This is not a laural although sometime called a Japanese laural. It is an Aucuba japonica(probably) 'Mr.Goldstrike', a nice shade shrub, 6-8 feet. It does look like it is too close to the house for best developement of the shrub. Probably not a huge danger to the foundation unless your house is really old. A very common mistake that homeowners make is planting too close to the house and other plants. Easy to do when they select what is a small plant at the time of purchase. Read the lable.... You could probably move the plant easy enough when it is dormant in winter. I am sure others will pipe in with more expertese!

Thank you for your comments, bamboomary. The house is about 50 years old, so foundation is an issue for us.

The thing is, if it's not really worth much, my husband will most likely chop it down and dispose of it. He kinda stands there with weed-eater in hand and that crazed look in his eyes. lol. It's all I can do to keep him away from it! But if it's the kind of bush someone might want, I'd rather it go to a new home than be destroyed.

A think that their roots are on the weak side. It was probably a good plant choice for this area. It now looks silly because of the way it has been pruned. It needs some thinning close to the base and if you let the top grow naturally it would look a lot better.

More than one cultivar of spotted laurel is grown, yellow spots does not automatically equate to any particular one.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, lol, so if you don't like the shrub and don't want to move it, get rid of it or find a home for it. Aucaubas are not all that expensive (also a relative statement). Larger shrubs (instant gratification) can be more difficult to come by and perhaps an argument for saving it. Cheers

Thanks for all your comments, you guys!

Another question. If we decide to just move it, would it be OK in a sunny place with no shelter around it? We could move it to the edge of our yard where we'd like to eventually have some kind of separation from the neighbours' yard. That means it would get quite a bit of sun. It gets a fair amount now but the house and some surrounding trees protect it from later afternoon sun.

They don't look real good with too much sun, the fact that you have some filtered late afternoon shade in its current location would make a difference. The green and yellow will end up getting pretty washed out. I'm not even sure lots of water would make a difference if you put it in full sun but it's worth a try if you are going to trash the shrub...

I think it looks pretty good, but if your husband hates it, it won't be a big loss to dig it up and move it to a shady spot, or even chop it down. They aren't all that "precious" or rare. Aucuba does really well in shade, and looks jaundiced in the sun. Bamboomary is right.