boxwoods grow so slow that pruning should be minimal to keep it low---especially if you plant a dwarf. I love boxwood, so that would be my vote---and it takes to pruning so nicely

I planted Rochester Boxwood, it gets only 18' by 18". But it is cold hardy, don't know how it would do in zone 10.

How low? Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) might work for you...it is used to edge knot gardens.

If you want a hedge that is about 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall, plant a row of sedam Autumn joy. Although is is not a shrub it makes a very attractive hedge that is green all summer with lovely orangy red flowers in the fall. It keeps it's shape very well and all that is needed is to thin them out every couple of years.

My friend has lined her driveway with them and planted flowers behind and it is lovely

The original purpose of foundation planting was to hide an ugly foundation. It seems that you have wisely avoided the ugly foundation syndrome. With that said do you need a hedge? Maybe a low mass of ground cover in front with the roses behind might work. Sorry I don't know zone 10 plants but here in zone 6 I would try vinca minor for the very low to liriope muscari "Big Blue" or lavendula "Munstead" for the tall 'hedge'.

Plant some grass or sedge.

As nice as roses can look, I would double think using them as much of a feature in the front of my home. They are not dependably beautiful, so there could be periods of time that they don't look all that nice. If any location in your landscape needs dependable beauty it is the front of the home.
I would urge using conifers and broadleaf evergreens as the bulk of the plantings and spot some seasonally colorful specimen plants judiciously here and there with small pools of annuals. Keeping your roses in a dedicated area out in the open where that can get lots of sun and air might be better for them anyway.

True dwarf boxwood (Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa') grows so slowly it will unlikely get to 3' tall any time soon - it takes years to achieve that size. Pruning to maintain a 12-18" hedge is minimal.

And FWIW, roses in zone 10 are very nearly evergreen and seldom out of bloom. They would be the equivalent of a broadleaf evergreen shrub (or very nearly so) in a colder zone.

Yeah, I didn't know if the zone 10 was Florida, California, or Texas. I have plenty of zone 10 Florida experience and roses are not at all dependable there in that capacity.
Elsewhere maybe they are.

This question is a conundrum as Julie seems compelled to install some kind of arrangement normally known as 'foundation planting' although the house has "nice stonework" that her husband doesn't want to hide so there is the desire for a 'hedge' so low that it is not a hedge at all. As you have found yourself on the Landscape Design forum Julie can we help you design the area around your new house without falling into a groove?

Ink's right - why not put your hedge where it won't be a source of conflict?

Sometimes you want something that isn't necessarily right but you just want it. So I'm not inclined to dissuade you from your hedge. But... move the whole planting out from the house to make a frame rather than a disguise - which the house obviously doesn't need.

Post a picture or a plan sketch, you'll maybe get some thoughts on alternatives to foundation planting. And look around - there's another thread nearby from a guy who can't imagine plantings anywhere other than at the foundation either. Maybe you can see alternatives for him (we're often so close to our own properties and our visions for them that we can't see them objectively) and transfer that to your place.

KarinL