The new addition has a lovely roofline, but certainly doesn't match the original cottage. I would paint the new addition in a dark grey to play up the difference. There is no way they can be melded together so make a feature of the old and new.

Adrienne, NZ

Is this the front or back of the house? It appears that it's probably the back and if so, you could just replicate the roofline to give it more balance and symmetry, like I've done in this photo:

I think that's an excellent solution, shead, and if you wanted to widen the windows in the older section of the house to echo the windows on the first floor of the addition, that would offer even more harmony between the two sides.

Sorry, changed my profile name if anyone is confused :) Was previously head9806.

I don't think there is a great way to blend the old with the new, without doing some surgery. To mirror the peak below the ridge of the existing structure would be pretty complicated. You'd have to tie into the roof on the main part of the house with little to no gain on the curb appeal factor. A lot of monkey business and expense with little benefit.

So, here's an option with the same footprint as the existing structure, and you wouldn't have to tie into the roof any more than the modern addition does. The trick is to keep the eaves of the addition above the ridgeline of the main house roof.

You'd take the money saved from not tying the rooflines and put it toward raising the roof on a proper addition more correct to at least the era of the house...and with loads of charm. You'd gain a second level, and more sheltered living area in the form of a porch. The steps would come around to the front of the porch to make it more inviting. A nice wide paver walkway would curve, gracefully leading to the porch.

Windows on the right side would be shuffled a bit to give it an organized look and to align with the windows on the upper floor. All windows would be re-trimmed in wider, classic moulding, and new windows (or at least storms) with farmhouse-style muntins would help all windows to match.

I feel like the result gains curb appeal and solves the problem with minimal deconstruction of the main structure. The biggest expense is tearing off the roof of the addition and building a full second storey, but I think that this is a bit of a trade-off.

A familiar approach such as ourfarmhouse's solution will appeal to more people when it's time to sell.

i love your idea ourfarmhouse but don't really need any more rooms and no one in the area has a second story, I found a pic I will attach and I wonder if I can modify and take things from that pic to make it work, I hate the triangle window, I would remove that and add to the roofline on the left, I think it would blend in over the little entry room that sticks out in the front, I would add a fake window in the center on the top and add a porch, similar to the one you added. I love the walkway...thats one thing I will fight with my husband about, he doesn't see the need. Is it more money to blend into the roofline then to add on a complete second story? I will be hiring an architect at some point but trying to come up with some ideas in the mean time. THANK YOU

oops I added the wrong image, I'll try again!

the pic above is kind of what I have in mind, depends on costs, though I like ourfarmhouse idea of keeping it more with the time.

shead, no, its actually the front of the house, what were the people thinking by adding that horrible addition & what was I thinking when I bought this house? I don't care for the window so I wouldn't want another one, but i do like the mirrored roofline.

I'm with you.......my house is a design catastrophe, too, with ackward additions. Since it is the front of the house, I LOVE the photo you just uploaded. It, at least, gives you a springboard for ideas.

I also like ourfarmhouse's idea as well. I could see either working well on your house.

I'm not sure what area you are in, but I'm in TN, and I was able to get an architect/designer to come out to my house to overhaul our exterior and he's only charging me $600 to redesign my front. I would check with a contractor for suggestions, because most have a person they work with frequently. I'd buy an hour or so of their time just to get some ideas, whether or not you actually have them draw anything.

Hmmm, think this might also be a question of selecting exterior building materials to unify your home. It appears as though your cladding might be siding? I think shake shingles would add charm and warmth, as would a metal roof. If a cottage feeling is what you desire, these options might be worth exploring. Hope that gives you some food for thought, good luck!

So here are some very quick roughs to show you different ways of thinking about your rooflines.

The first one is just picking up your reference photo and adding it to your structure. The main house roof would die into the addition roof.

The second version mimics your existing roof pitch, but is raised, so you don't have to mess with tying roof to roof.

The third version does the same but with lower front-facing gables.

The fourth again mimics the existing pitch, but the whole structure is raised to steer clear of the whole roof tie-in issue (thus making it less expensive). The porch from the very first version is retained.

These are quickly thrown together, but hopefully you can start to see the many options you could have. And this is just scratching the surface.

Here is the fourth version.

ourfarmhouse, you are very talented, especially if these are just quickly thrown together! If you are not doing design for a living I think you should consider it! Thanks for your ideas! I'm not sure which one I like the best, I actually like all of them, probably the 2nd one the most, the 4th one is interesting too, it will depend on which one is the easiest and least expensive route to go I can't wait to get started. Just trying to find a way to get money, it's so much harder these days to get equity loans. THANK YOU!

Wow, ourfarmhouse, those are amazing!!! Can you work on my house next? I haven't mailed my initial payment to our architect yet? lol

Spend the money on excellent landscaping and the problem will be solved.

ourfarmhouse I love the first one! impressive once again!

Here's what we ended up doing! It's finished and I love it! Thanks for the ideas ourfarmhouse

wow! very nice job!

Yes, the house will be way more valuable now, plus we bought at the right time and the houses are going for a lot more in our area then we paid. :)

WOW!!! What is the budget for a transformation like this??

great job!

I like it. Nice work.

Ourfarmhouse- How are you able to make those renderings? Please contact me as I would be interested in your services.

I know this is an old post, but there were such good ideas from everyone.

Perhaps you can help me with a home I may buy. It's not ideal, but the property has other features that make it a great for what I need (guest house & acreage!)

Down the road I would clean this house up and somehow must find a way to make it look nice.

The roofline to the right, is hideous in my opinion. It was built in the 90's. In this case the portion with this roof is the garage, entryway and also the master bedroom.

This house is in Southern Florida so the cottage/farmhouse look isn't popular as the other house above. I've attached pictures of the front and back. Any ideas?