How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior
Foundational Steps: Laying the Groundwork for Your Custom Home Exterior Design
Before any sketches are made or materials are chosen, the process of How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior must begin with a thorough understanding of the fundamental elements that will influence every subsequent decision. These initial steps are critical for building a robust design concept that is both beautiful and practical.
Understanding Your Site and Surroundings
The land upon which your home rests is a silent partner in the design process. Its unique characteristics dictate many foundational choices, creating opportunities and presenting constraints for your custom home exterior.
- Topography and Grade: The slope and contours of your land will influence foundation design, drainage, and how the home sits on the property. A well-designed exterior leverages natural grades, minimizing excavation and creating harmonious transitions.
- Climate and Orientation: Sunlight, prevailing winds, rainfall, and local temperature extremes significantly impact material choices, window placement, and energy efficiency. Orienting the home to maximize passive solar gain in winter and minimize heat exposure in summer can be a cornerstone of sustainable exterior design.
- Views and Vistas: Identify desirable views to frame with windows and outdoor living spaces. Conversely, consider how to mitigate less appealing views or privacy concerns through strategic placement of solid walls, landscaping, or window treatments.
- Neighborhood Context and Local Regulations: While designing a custom home allows for unique expression, it’s often wise to consider the architectural vernacular of the surrounding area. Harmonizing with the neighborhood can enhance community appeal, though not at the expense of personal vision. Additionally, local zoning ordinances, HOA covenants, and building codes will dictate setbacks, height restrictions, material allowances, and other critical design parameters.
Defining Your Vision and Lifestyle
Your custom home exterior should be a reflection of who you are and how you intend to live. This personal connection is what truly elevates a house to a home.
- Aesthetic Preferences: What architectural styles appeal to you most? Collect inspiration from magazines, online platforms, and existing homes. Pay attention to details like rooflines, window styles, material combinations, and overall massing. Understanding your personal aesthetic is central to How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
- Functional Requirements: Beyond aesthetics, consider the practical aspects. How will you enter and exit the home? Do you need a grand entrance, a functional mudroom entrance, or both? How many garage bays are required? What outdoor living spaces are essential – a sprawling deck for entertaining, a quiet porch for reading, a sheltered patio for dining?
- Maintenance Level: Be realistic about the upkeep you are willing to commit to. Some materials, while beautiful, require more maintenance than others. This consideration will heavily influence your material selection for the long term.
- Future Planning: Think about long-term needs. Will the home need to accommodate aging in place? Future family expansion? Designing with flexibility in mind can prevent costly renovations down the line.
Budgeting and Professional Guidance
Successfully navigating How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior requires a clear understanding of financial limits and often, the expertise of seasoned professionals.
- Establish a Realistic Budget: Break down costs for design fees, site work, materials, labor, and landscaping. Be sure to include a contingency fund for unexpected expenses. Material choices often have the most significant impact on cost, so an early understanding of your budget will guide these selections.
- Assemble Your Design Team:
- Architect: Essential for translating your vision into detailed plans, ensuring structural integrity, navigating building codes, and often overseeing the construction process. An experienced architect specializing in custom homes can provide invaluable guidance for the exterior.
- Landscape Architect/Designer: Critical for integrating the home with its surroundings, designing outdoor spaces, and selecting appropriate plantings and hardscaping that complement the exterior architecture.
- General Contractor: A skilled contractor is vital for bringing the design to life, managing subcontractors, and ensuring quality craftsmanship. Involving a contractor early can provide cost-saving insights and construction feasibility advice.
Exploring Architectural Styles and Aesthetic Principles
Once the groundwork is laid, the exciting phase of defining the architectural character of your custom home begins. This involves understanding various styles and applying fundamental design principles to create a cohesive and impactful exterior. This is a pivotal step in How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
Harmonizing Style with Function
An aesthetically pleasing exterior should never compromise the functionality of the home. The chosen architectural style needs to align seamlessly with the planned interior layout and your lifestyle needs.
- Interior-Exterior Connection: Consider how the exterior walls define interior spaces. Large windows for views or natural light, specific ingress/egress points, and the placement of outdoor living areas all tie back to the interior design.
