-size pool, and that beautiful gray shingled exterior. The residence expertly blends Southern charm (Biegel is from West Virginia) with a breezy, informal feel, and she wanted the grounds and outdoor features to possess the same energy.