There are four architectural styles to choose from when building a custom home at Crystal Cove: Provence, Tuscan, Santa Barbara and Northern Italian.

Provence:
The country house of Provence, France derives from timeless medieval estates. Provence homes may include warm earth tones and windows accented with colorful solid board shutters. The geometry of the architecture is simple and additive, that is, portions of the building appear to have been added over many generations. Exterior walls of the Provence country house are often constructed with fieldstone, while roofs are shallow-pitched with earthen-colored clay tile.

Tuscan:
The Tuscan country house is distinguished by the use of Roman pan clay roof tiles and exposed heavy timber rafter tails with decorative end cuts. Shutters tend more often than not to be louvered and painted a deep Tuscan red or dark green. Exterior walls are constructed of stone, sometimes interspersed with brick at door and window openings and building corners. If the exterior walls are plastered, they tend to be warm, and sometimes colorful, earth tones.

Santa Barbara:
The Santa Barbara Style, as the name suggests, emerged in Santa Barbara in the 1920s and 30s when the community established itself as a prestigious winter resort attracting wealthy visitors from the East and Midwest. An eclectic mix of Mediterranean styles with fragments of Spanish, North African and Mexican architecture is unified by the use of clay tile roofs, expansive stucco walls and deeply recessed windows. Towers capture ocean views and complete the overall romantic effect of the architecture.

Northern Italian:
Northern Italian architecture is best described as classically simple in form, resembling the country villas scattered throughout Northern Italy. Italianate architecture features spacious interiors, red-tile, low-pitched roofs adorned with frieze cornices and brackets, and walls of stucco or stone covered with stucco.