PLease note that the house pictured is not our house.

That is one furry house!

Depends on the type of vine and the condition of mortar. I have a very old stone house that had a ton of English ivy on it. We took most of it off and discovered it had done no damage at all. I left just enough to be interesting and the house looks much better without all the ivy. It is a lot of work to keep tidy and harbors a bunch of bugs. Unless you're living in Princeton University and have a crew to keep it tidy, take it down, it really only looks best on large stately homes, otherwise it's overpowering. :)