Cedar Slats Carport beside Paver Driveway

Design notes

Colonial design is symmetry and restraint. Look for a central axis from the back door, matched beds and hedges either side, bluestone or brick terraces with tight joints, and white or black picket and post-and-rail fences. Planting is disciplined — boxwood, hydrangea, holly, dogwood and shade trees — and furniture is classic: teak benches, Windsor chairs, a market umbrella. Georgian brick, clapboard and shingle houses all suit it.

What to look for

• The sequence from where the car stops to the front door
• Walkway width and the landing at the door
• Planting kept below the windows with a tree for scale