- Flow and Circulation: The exterior design should guide people intuitively towards the main entrance and other functional access points. Covered porches, distinct pathways, and strategically placed landscaping can all contribute to this flow.
- Practicality of Style: Some styles lend themselves better to certain climates or functional requirements. For instance, a Modern farmhouse might easily accommodate an open-concept interior and ample outdoor spaces, while a more formal Georgian style might suggest a traditional, segmented interior layout.
Popular Architectural Styles for Custom Homes
The world of architecture offers a rich tapestry of styles, each with its own history, characteristics, and appeal. Understanding these can help you articulate your preferences and inform How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
- Modern/Contemporary: Marked by clean lines, large expanses of glass, flat or low-pitched roofs, and a focus on open-plan living and natural materials. Often emphasizes a connection to the outdoors.
- Traditional/Colonial: Characterized by symmetry, classic proportions, a central entry, and often brick or clapboard siding with gabled roofs. Embodies a sense of timeless elegance.
- Craftsman: Known for its handcrafted details, low-pitched gabled roofs with wide eaves, exposed rafters, tapered columns, and a mix of natural materials like stone, wood, and shingles. Emphasizes warmth and earthiness.
- Farmhouse (Modern or Traditional): Features include board-and-batten siding, large welcoming porches, gabled roofs, and an often informal yet elegant aesthetic. Modern iterations might incorporate larger windows and sleek details.
- Mediterranean/Spanish Revival: Distinguished by stucco exteriors, low-pitched tile roofs, arches, wrought iron details, and often deep-set windows, evoking a warm, inviting, and historic feel.
- Mid-Century Modern: Features include organic shapes, large windows, open floor plans, and a blurring of indoor/outdoor spaces. Often uses a mix of natural wood, brick, and stone.
- Rustic/Mountain Modern: Combines elements of natural stone and robust timber with modern sleek lines and large windows, designed to blend seamlessly with natural, often rugged, landscapes.
Principles of Exterior Design
Regardless of the chosen style, universal design principles guide the creation of a balanced, appealing, and harmonious custom home exterior. These principles are fundamental to understanding How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
- Balance: Achieved through symmetry (identical elements mirrored across a central axis) or asymmetry (elements of different weights or forms arranged to create visual equilibrium). Both can create a sense of stability and order.
- Proportion and Scale: Refers to the relationship of parts to the whole and to each other. Windows should be in proportion to walls, columns to porches, and the home itself should feel appropriately scaled within its surrounding landscape.
- Rhythm and Repetition: The controlled recurrence of elements (windows, columns, rooflines) creates a sense of movement and visual interest. This can be regular or irregular, but always with purpose.
- Unity and Harmony: All elements of the exterior should work together to create a cohesive and singular design. This means colors, materials, textures, and architectural details must complement each other.
- Focal Points: An intentional element that draws the eye, such as a striking front door, a prominent window, a unique architectural feature, or well-placed landscaping. A well-designed exterior often has one or more clear focal points.
Material Selection: The Canvas of Your Custom Home Exterior
The materials you choose for your custom home exterior are much more than mere coverings; they are the very fabric that conveys style, offers protection, and dictates the tactile experience of the home. This crucial stage defines durability, long-term maintenance, and the overall aesthetic, making informed decisions vital for How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
Primary Siding Materials
The choice of primary siding significantly impacts a home’s curb appeal, energy efficiency, and maintenance schedule.
- Wood Siding:
- Types: Cedar shingles, clapboard, board-and-batten.
- Pros: Natural beauty, versatility in finishes (stain or paint), excellent insulation properties.
- Cons: Requires regular maintenance (painting/staining), susceptible to rot, pests, and fire without proper treatment.
- Stone (Natural or Manufactured):
- Types: Fieldstone, river rock, cut limestone, granite, cultured stone veneers.
- Pros: Unparalleled durability, timeless elegance, low maintenance, excellent insulation. Adds significant value and character.
- Cons: High initial cost, can be heavy (requiring robust structural support), installation is labor-intensive.
- Brick:
- Types: Clay brick in various colors, textures, and bonds.
- Pros: Extremely durable, fire-resistant, excellent thermal mass, low maintenance, timeless aesthetic.
