Perhaps you could use paint to simplify the look. Not sure if painting the brick or brick veneer on the base of the house is an option, but I would consider painting that the same white as the house. The same with the darker trim around the window above the front entrance. As for the brown trim and molding, perhaps you could paint the trim that makes it look more Bavarian white and the rest a light blue gray or paint all the existing trim something like a light blue gray.

I agree that if you took the color tones to low contrast, it would help. You would have to paint the brick to fully achieve the look. I did a Houzz search on lake houses (you could do searches on coastal and other terms) and here are the results. I tend to like the ones with softer tones and less contrast. http://www.houzz.com/lake-house-exteriors

I agree that lower contrast between siding color and trim would soften the appearance..

Thanks for the great ideas and reference photos!

Barnhart Gallery nailed it with the shake. That was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw your house. I wish I could find the pix I took of a particular house in Santa Cruz that has a dark shake thing going on with an ivory trim. It's my favorite house on the planet. It's the beach look you're after. Check out shakertown siding at http://shakertown.com/ and Cedar valley cedar shake siding at http://www.cedar-valley.com/
You don't have to do the entire house in shake. You can do select walls as an accent, Just the second story, or just the gables. You have a beautiful home!

I love the idea of shake. How would it look with my reddish tile roof?

I think if u tie your shakes in with the color of your siding..u will be fine..as they are on the houses in Barnhart's pics.

I believe shake would look very nice. As Jayme said, it will be about choosing the right color.

Your house trimwork screams Tudor...even though Tudor homes aren't normally so large. That trim being painted brown isn't helping.

It will take some creativity & redesign to make that home look beachy. Farmhouse...not gonna happen.

Hi Lisa, send me some pics of what you are wanting your home to look like. I think a farmhouse look could be achieved...it would take some creativity and vision but it can be achieved. People have different visions for what each type of architectural style looks like. What one person envisions Modern Farmhouse to look like is probably a little bit different than another's vision.

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