Need more pics to be certain, but it may be a four--square that has been muddled with inappropriate additions such as the porch posts and railings.

Thank you so much! What other pics would you need to see? I am trying to decide what this SHOULD look like, and I think that the iron railing down the stairs should come off and the gingerbread trim on the porch should also come down!

I do not think the roof indicates a four square. I would go with 1900 center hall colonial with an added front porch.

Seeing the roof(s) and side view would help, but I don't see a four square either and the porch looks like it was definitely added later.

Check out this website for resources on determining the style of your home

https://www.oldhouseguy.com/category/promoting-preservation/

Thank you, yes I felt like a four square should have a hip roof. it seems colonial but the porch and wide front steps look more like a four square.

Re what the porch should look like, I'm wondering if the brick is used elsewhere in the house. If the house was built in 1900, I'd expect that gingerbread to be original, but the brick and stone facade just doesn't look right to me -- and the porch style is definitely leaning more A&C style. If that's all original I'd be very surprised. Can you compare the style to other houses in the area? JMO, but if it were mine, I'd get rid of the concrete stairs entirely and replace them w/ wood (real/fake) stairs and railings. I'd also look carefully at the brick/stone use and see if that could be improved. For me, it's all too much hardscaping from the edge of the porch to the sidewalk/street.

I agree wood steps would look much better. Unfortunately, that is not in the budget, this is a starter home for my 20 something daughter, so we are just seeing what we can do to make the outside look better but not spend a lot of money. Would it make sense to paint the brick white? The house has no other brick except up the chimney. If we do that, should we paint the stone white too? I've not seen people paint this type of stone before so I'm not sure if that would look odd? Thanks!

Ah -- that's a very nice start for a 20-something! :) I wouldn't paint the brick or stone because it creates a need for continued/future maintenance. Changing just the stair railing will help. Otherwise, I'd try to use landscaping to soften things. If the stone/gravel yard will stay, I'd at least use large pots of flowers/foliage around those stairs. What exactly are the wide black things running down the outside of the stairs?

The black that you see running down the stairs and on the tops of the brick columns is where a previous owner just painted the concrete black. go figure :)

Correct, it is not a center hall. As soon as you walk in the house you are in the living room. The stairs are off to the right. The home is actually in west N.J. closer to Philly border. I'm just trying to figure out if that porch should look like it does? Or if we need to do something to it. Obviously the black paint on it is pretty strong..

Since it's her first house and you don't want to spend much money, why not just paint the black accents white (caps, railings, 'stairs', etc), to give it all a little more coherence. I'm a gardener, so I'd buy two huge lightweight pots for those 'platforms' at the base of the stairs and plant them with flowers, ferns, herbs, or whatever sounds good. I like to use Pro-Mix potting mix because it's lightweight too. But I'm also willing to water every day if needed. :)

What is the porch floor made of? In any case, I'd spend your initial money/effort on painting, then on comfort things, like chairs, tables, rugs, planters, etc., and then live with it for a while to decide what she really wants!