- Cons: Higher initial cost than some alternatives, limited color palette compared to paintable options, can be challenging to modify later.
- Fiber Cement:
- Brands: James Hardie is a leading manufacturer.
- Pros: Highly durable, resistant to rot, pests, and fire, available in various finishes mimicking wood siding or shingles, low maintenance, good warranty coverage. Can be painted virtually any color.
- Cons: Can be heavy (requiring two-person installation), dusty when cut, moderate cost.
- Stucco:
- Types: Traditional Portland cement stucco, synthetic (EIFS – Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems).
- Pros: Highly versatile in texture and color, excellent fire resistance, good insulation properties, durable when properly installed.
- Cons: Can be prone to cracking if not installed correctly, traditional stucco can show dirt, synthetic stucco requires careful detailing to prevent moisture intrusion.
- Metal Siding:
- Types: Steel, aluminum, copper (panels, corrugated, standing seam).
- Pros: Extremely durable, low maintenance, fire-resistant, available in modern and industrial aesthetics, long lifespan. Aluminum and copper develop attractive patinas.
- Cons: Can be more expensive than some options, can dent, some metals can be noisy in heavy rain.
Roofing Options and Considerations
The roof is a dominant visual element and critical for protection. Its material, pitch, and color profoundly influence the overall aesthetic and functionality of your custom home exterior.
- Asphalt Shingles:
- Pros: Economical, wide range of colors and styles, relatively easy to install and repair.
- Cons: Shorter lifespan than many alternatives (15-30 years), can look less premium on a custom home.
- Metal Roofing:
- Types: Standing seam, corrugated, metal shingles (steel, aluminum, copper, zinc).
- Pros: Very durable (50+ years), fire-resistant, energy-efficient (reflects heat), low maintenance, available in many colors and profiles.
- Cons: Higher initial cost, can be noisy in heavy rain, prone to denting if not impact-resistant.
- Tile Roofing:
- Types: Clay (Spanish, Mission, French), Concrete.
- Pros: Extremely durable (50+ years), fire-resistant, excellent thermal mass, distinctive Mediterranean or Southwestern aesthetic, low maintenance.
- Cons: Very heavy (requires reinforced roof structure), high initial cost, fragile to walk on.
- Slate Roofing:
- Pros: Unmatched durability (100+ years), natural beauty, fire-resistant, prestigious aesthetic.
- Cons: Extremely expensive, very heavy, delicate to install and repair.
- Cedar Shakes or Shingles:
- Pros: Natural beauty, distinct texture, good insulation, classic Craftsman or rustic look.
- Cons: Requires regular maintenance, susceptible to moss and fire (unless treated), shorter lifespan than tile or metal.
Windows and Doors: Eyes and Entryways of the Home
Windows and doors are not just functional openings; they are critical design elements that provide character, natural light, and a connection to the outside. This is a vital aspect of How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
- Window Materials:
- Vinyl: Affordable, low maintenance, good energy efficiency.
- Wood: Classic aesthetic, excellent insulation, requires maintenance.
- Fiberglass: Durable, stable, paintable, good energy efficiency, expensive.
- Aluminum/Clad: Strong, slim profiles, low maintenance (clad) or modern aesthetic (aluminum).
- Window Style: Casement, double-hung, picture, awning, sliding, bay, bow. The choice depends on architectural style, ventilation needs, and desired views.
- Energy Efficiency: Prioritize double or triple-pane glazed windows with low-emissivity (Low-E) coatings and inert gas fills (argon or krypton) for optimal thermal performance.
- Exterior Doors: The front door is a major focal point. Material (wood, fiberglass, steel), style, color, and hardware should complement the overall exterior design. Consider side lights and transoms for added grandeur and light. Back and utility doors should also integrate aesthetically and functionally.
Trim and Accent Materials
Trim elements provide definition, contrast, and fine detailing to the home’s exterior, adding depth and character.
- Soffits and Fascia: Protect the eaves and provide a finished look. Materials can include wood, vinyl, or fiber cement, chosen to match or contrast with the siding.
- Columns and Posts: Can be decorative (e.g., fluted Roman columns) or structural (e.g., robust Craftsman tapered posts), defining entryways and porches.
- Shutters: Can add a traditional touch or an accent color. Ensure they are correctly sized for the windows they adorn, even if purely decorative.
