paint the stucco a gray, shutters deep red/burgandy/bright red door

the color scheme of your house is perfect. i would not change one thing.

So did you paint the door? I'm late in the game, but the black of the door surround if far too stark for this style of house. I would seriously consider a type of grey/greige/taupe that works with the stone, and with the dormers and perhaps the siding on the garage (?) on the left to match. Or maybe grey on the shutters too so they don't merge with the window casings.

If at all possible, move the air conditioner to a side window or screen with a trellis. The black is obscuring some really nice molding detail on your home and makes it look unbalanced and choppy. Perhaps a rethink of the entire color scheme and placement would be a good idea.

I would remove the shutters

Excellent idea... Love the white window trim w/ black shutters.

I think the black shutters are great but are they not all the same??
The bottom left window in the first photo is missing a shutter? why?
I like the white trim in the above picture.

This would be a little pricey but removing the light fixture over the front door and adding one on both sides would be ideal. maybe do one with a nice polished look like a steal (not black).
for better cost purposes even just changing the fixture over the door would be better.

In the picture above if you got that style of shutters adding a 1' or smaller trim to define the squares would be a nice touch.

One last thing have you thought about painting your door an accent color like red or blue?

Hi everyone thank you so much for all of your wonderful ideas. We have owned the house for about 6 months . Doing all the interior work first . But we did paint the front door red. The left side if the house had a bolt on room with white siding. We changed that room into an exterior covered porch. When the weather breaks we are planning to paint the black shutters a navy blue, the stucco either a grey/ griege/ color that goes with the stone. The trim work will all be painted a lighter color as well. All of the windows were or are replaced by new wood windows- so all the exterior black will be gone. painting starts once this VERY snowy and cold Philly weather finally ends! Thank you again for the thoughtful ideas. Much appreciated - any and all ideas or comments on our future plans are welcome : )

The new colors sound nice. A lighter door surround will do wonders--Colonial Revival ones never look right painted black. How old is your house? It looks to me like it dates to around 1910-1930.

Are you sure the old windows are beyond repair? Usually even the most horrible of windows can be repaired and have exterior or interior storms added to nearly equal new window efficiency, and old growth wood is better quality than new.

John Leeke at Historic Homeworks and the Craftsman Blog have good info on fixing and weahterstripping old windows, and Bob Yapp has a good article on the subject as well. DIY interior storms can be nearly invisible and are easy to change out in the summer--there are kits available online for the plexiglass and magnetic strip type and inexpensive wood frame and plastic ones directions are available at Mother Earth News and other sources. They also can be ordered. Usually this is a longer-lasting and less expensive solution, although I applaud you for going with wood rather than vinyl windows.

Aluminum covered wood windows do have some problems, mostly with moisture trapped beneath the aluminum eventually rotting the wood, and by the time you notice, they are shot. And modern glass inserts can fail in wood windows, just as they do in vinyl, and so forth, and then the entire insert has to be replaced. The old glazing putty and glass can be fixed over and over again, and with care the windows can last hundreds of years. Plus if done right, the air gap between a storm and the single pane glass is the near equivalent to factory sealed glass because the air gap is greater. Fancy argon gas filled units eventually leak out the gas in about 10-15 years, even if the seals don't fail, so aren't really worth the extra expense.

Sounds Wonderful.....please post pictures when u are finished Excited to see the end result and that red door! :) Good Luck!!

We need to replace one shutter. They are wood and functional. Any suggestions for a custom shutter in Philadelphia area?

Contact Timberlane, a pro here on houzz.

800-250-2221

Here is an updated photo. What color should we paint the shutters?

I know you've done a lot of work sanding, etc., but do you need the shutters? I actually like the look without the "shutter clutter". :D

I've gotten used to no shutters .... But ultimately I think the house needs shutters.

Here's a picture of the renovated house with shutters on the house ... Painted the wrong color ( BM Distance)

Nice look!