We do have some at our farm but in all our houses ( ones we lived in before our own home) we have had bee hive grow on our windows and one always above the kitchen door, for that we had to bring in specialist to give us the honey ( of course) and remove the bees. Now, in our new home, we have two bee hives on two bedroom windows, one that has become larger each time and one starting, I know it is because they have found a local source of flowers in our garden :o They are peaceful if left well alone ( give me a great excuse to exempt cleaning those specific windows today-did all windows upstairs!) , I see them as a blessing really.

for shizzle they arent! ive screamed at them while they were apeckin away and they dont care! if they are high up on the house i have to throw a rock at em to scare them enuf, and even then, they come back for what they were after. came out one morning to scare one away as i heard it pecking at something and it was LOUD ...it did fly off when i opened the door, but that was because he was so close to the door...right on the front steps, and he just about destroyed one of the steps pecking at it to get the bee larvae. ill get a pic of the damage for ya tomorrow. the damage from the bees and woodpeckers is/can be pretty substantial, and thats why i just want to paint the house. no bees no holes, no holes no bee larvae, no bee larvae no woodpeckers.

I love the stone facing on your house! With the combination of siding and stone, you have a beautiful home. It reminds me of an English cottage. And I imagine that were attracted to it for the same reasons. There are lots of ways to add curb appeal. Shutters, as you said. Window boxes would add to the cottage appeal. I researched Cape Cod style houses because it's difficult to find much on gambrels. And images of gambrels tend to have the front as what for you and me is the side of the house. The Newport (RI) Preservation Society has great photos. Since shutters have a functional origin, many old Capes on Cape Cod have shutters around the door also. The photos posted above are gorgeous. But I don't think they would work for you without replacing the windows with very long windows like the one with the porch has. It seems to me that the reason a porch works on those houses is because they are much grander. If money is no object, go for it! But without a long of other changes, from what I see on the gambrels here, you would create a dark hole. I would love to have a front porch, but can't justify it. It'd require a substantial makeover of the house so it would be light and airy like the photos above. Same with gutters. I would advise against them. The beauty of gambrels is that they don't require gutters. I have never seen one that has them locally. You don't say where you live, but this type of roof is great in places that get a lot of snow. I love trees, my house is surrounded by woods. Gutters would be a nuisance to keep clean too. My only advice re rain coming off the roof is make sure that anything you plant is outside of the drip line. I didn't and my shrubs get crushed every winter but they bounce back when the snow melts. I wouldn't cut down any trees unnecessarily. Trees will keep your house cooler in the summer, especially when you have a gambrel roof. When I walk down our driveway and cross the street to get the mail, I am hit with a heat wave as soon as I leave the tree line. It's a tremendous temperature difference. If the winter, the trees provide shelter from cold winds. Your house will be much cooler in summer and warmer in the winter if you keep the trees and you'll use less energy to keep it comfortable. Planting flowers or small shrubs around the trees would brighten the area and connect the house with the setting. Maybe railings on the front steps or just flowers. The rocker looks great on the little covered porch. For the front, my suggestion is flowers, shutters, and possibly painting the door. I love the color but perhaps when the trees are leafed it out it would be too little contrast. I scrolled up to your photos as I'm writing. Your house is fantastic! They are easy ways to increase curb appeal. Everyone has their own taste, of course. But my advice would be to keep the look of the house and just add to it to brighten it up. It has a wonderful English cottage or historic New England vibe. Gambrels, like Capes, are an economical way to build houses. The second floor is considered to be the attic. Unlike the houses in the beautiful photos others posted, they were built traditionally as simple, honest, straightforward structures, They weren't built to impress. If you hate the style of the house, go right ahead and do a major facelift and create a new house. But if you like the style, embrace it. Enhance it but don't change its character.

Our lakeshore house is treated professionally a couple times a year for spiders (permethrin, I think?). The co. recommends three times a year. I held out for years but once they spiders began colonizing indoors as well as outdoor surfaces, I caved! Otherwise, we do it ourselves... Dog is treated with topical Frontline to keep ticks and fleas under control. Spring invasions of ants mean placing bottle caps of borax mixed with jelly under stove (where dog can't get to it). Dog DID get into some mouse poison inexplicably in a snowbank last season, so we are looking to end use of THAT. She was very lucky in that we got most away from her and got her to vet quickly--we discovered that new formulations (Tomcat's at least) are nerve poisons, not blood thinners, so all vet could do was force vomiting, give her activated charcoal, etc. So-o, for mice we are headed back to traps. Sorry to say that we have also had to control a huge population of chipmunks, which were beginning to get into walls. A bucket half-filled with water, the surface covered with styrofoam peanuts and a floating dish of sunflower seeds, plus a plank from step to lip of bucket. Chipmunks can't resist. I don't like to think about it... Husband live traps skunks, woodchucks, etc. that burrow under garden shed, releasing or disposing of them depending on species. Downy Woodpeckers... I enjoyed watching them on suet on deck in winter, but inadvertently led them to consider our redwood siding as good nesting/shelter, actually getting into a small attic! We thought for a while there that we would have to replace the siding. I stopped feeding near the house, which we festooned with shiny disks and streamers. (I think woodpeckers are spooked by fast-moving light reflections--like shadow of a hawk?) The onslaught slowed, then stopped. Husband patched the siding with hope it will not be necessary to replace boards and sections. In late summer, we trap yellow jacket wasps with apple juice baited traps we fashion from plastic water and pop bottles. (Google for instructions.) Our efforts seem to reduce the numbers after our food and drinks on the deck.