Style for topo elevation without materials?

Rough generic question but does anyone have any input or references for a good style or style changes to show terrain elevations without textures? I have a project with a foundation on a site that Ive generated with sandbox tools from contours and of course when its in a construction style (white) the terrain is pretty hard to see without orbiting around. Ive played around with applying textures and shadows but Id rather stay in a monochromatic color scheme.

This model is using contours supplied from a surveyor (coarse) on a house lot. Im just trying to show the terrain without applying grass, and so on, if that make sense.

I thought making use of shadows may help, which it did a bit.

Why not just use a simple color. Maybe a light green or tan.

Perhaps color by slope or color by altitude extensions would help.