- Molding and Cornices: Elaborate or simple moldings around windows, doors, and rooflines add architectural detail and can help convey a specific style.
- Gutters and Downspouts: Essential for water management, they can be integrated visually through matching colors or used as a subtle design accent with specialty materials like copper.
Color Palette and Lighting: Enhancing Curb Appeal
With the major structural and material decisions made, the next steps in How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior involve bringing the design to life with color and light. These elements are highly impactful yet often the most flexible for personalization.
Crafting a Cohesive Color Scheme
The success of your custom home exterior often hinges on its color scheme. A well-chosen palette creates harmony, highlights architectural features, and influences the home’s perceived size and mood.
- Main Body Color: This is the dominant color of your home’s siding. Consider its relationship to the surrounding landscape, neighboring homes, and the architectural style. Lighter colors can make a home appear larger and reflect heat, while darker colors can make it feel cozier and absorb heat.
- Trim Color: Used for window frames, door frames, fascia boards, and corner boards. Trim often contrasts with the main body color to provide definition and accent architectural details. White is a classic choice, but deeper tones or complementary hues can also be effective.
- Accent Colors: Applied to elements like the front door, shutters, porch ceilings, or specific architectural features. This is where you can introduce a pop of personality or a subtle coordinating shade. Limit accent colors to avoid a cluttered look.
- Roof Color: While often viewed separately, the roof color is a significant component of the overall palette. It should complement the siding without clashing. Darker roofs typically absorb more heat, while lighter ones reflect it, which is a consideration based on climate.
- Material Colors: Don’t forget the natural colors of materials like stone, brick, wood, and metal. These typically serve as fixed elements in your palette, and your painted colors should harmonize with them.
- Testing Colors: Always test paint samples on site, observing them at different times of day and under various lighting conditions, as colors can appear vastly different than on a swatch.
The Art of Exterior Lighting Design
Exterior lighting goes beyond mere functionality; it transforms the custom home exterior after dusk, enhancing architectural features, providing security, and creating a welcoming ambiance.
Accent Lighting for Features
Thoughtful accent lighting can dramatically enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home, drawing attention to its unique design elements.
- Uplighting: Directed upwards at architectural elements such as columns, textured stone walls, or mature trees. This creates dramatic shadows and highlights specific features.
- Grazing: Lights placed close to a textured surface (like brick or stone) so the light beam hits it at a shallow angle, creating shadows that emphasize the texture.
- Washing: Broad, even illumination across a large surface (like a facade) to create a soft glow.
- Path Lighting: Low-level lights that illuminate walkways and steps, improving safety and guiding visitors. These can also add decorative elements along the path to the main entrance.
- Spotlighting: Strategically placed to highlight specific features like a prominent gable, a unique window, or a piece of outdoor art.
Functional and Security Lighting
Beyond aesthetics, exterior lighting serves crucial practical purposes, ensuring safety and deterring potential intruders.
- Entryway Lighting: A well-lit entrance is welcoming and safe. This typically includes overhead fixtures (porch lights) or sconces on either side of the door. Ensure adequate illumination for guests to navigate steps and find the doorbell.
- Garage and Service Area Lighting: Provides practical light for tasks and security. Motion-activated lights in these areas can be particularly effective.
- Perimeter Lighting: Lighting around the entire perimeter of the home, perhaps motion-activated or on a timer, enhances security and discourages unwelcome visitors.
- Step and Stair Lighting: Small, embedded lights in risers or along handrails prevent falls and add a subtle glow to outdoor transitions.
- Timers and Sensors: Utilizing automatic timers, photocells (dusk-to-dawn sensors), and motion sensors can optimize energy use and enhance the functionality of your lighting scheme. Consider smart home integration for advanced control over your exterior lighting.
Landscaping and Outdoor Living Integration
The custom home exterior doesn’t end at the walls of the house; it extends into the surrounding landscape. Thoughtful landscaping and the integration of outdoor living spaces are paramount to completing the vision and making your home feel truly rooted in its environment. This holistic approach is essential for How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
Blending the Home with the Landscape
A seamless transition between the built structure and its natural setting enhances the beauty of both. The landscape acts as the frame for your architectural masterpiece.
