You might like a new entry canopy (in addition to updating the landscaping).

Remove the shutters. They are incongruous with a triple window, and removing them will instantly make the house look more contemporary. Replace your light fixtures with something larger and more contemporary. A change in color might help you love it, too - how about a gray?

I agree. Sounds perfect!

This person was able to add stone to their home's exterior facade. I think that something similar to this in a more contemporary stone may suit your style. I would also consider repainting your shutters and possibly even the siding. Also, some fresh landscaping with some color would make a huge difference.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/exterior-transformation-dsvw-vd~380623

Yes to removing the shutters. Create a private patio/garden in front with Venetian/Asian fencing. Japanese maple. Glassblock window above front door and to the sides of door or double doors? If enough left over change the windows to ones with more Asian-style panes.

Thanks for everyone's help! Attached is a photo of the house without the shutters. We thought about leaving them off, but there was such a big gap between the 2 floors that it looked weird to us -- it could just have been that we were too used to seeing the shutters. Thoughts?
We repainted the house last summer and went with colors that would work with the reddish brown roof that we're stuck with until we need to replace the roof in a few years. Unfortunately, the taupey gray that I liked, just clashed.
I love your ideas for adding stone and would also like to add a portico over the door, along with replacing the awful sconces. A couple questions: Would you recommend replacing the windows? (They'd mainly have to be the same size as what we currently have, except for the one above the door.) And how big a deal is it $ to raise the roofline or add a peak above that center window when we replace the roof?
Thanks again!

Looks great without the shutters. How about a pergola? This pix gives you an idea of how you can break up the front. Not natural weathered look, but painted white.

a 2 story porch would be fabulous. fornt door and triple windows could change 2 double doors. your home would look much larger and more grand. browse houzz/exteriors/2 story porches and notice how many are plain boxes below the porches.

When I started writing my comments I was going to say paint the house - but since you just painted it - I am going to say with the color. I agree with so much of what the others are saying. The landscaping needs an update - large outdated shrubs need to go. Consult a professional for some ideas.

Shutters - need to go. Now before you decide to replace the windows - how old are they? Windows can blow your budget so unless you are in need of new windows and it will improve your energy efficiency - I would say this may not be the biggest bang for your buck. But obviously if done right could be amazing. Better quality windows like Pella, Anderson, and Marvin could blow your budget but with the right design be a real transformation.

I think going with a simple Arts and Crafts look you could do an amazing entrance (stone and wood). Add a new door, and new lighting. This combined with new landscaping and landscape lighting could be very appealing and transform your house - staying with your new color and blending with the roof.

Lighting and accessories

Doors etc.

I guess that it depends somewhat on which direction you want to go with this, but while the materials and front door trim are somewhat traditional, the windows are not at all. I would take it in a contemporary way. Since you said that you really can't change the window configuration, I don't see any point at all in installing new windows unless, from a utilitarian point, they need it. I would actually lose the little bit of traditional trim over the front door (just replace it with something simple) and the wrought iron railings, and do something modern. Embrace the horizontal - the windows are so strong that I don't think you can overcome that (not that you need to). Someone mentioned a pergola, I think. That would be one way of playing up the horizontal without blocking light too much and at the same time adding interest to the front of the house.



A canopy would be nice, too. Although this is much more traditional than what you would want, again I think the horizontality would work.


These aren't the best photos, but it gives you a concept. I can't see your front door, but if it's very traditional, perhaps replace it with something more contemporary and paint it a bright color.

I think it's a very nice house. It's just fighting itself in terms of style ;-)

Raising the roof over the center front is going to take you back to a more traditional look. You would have to consult a builder re: the cost, but it wouldn't be inexpensive. More to the point, however, is I don't think it would do anything for the house. You have such a low pitch on the roof that I think it would have to be so low that it would look odd.

Unfortunately, I need to stay somewhat traditional to remain consistent with the neighborhood -- both for resale reasons and for approval from the town's architectural review board :-(
I love the Earthy Modern pic above, but just wouldn't fit in with my NY suburban town. The attached pic was just built across the street from me and is typical of the homes around here. Although mine will never look like that, when we redo the roof, I'm thinking about raising it and adding a peak to make it look more substantial.

Gene - I love that first light fixture. Just checked -- it's in my ideabook!

The siding is what takes away from a complete look. Brick would be best but quite expensive. Yes to a portico and painting of siding and trim large shrubbery or remove.

