Would a light whitewashing of the brick help? Less formal, more natural shrubs? Await additional renderings by talented posters.

A new foundation planting would look great. Look at some plants native to your area.

100 percent agree on the new foundation plantings and unfortunately I went wrong with the shaker style front mahogany door. I’ll be replacing that this spring and am hoping to do something to correct that ridiculous looking oversized brick portico (thanks for telling me what it’s called)

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can revamp the styling of the front? I am willing to entertain new siding, or other measures, I just have no idea what to do. There isn’t room for a porch either with the size of the bay windows so I’m left scratching my head.

I like Beverly's example with paint that blends better with the brick. It's more cohesive and looks great with the black shutters.

This is one of my favorite colonial homes on Houzz. Do you have the $$$ to demo the brick portico and start over? That's the only way to remove the McMansion look.

White Colonial House · More Info

What about the stonelike tiles that people use outside? I think it's called stone veneer. Would that be better? I personally love the brick because my dad is a brick mason but I can understand that everyone has their own style.

If you are willing to really invest in changing the curb appeal...and stand out in your neighborhood...hire an architect and get rid of the features that bother you, and add the porch! Re-landscaping will make room for the porch addition.

It’s complicated by the fact that the door is indented under the ugly portico and then you have those large bay windows. It makes for a strange sense of balance.

I wouldn’t want to spend $100,000 on a renovation that doesn’t yield square footage, as I’ll never get the money back. Would I be willing to spend 30-50? Maybe.

In response to your “balance” comment ...if you remove the portico you may also need to remove the bay windows..

Beef up the too-narrow shutters, and give them some colour. Paint the brick to match the walls - and/or highlight the coins. Install a large lantern at the height of the white panel. It could be on a chain from the top of the arch, or it could be wall-mounted. Tidy up the plantings.

In your photo the siding renders as a gray tan and the brick has more yellow tones. That may be why you don't get a sense of flow when looking at the front of the house. I would probably look at painting the siding a different color that works better with the brick. You could also paint the windows and trim a lighter tone of the new siding color which again tones down that huge hunk of white over the front door. I agree that the landscaping is too large and could be replaced.

If you're interested in seeing some virtual makeovers of your home, check out my website, Creative Visual Concepts. I could help show you how changes might look.

I would start by asking what you want to spend? The McMansion brick entrance tacked onto otherwise a traditional home will always be a little odd no matter what you do. Removing it completely, reframing so the facade is a flat plane, and building a new portico would transform the house. That said it involves everyone- framing, roofing, new windows, electrical, siding, flooring, etc, etc.

To Kevin and Hallett and other folks.

Hitting the nail on the head. The truth is... in my area my house will list and then sell for around 800,000 fairly quickly. While I have the resources to do an extensive exterior facade renovation the fact remains that afterwards it would still list and sell for relatively the same price. I’d like to think I’ll live here until I die, but we all know things change as time prevails.

To Kevin, the brick is in the tan/orange/yellowish type family and the siding is that grey/beige tone. The white Azek type trim above the craftsman style poorly styled door is all not working. You’re hitting it.

Would residing the house, refacing the brick in some way and replacing the door mostly blend the monstrosity of architecture? Any ideas? Side over the portico? Is there a more stylish stone? Or something? I don’t know that painting brick is the way to go... or vinyl siding but I’m up for replacing either or both.

To remove the portico as Hallett said... is probably a minimum of $100,000.00 in the northeast and I’m not sure it’s worth the value.

It may be possible to eliminate the bays of those two windows and replace them with appropriately-sized flat-front windows with or without the slight arch of the window over the door. I agree that painting the siding (including part of the bays and over-door panel) to match the brick could help reduce the mass of the portico. Much larger lantern lights flanking the entrance will help, and the addition of a contrasting medallion in the peak of the portico may add interest. The ‘90’s landscaping is overgrown and poorly shaped. Because the foundation plantings have gotten so woody, I would remove them and re-plant the area.

Unifying the facade with paint would be helpful. Both the portico and the white bays might recede visually if all brick and siding were painted to match. Romabio can custom match brick/masonry paint to your selected color. I like white myself. Will you be needing new windows soon? The biggest impact might be with new landscaping. Looks like you have a lot of rock mulch to remove.

I think the biggest bang for your buck is going to be either painting the siding or doing new siding that works better with the brick. Taking the brick off and doing stone veneer is going to be more expensive and I don't recommend painting brick as you take a zero maintenance product and turn it into a long term maintenance issue.

Doing something with the siding and some new landscaping is going to have the biggest impact.

Perhaps covering the portico with siding will make it look more architectural ...maybe painting the bays to match the siding and removing all the shutters...will reveal a simpler more modern facade

If you are happy with the color of the siding maybe consider staining the brick which to me looks more natural than painting it. I didn't spend the time looking for a photo with your color brick but if you google search staining brick you may find one.

staining brick - Google Search · More Info

staining brick - Google Search · More Info

I like the front of your house. But I do see how the brick thing is a big statement. So have you looked into covering the brick with a natural stone? I wonder if you could find a stone that you truly love you could be happy with your exterior. I really like the black trim and shutters. They give contrast. A large lantern that hangs in front of the white siding would be nice.

I would start with making it all white and limewashing the brick. Beautiful house. 👌

Kevin helped me with some mockups of changing the brick to stone and updating the door. I supplied the “materials” and he provided the art, advise and expertise to help me see it. Any thoughts? I think it’s an improvement. These changes would be economical relative to trying to change the siding and trim colors and/or more extensive renovations. Feel free to be honest one way or another. More opinions are better.

Looks great! The two lanterns look undersized to me though, otherwise 👌

The rendering looks great, I had to look close though to see if was a stone or a painted brick, could you try painting the brick in a multitonal way as close to this pic above or the "staing" suggestion above on the top right side as possible first, just to see, it would save thousands!!

Get an estimate...pretty sure that much stone over brick will be the most expensive option...with practically no change to the overall look...

Removing the landscape and creating curved steps and a pretty curved railing will have more impact as it will draw the eye away from the huge portico which is dominating the whole look right now

All good thoughts. I did get an estimate. And it includes tearing the brick off and redoing the entire portico in stone. It is 1/4 the price of siding the rest of the home.

In my area, the brick is very outdated. New construction is using stone. Brick is something that was popular in the 80s and 90s. It’s not a timeless red bridge abode. It’s peach colored brick slapped to the front of a colonial.

I believe it needs to go. The other updates are all excellent ideas to add to the effect.

Landscaping is almost finished.