- Hardscaping Elements:
- Walkways and Driveways: Materials like pavers, natural stone, gravel, or poured concrete should complement the home’s exterior materials and color palette. Their layout should guide visitors intuitively and efficiently.
- Patios and Terraces: These extensions of your home often use materials that echo or contrast pleasantly with the house itself, creating inviting spaces for relaxation and entertainment. Consider materials that are durable, non-slip, and comfortable for bare feet.
- Retaining Walls: If your property has significant grade changes, retaining walls can be functional necessities that also contribute to the aesthetic. They can be built from stone, concrete, timber, or block, each offering different looks.
- Softscaping (Plantings):
- Foundation Plantings: Shrubs and perennials placed around the base of the house help to soften the transition from ground to wall, conceal foundations, and provide visual interest. Choose plants that are appropriate for your climate and require the desired level of maintenance.
- Trees and Large Shrubs: Strategically placed trees can provide shade, privacy, windbreak, and significant visual impact. They should be chosen based on mature size, leaf retention (deciduous vs. evergreen), and how their form complements the architecture.
- Color and Texture: Use plants to introduce varying colors, textures, and forms throughout the year, adding dimension and dynamism to the exterior. Consider native plants that thrive in your local climate, requiring less water and care.
- Seasonal Interest: Design with the seasons in mind. Choose plants that offer blooms, interesting foliage, or structure throughout the year to maintain visual appeal.
Designing Functional Outdoor Spaces
Today’s custom homes increasingly prioritize outdoor living, seeing these spaces as extensions of the interior. The design of these areas is integral to How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
- Porches and Verandas: These covered outdoor rooms offer shelter and a welcoming transition. Their design should echo the home’s architectural style, with appropriate columns, railings, and ceiling finishes. Consider their size and orientation for intended use (e.g., morning coffee, evening relaxation).
- Decks: Elevated platforms, often constructed of wood or composite materials, extending from the house. Perfect for creating flat usable space on sloped sites or for connecting with upper-level rooms. Material selection for decking and railings should harmonize with the home’s exterior.
- Outdoor Kitchens and Dining Areas: Incorporate dedicated spaces for cooking and eating outdoors. This might include built-in grills, refrigerators, sinks, and fire pits. Ensure these areas are conveniently located near indoor kitchen access and have appropriate utilities.
- Fire Features: Fireplaces or fire pits add warmth, ambiance, and a natural gathering point to outdoor living spaces. Their design should be integrated into the overall landscape plan.
- Water Features: Fountains, ponds, or reflecting pools can introduce soothing sounds, visual interest, and a sense of tranquility to the landscape, creating a focal point that complements the custom home exterior.
- Privacy and Shelter: Incorporate elements like pergolas, trellises, privacy screens, or strategic plantings to provide shade, shelter from wind, and privacy from neighbors, enhancing comfort and usability.
Sustainable Practices and Future-Proofing Your Exterior
A truly perfect custom home exterior is not only beautiful but also responsible and resilient. Integrating sustainable practices into the design process ensures long-term performance, reduces environmental impact, and often translates into lower operating costs and increased personal comfort. This forward-thinking approach is key to How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior.
Energy-Efficient Exterior Solutions
Optimizing the exterior for energy performance can significantly reduce heating and cooling costs and enhance indoor comfort.
- High-Performance Insulation: Beyond standard wall insulation, consider continuous exterior insulation (e.g., rigid foam boards) to minimize thermal bridging and improve the overall R-value of the building envelope.
- Advanced Window and Door Technology: As discussed, specify high-performance windows and doors with multi-pane glazing, low-emissivity (Low-E) coatings, and argon or krypton gas fills. Proper installation is critical to prevent air leaks.
- Passive Solar Design: Orienting the home to strategically capture sunlight in winter and block it in summer can dramatically reduce energy consumption. Overhangs, awnings, and deciduous trees can provide natural shading.
- Cool Roof Technology: Light-colored roofing materials or specialty coatings can reflect sunlight and reduce heat absorption, lowering attic temperatures and decreasing cooling loads in warmer climates.
- Rainwater Harvesting: Integrate systems to collect rainwater from the roof for irrigation, toilet flushing, or other non-potable uses. This conserves water and reduces reliance on municipal supplies.
