Yep, I like the charcoal stucco wall better than the Slate tile wall. The stucco color contrast seems to go better with what I see as a more modern and hip design, the slate tile wall kinda says I am not sure if I should step to far out of suburbia. Kinda plaid.

The plants in the back have more to say too. That back yard seems bigger than I would have expected for what I am guessing is a San Fran city home.

Now the two larger shrubs on the front stairs(other post/pic), it is not easy to tell but I am hoping they might be Wisteria trained as standards. That would be incredible to see when they bloom with those colors and the rise of the stairs.

ilima

I think that those two entry shrub/ trees are Cussonia.

A cool looking Dr. Suess looking tree as it ages.

Ilima,
I don't get the photo you refer to to come up when I click on the reference, but from what Michelle describes, you were looking at the front entry of the residence with two South African Lowveld Cabbage Trees/Cussonia spicata. These look quite palm like for the first 10 or so years, and then eventually branch and become more tree like once they bloom, with large flower clusters very similar to Tetrapanax flowers. The garden is located on the east side of the San Francisco Bay, not San Francisco, and surprisingly, after the new hardscape and plantings were installed, the garden seemed larger than it did originally with the old, (now demolished) house. The overall size is only 40 foot by 30 foot deep, and these photos do not show the whole garden. The client is a design/build contractor, and much of the color choices were in colaboration. Michelle's title is a tongue in cheek reference to the teasing I give the client about the house and wall colors; he insists it is the color of ripe Venezuelan mangoes, I insist it is closer to California pumpkin... The plantings reflect the balmy zone 10 climate here by the bay, and generally mild year round weather. It is a mix of some native California plants, mediterranean climate plants, and high elevation cloud forest subtropicals, along with my favorite bromeliads and succulents. In all, it is an eclectic mix only possible in a mild mediterranean climate, or higher elevations within the tropics. I imagine this garden could also fit right in above 4000 foot elevation in the Hawaiian Islands, or Costa Rica. The neighborhood is typically suburban, but with greater density and sophistication more similar to San Francisco than newer more outlying suburbs. Most of the homes in the neighborhood date back to the late 1930's and early 1940's, and are now being expanded vertically to increase bay views and provide more rooms, as the market approaches the million dollar range in this neighborhood for existing older, nonremodeled homes.