Why not put another tree or even two in its place? Sounds like the Tulip tree did very well in that site.

I am considering some low growing trees and shrubs. The problem with tulip trees is that they are very brittle so they are not good choices for next to buildings.

What do you want to do? What do you consider your problem to be?

I would like to protect the slope from erosion since losing the hill would mean losing the building on top of the hill. The slope is already fairly steep. Because of the building, large trees have been ruled out. I have a strong preference for native plants (I am in Westchester County, NY). We previously installed terraces on the corner of this slope as the erosion at that corner had gotten to the point that the building could be threatened. You can see from the staining of the old soil line on the foundation that the old soil line was at least a few inches above the current soil line. I am trying to reverse years of neglect of the land so I guess nothing will be fixed quickly.