I wouldn't call it ugly, but maybe gloomy. It's dark, against a dark background of trees, with lots of landscaping in front. Maybe trim back all the stuff in front? It's not as bad as some I've seen, but it's adding to the dark-ness.

What's that laying alongside the driveway on the right side? It looks like a huge tree laying on the ground. Why?

The flowerbed in the foreground looks nice, but I think I'd dig all that stuff up and create a new bed NOT in front of the house. And remove the railroad ties.

Why does the driveway extend so far to the left? Do you actually park there? If that paving was removed, and the bed in the foreground removed, I think your house would look a lot different with a clear unobstructed green lawn, opening up the front.

Is the picture taken from the street, so this is the view people see when they drive by? But, you know, it's not terrible. It looks like a nice house that's well taken care of. I don't know anything about rough sawn cedar siding. Is it stained? Can it be restained? Or painted?

Hmm. I saw the words "ugly house" and then saw the beautiful picture. Your house isn't ugly at all. I want to follow the thread, because I know you're going to get some great suggestions. But... the location... sounds incredible!

I would lower the shrubs along side of the front porch & in front of windows to open it up. I would also paint or stain the trim, doors & windows a lighter color. I really like your house a lot. I too live on acreage in the woods. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

It's not ugly, but that weird peak in the middle of the second story of the house definitely detracts from and interrupts the overall design. I don't know what your budget or current floor plan is, but, if there is a way to get rid of that peak, extend the roof line to the right, and gain some space on the second floor, that's the first thing I'd do.

You are all so nice. OK - first off, I agree that the house isn't all that bad. My "problem" wouldn't be a problem if I had anything in life to really complain about. I'll try to address a few questions. First off, the driveway - I think that the driveway extending so far to the left is a relic of the house before there was a garage, which was added on when the house, once a small cabin, was renovated. It's not paved, it's dirt and some packed gravel, same material as the driveway. Do we need the parking space? Not typically, but I have to say that the truck that delivers heating oil might need to park there. The garage might be too far away for the hose? They send the hose down the bulkhead, into the basement where our oil burner is. I should mention - I live in rural NH. Also, you cannot see the house from a street - the front, on the other side of the front most flower bed, is a large field, bordered by forest - pines, birches, and maples. I agree about the railroad ties, those are actually degrading in place. We contracted with a landscaper last year to improve that situation but due to rain the project was put off until this spring. I don't want to pull that garden out, it's a perennial garden that is very mature and in bloom is wild but beautiful - peonies, poppies, irises, lilies, lots of bee balm, mint, another flower that I love but can't remember the name of, and other things, mostly ground cover type flowering plants.No doubt it could be tamed and that is on the agenda this year. Where I live in NH, we have about 2-3 months of lush bloom so you have to really love it while you can. The garden closest to the house is messy and kind of disappointing, outside of two mountain laurels I could part with all of it. I did cut it back quite a bit at the end of last season, so am hoping it looks more tidy this year. The big log is in fact the remnants of a large tree, we cut out three huge pines last year, they were old and sort of looked like they'd crash onto the house if a wind blew in just the right direction. Cutting down those pines was our first real attempt to address the gloominess, definitely successful. The trees/logs were completely removed shortly after this photo was taken.

Flo - I like your ideas. If I can figure out a way to work with the peak, I think that would be best, as it would be less expensive. I'm also afraid that extending the roofline to address the peak would leave me with a hulking rectangle of a house which might not be great. I really like the blue and hadn't considered that color. In your design, I would be considering a dark roof, right? Here's a photo I found last week - I think that I could successfully incorporate some of the design and color elements displayed here. I find the tree growing through the deck on this house to be so odd, not sure why it was left in place, though the moss covering it is cool. I also like the idea of incorporating stone - we have nice stone and slate inside, so that would makes sense.

I love your gardens and am surprised that was what people first suggested changing. Looks like a lovely setting.

I think what bothers me most aesthetically about your house is the asymmetric placement of the window below the sharp peak, along with the lone small window to the left of it. Maybe someone skilled with mock-ups could try some different window configurations there to see if it would improve the balance.

It seems that peak would look better if it continued downward on the left side instead of looking like it was chopped off. Although I think it would look best if it were made to match the other pitched roofs (an expensive fix).

This reminded me a bit of your house and wondered if something similar to the dormer window shown could fix the odd window placement by replacing them all with a longer dormer style - not really a dormer but a bank of windows with its own roof (I realize this is a dormer in an existing roof).

The colors Flo posted are very nice. I also like green or greige homes in the forest. Green in the landscape looks really great against a greige house - a color similar to cedar aged in place. This is a little lighter that my vision

I don't care for the trim color with this for a house in the forest, but think it's a really nice green, as is the one above.

I thought, I would see an ugly house, but, when I clicked on the link, I see a beautiful well maintained house, with very nice landscaping. I do agree, the trim, could be lightened up a bit, and your front door could be a nicer color, all very minor things. Your husband is right, there is nothing really wrong with your house.

Huge space, tons of potential. Sorry I missed commenting earlier - there's some good suggestions on this list. Good luck & have fun.