Add a porch - I think that would be beautiful. And if the budget allows some of a second story porch that would be dramatic!

ajk404, if you are going to go to the expense of actually raising the entire roof, then you might as well change the windows to a more traditional style. Really though: I would think trying to give the house the Earth Modern photo look would qualify as "traditional". If the arch. review board originally approved yours, I can't see why they wouldn't approve trying to make it more "Craftsman". I think that the windows are key to going in a more traditional direction, more so than the roof. You would be wise to consult a local architect with experience in your area..

I like it without shutters.

ajk404 look at the new post for country retreat before and after. that was a plain 2 story. they've added a lovely wraparound porch and greatly improved the house.

You need to connect the red roof colour with the weatherboards(currently creamy yellow)-grey will look too cold. Keep the shutters. I suggest painting the boards, a very dark brown- i.e. "Benjamin Moore "Elephant Grey" with shutters in "Silhouette". Very chic! The house will then recede behind the nice structural garden in front of it. Do the window facings "Crisp Linen" OR
equivalent colours of another brand. Remove the coach lamps,I would have LED outdoor lighting installed and hidden between the shrubs and the house to uplight it at night. Add a porte cochere across the driveway. Remove the existing shrubs and replant in english box hedge (once the P.C is complete).
Change the left and right upper window casings to full length door that open out onto their own juliet balconies (with wrought iron railings). Lastly define the porte cochere area with a lovely grey toned split flagstone, and two obelisk shaped chinese star jasmine topiaries on either side of the front entrance (under the P.C.)

I think that the current landscaping detracts from the home's architecture. A more contemporary landscape featuring ornamental grasses, low growing broadleaf evergreens ( azaleas, for example ), perennials, annuals and groundcover would make a great difference. Below is a doodle of my ideas.

WOW!!! I really appreciate everyone's hard work on this! I hadn't even thought about new landscaping for this area -- although we completely relandscaped the entire backyard, pool and front circle, we hadn't done much directly adjacent to this part of the house. We have boxwoods lining what would be the left perpendicular edge of this photo, along a retaining wall for the driveway. I agree that we should work the same boxwoods into this portion of our landscape, while retaining some of the azaelas and adding more perennials. (BTW -- if you think the landscaping is overgrown now, you should have seen how much we ripped out when we moved in a couple years ago!)

DIAspoton - I took a look at the country retreat before and after and would have never known it was the same house! It looks amazing. Unfortunately, porches are just not popular around here (close suburb of NYC). And I'm afraid that since my dining room and living room face west and receive such little light already, that it could just make them too dark.

Michael, thanks for your extensive comments. I just have a few questions:
- By weatherboards, do you mean gutters and trim? Ours are all bright white to match the awful white windows that came with the house (the photo is just off-color). I don't believe that our window facings can be painted. They are very good, but very dated Anderson or Pella windows and must have been in style when the prior owners bought the home in the 80's. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they paired white trimmed windows with the reddish brown roof...
- I agree that those lights need to go. And FAST. Fortunately, we have fabulous lighting uplighting most of our front circle, pool and trees that didn't make it into this picture.
- Don't you think a PC across the driveway would be out of proportion to the height of the house? (My driveway is 10' wide + the entranceway is another 10'). The house is probably only 25' tall. I'm thinking that something like the attached might have a better scale.

You are correct about the porte cochere-I didn't see the photos taken across the lawn until after sending my comment.
Please have a look at this link to Benjamin Moore paints:-
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-gallery#&ce_vm=2&ce_col=CSP.

A possible suggestion is "chateau"-CSP 140 (Or "cathedral gray") on the house weatherboards, "windy city"-CSP 150 (or "cafe doppio") on the shutters (and on the vertical facing boards that support the roof.) This will place a dark framing around the roofline, and therefore give visual definition. Of course, paint the underside facings white (as they seem to currently be.
You can play with any colour selection on this chart, work vertically, on the chart, as the colours are basically lighter or darker tones. The higher number, the darker you get.
It looks much more professional to use colour tones that are close, it will make the overall effect look more uniform, and consequently draw attention away from the roof and windows.
Remember that you have look at the weather boards more often than the roof (that's for the birds!)
so painting them will overshadow the "red" roof.
Don't worry, everything can work together by coordinating your main colours as i mentioned above.
These paint charts are constructed professionally to guide you to a great outcome!

I see nothing wrong with your home's proportions. I would invest $15,000 on a new four seasons front landscape. This home is sincere with understated elegance. Happy Holidays.

2013 posting

Just thought I'd post an update - we ripped out all the old landscaping. I'll post a new shot shortly. I still need to do something with our facade though.