Homes & Gardens' 2026 exterior color feature draws on insight from Chris Landis, Co-Founder of Landis Architects | Builders, on the shift away from stark white facades toward "nature-merged" tones drawn from the landscape. Chris speaks to why colors like earth, stone, clay, and moss feel timeless, because they're already familiar to us, so they settle in rather than compete for attention. He explains why white so often works against a home, flattening architectural detail, creating glare, and showing dirt and weathering faster than almost any other color. He also points to the rise of monochromatic facades, where siding, trim, and details share closely related tones and let shadow, texture, and depth do the work. The feature, which showcases two Landis Architects projects, reflects a broader cultural move toward homes that belong to their surroundings rather than stand apart from them.
