Is it yours or are you considering buying it? On my monitor it looks to need pressure washing and a refresh of the landscaping. The overgrown shrubs by the door and their mates by the two wings need to go. The crepe myrtles are good but may need some attention. Bigger lanterns at the front door would be good. New paint on the trim would help. Not sure I'd mess with those big windows. They seem to coordinate with all the other ones. Perhaps a different paint color would make them tolerable, so they aren't just big dark verticals. Right now they are not adding the interest they could because of the color they are.

Hi there,

You may thinking about updating your light fixtures to something very striking to boost your curb appeal.

We are the oldest open flame/electric copper lighting company in the U.S. and hand make every one of our fixtures to order in New Orleans, LA. We have hundreds of different lighting combinations and offer a complementary design service.

From your picture, the London Street lantern and the French Quarter lantern are both great options for your home. Feel free to email pictures of your space and we will be happy to make style and scale recommendations. Happy updating! -Lindsey @ Bevolo

Back to your question, I would paint all the gray "stuff" and the drain pipes one of the mid tones in your brick. Can't see it, but also paint your garage doors that same color. Yes, larger lanterns, in black as well as black around your front door.

It's a house we are considering buying. Our main wishes in buying home was exterior wow, layout (or flexibility to change layout and open up the space), and lot size. This house has all but the exterior, and I don't know if I'm chasing away a good thing in this home by looking for a "unicorn" of a home. I typically like home exteriors with a colonial style look, or modern farmhouse style, ranch, cottage, mid century modern, angled 70s....but I just don't know where to go with this exterior front???

I don't know if maybe the roof was darker it would balance out the dark window details. Or if there was more pitch to the roof? That dark detailing between upper/lower windows annoys me. Wishing I had some dormers and shutters!! Gosh those are my favorite!

But yes, would definitely change out the light fixtures by the door! And the landscaping would be much cleaner! Also, as much as my husband loves the red door, I am thinking black.

I would go with a pale sage trim (pic 1) and if you don't like the mottle look of the brick then I would recommend painting it, then paint the tall windows either the pale sage or the same color as the brick to make them stand out less.

Pull the garden away from the house by putting a courtyard in front of the house with garden/shrubs on the outside of the courtyard (pic 2). You have plenty of lawn for that. Add a conservatory on one of the gable ends (pic 3 &4)

This house could be fabulous but it is a European design. If you try to force a Colonial look on it, it will look awkward--out of character, and will spoil it's fine detail. If you really don't like the European design, I would suggest that you look at a different house.

Changing the focus from the big 2-story windows will probably solve a lot of the issues you have with the exterior. Consider pulling the interest to the entrance. I think once all the trim is painted a light color, and you add a more classical entry it will be better. Your home actually leans more into French Country than the other styles you mentioned, so you should just embrace it.

Builders French Country - note the faux balcony above the entry

You could beef up the current entry with some more brick work

You could enlarge the window above the door and add concrete or stucco detailing around the door

You could paint the brick (again note the detail around the door, which you could add on)

You could add an arched portico with columns for a bit more colonial feeling

You see how French the arches on your home are

This is all SUPER helpful!! I was trying to figure out what style this home was and these pictures help tremendously!

I think painting the trim a lighter color, like a grey tone and maybe matching the window coloring to it would help so much. Or even a creamier color on the brick, with more greys in the trim and windows?

Do you think painting roof is a good idea? It's a reddish brown color right now.

I don't think painting the roof would be a good idea, but maybe some pro roofing folks here will chime in with facts. How old is the roof? I think if you fix the other issues, you might be able to live with the roof a while longer. When you do tackle it, consider a slate look for more French authenticity.

Brand new roof, so it will be there for a while. Haha!!

More reason to bring the focus down to the front entry.

Okay!! Well there is hope, so that is good to know!! I swear the previous owners were a little all over the place with color palette!

Love the windows!! I would keep them black.

white paint on the bricks and black pain on the roof. new lights at the entrance and some TLC to the garden. You have a beautiful place with a lot of potencial!!!

I would buy a different house.

thanks Croig...I also thought about doing white brick and keeping everything black. It's a clean look that I'm really drawn to.

Definitely some love for that landscaping, just wanted to figure out if the front had any hope first. It's a beautiful home once you step inside, and the land in back is perfect for what we want. :)

I think you have some good advice here. I would be questioning some water runoff staining on that brick. There probably hasn’t been routine power washing or maintenance and that would concern me. The biggest issue visually for me is the tall gray wood between lower and upper window. It gives the impression that is where main entrance is. All that needs to be painted to match brick along with other trim. A new portico over front door would benefit your entry from water intrusion and clearly define front door. With distinctive landscaping right and left of front door area that would further bring the eye to front door. Trimming and removing older overgrown plant material will be great too! Hope things go well, but do get a good inspection.

As far as the roof goes, I would consider a clay tile for authenticity--see pic / (or slate as was mentioned), (Roofs are not painted but if they are flat they are tarred).

Clay tile roof. Curved dormer roof could be standing seam metal roof (aluminum, zinc or copper).

@Flo, agreed! the tall wood between the upper/lower windows is just visually not appealing. I really just like a nice, simple, clean look, nothing very overdone or fussy.

Will definitely be getting a good inspection for sure!!

@Linda Mayo thank you for sharing this!! I really don't like that reddish/clay color roof, so not sure what can be done about that. I am definitely more of a dark roof kind of person. This French Country look is completely new to me, and not something I was ever drawn to before. So going to have to start researching French Country home styles that I do like.

I think if you enlarged your entrance pathway would look great, similar to pics, maybe not as elaborate. Like the buxus circle in middle. If you painted out the dark colours with more of a coffee cream paint the big wooden part will be less noticeable. Like the canopy over the front door idea. Lovely home

Nice door

French colors are generally muted:

but here is a pic of a French architecture with a little more contrasting colors:

C Wright you would probably like the slate roof better then. It can be dark.

@Irene Morresey I actually really love that doorway in the 2nd to last photo you posted. It's simple, but beautiful touch with the curve. Would be a great fit for the curved staircase in the entry!

@Linda Mayo Oh yes, a slate roof is nice! The color swatch helps a lot, thank you!! And I loved that curved wooden door, that would be so beautiful!! Especially if we softened the colors up on trim, window, and brick!! All these ideas have me really excited about the possibilities!! <3

Install a metal roof, will separate this house from every other house on the street

@Ullman Construction, I just saw a metal shingle roof on another home and loved it!

Please take care in selecting materials that are right for the home. Metal roof would not be right for this house. Slate would be cost prohibitive but there are shingles that are slate lookalikes that would work well. But since you mentioned the roof is new, and it’s pitch makes it nearly invisible from curb, worry about enhancing front door and repainting trim etc as previously mentioned. Good luck with staying focused on priorities. Sometimes hard to do! ;)

Top photo is a metal "slate" roof and bottom is actually a plastic one. For future consideration - you have time to find just the right one and if you put the interest at the entrance, the roof you have will hardly be noticeable.

Thanks for all the help everyone!! I feel much better knowing that we can make some adjustments that would bring out more curb appeal!