- Exterior Shading Elements: Fixed or operable shading devices (pergolas, louvered screens, deep overhangs) can reduce solar heat gain through windows and walls, contributing to a cooler interior.
Low-Maintenance and Durable Materials
Choosing materials that stand the test of time and require minimal upkeep translates to long-term savings and less hassle for the homeowner.
- Material Lifespan: Research the expected lifespan of all exterior materials. Investing in materials with longer lifespans (e.g., metal roofs, fiber cement siding, natural stone) can offset higher initial costs through reduced replacement frequency.
- Resistance to Elements: Select materials that are inherently resistant to moisture, UV degradation, pests (termites), and extreme temperatures prevalent in your climate. For example, rot-resistant woods or treated lumber where wood must be used.
- Ease of Cleaning: Consider how easily materials can be cleaned. Smooth surfaces like painted fiber cement or stucco are generally easier to maintain than highly textured surfaces that trap dirt.
- Color Fastness: Ensure that colored materials (especially siding and roofing) are known for their color retention and resistance to fading, maintaining the aesthetic integrity of your custom home exterior for decades.
- Smart Landscaping Choices: Opt for drought-tolerant plants, native species, and slow-growing shrubs to reduce watering needs, minimize pruning, and integrate harmoniously with the local ecosystem. Consider hardscaping alternatives to grass in areas you don’t use frequently to reduce water and mowing.
The Final Review and Iteration Process
The journey of How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior culminates in a meticulous review and refinement process. Before construction begins, it’s essential to visualize the completed design and make any necessary adjustments to ensure every detail aligns with your vision and practicality.
Visualization Through Renderings and Models
Modern design tools allow for highly realistic representations of your custom home exterior, providing invaluable insight before significant investments are made.
- 3D Renderings: High-quality computer-generated images can depict your home from various angles, showing material textures, colors, lighting, and landscaping in detail. This allows you to “walk around” your future home.
- Virtual Reality (VR) Walkthroughs: Some architectural firms offer VR experiences, allowing you to immerse yourself in the design, giving a true sense of scale, proportion, and spatial relationships.
- Physical Scale Models: A traditional but still effective method, a physical model provides a tangible representation of your home, allowing for a deep understanding of its massing, shadows, and how it interacts with its site.
- Material Boards and Samples: Collect actual samples of all proposed exterior materials (siding, roofing, trim, window frames, landscape pavers, paint swatches). View them together in natural light to confirm their harmony and texture.
Seeking Feedback and Making Adjustments
Involving others in the final review process can offer fresh perspectives and catch potential issues.
- Team Review: Conduct a comprehensive review meeting with your architect, landscape designer, and contractor. Discuss the overall design, material choices, construction details, budget implications, and timeline. Address any potential constructability challenges or cost overruns.
- Peer and Family Feedback: Share renderings or models with trusted friends or family members whose opinions you value. They may notice details you’ve overlooked or offer insights from a different perspective.
- Adjustments and Refinements: Be open to making revisions based on feedback, budget constraints, or a refined understanding of your preferences. The iteration process is a normal and healthy part of custom design, ensuring the final product truly meets your expectations. This is the last chance to perfect your custom home exterior design before it moves to construction. Every adjustment made at this stage can save significant time and money during the building phase.
Conclusion
The journey of How to Design the Perfect Custom Home Exterior is an intricate, rewarding endeavor that touches upon engineering, artistry, and deeply personal aspirations. From the initial analysis of your unique building site and the articulation of your lifestyle, through the deliberate selection of architectural styles, resilient materials, and a harmonious color palette, every decision contributes to a cohesive and expressive whole.
A truly perfect custom home exterior stands as a testament to thoughtful design, where form meets function, and beauty endures. It’s an exterior that not only provides robust shelter and reflects your distinct personality but also elegantly integrates with its surroundings, embraces sustainable principles, and enhances your daily living. By meticulously following these steps, engaging with skilled professionals, and maintaining a clear vision, you are well-equipped to create an exterior that is not merely a facade, but a living, breathing extension of your perfect custom home – a beacon of beauty and functionality that will greet you warmly for years to come.