The most obvious place to start would be to remove the oddities..arched roof cut out…circular opening…odd angular indentation over garage…and unnecessary chimney trims…this would leave an open slate for the direction you prefer…lastly and obviously get a good designer or architect to plan your new look..at this point you can determine if it is feasible on your chosen budget

Design-wise, you have a mix of at least three different styles, and they are fighting with one another. You need an architect who will not only give you more space, but a design that removes some of the disparate components as part of construction. I think your house can have a consistent look as long as you get an architect who has the vision to address both the issue of more space and of better integration. I would also suggest a design that gives the front of your house more curb appeal. The plainness of the right half of the house and the awkward placement of windows and that arch just don't work. I'm not trying to insult your new house, but I am trying to give you a stranger's impressions, which I doubt I'm alone in.

Thank you for the comments - I’m not insulted at all - I’m grateful for suggestions! It was a pressured pandemic purchase which I’m trying to make the best of. I’m liking modern farmhouse style these days and am wondering if I can somehow incorporate that into this house.

I think it easily has the bones for a farmhouse look without having to go crazy on addressing the problem design elements. If you redo the garage to add a second floor, that unusual roof on the left will disappear, and that will fix 80% of the problem. If I put my thumb over that part of your photo, it looks instantly much better and I can see the farmhouse look coming out. ;-)

I passed by this post yesterday because I had nothing nice to say about your home. This morning im taking another look and its really not as bad as it seems at first glance. If you ”simply” lol, straighten that roofline on the garage it looks like a great beginning to a modern farmhouse. That half circle, I think I would leave, its unique. Maybe add custom gable trim. I do think it needs balance also, windows? Ill be watching and i know besides the usual snark, you will get some useful ideas. Good luck with your new home.

Your home reminded me of something, it just came to me… Beetlejuice. Artsy.

Well for sure the garage roof needs fixing. That V will be a nightmare for ice etc. Before you know what you can do; do you know if the current structure will hold a second floor? It seem likely your enlarged garage will actually be a demoed old one and entire new addition added to the home. Either way that V has to go so it's probably worth going the full monty. Or is there a flat roof patio on the garage, and what we see is just a funky privacy safety fence around it?

I keep looking at your picture and I think that when the garage chop is removed, landscaping can do wonders for balance and softness. You do not have any landscaping to tear out (it probably would have matched the home) so youre lucky there. I would consider removing the asphalt from in front of the home and adding planting areas.

My second thought is to establish a realistic budget for how much you are willing to pay to make the changes you want to make.

As Mark Bischak said - establish a budget. That will give you a much better idea of what you can accomplish with the money you have allotted. Either hire an architect or a contractor who can guide you thru the design process. IMO your house will lend itself to a modern farmhouse look fairly easily especially when the odd roof is removed and another story is added above the garage. Good luck!

Along the lines of ”reminds me of,” my first thoughts were New England and Quaker. (Not that there’s anything wrong with those.) The very darkness of it seems somber. And the near dearth of windows. It seems quite soohisticated though and I’m curious about the interior.

While we are spending your money, is there a way to move the front door towards the right between the windows?

Agree there’s definitely too much paving in front.

We have no idea what's happening on the other side of this facade but you could just fill in the missing parts.

The problem with the garage is that the wall with the doors is load-bearing. If those openings are not wide enough, changing that would be a huge structural expense. Also have you checked your lot lines and the required setbacks? There may be some restrictions on where and how much you can build.

Might be cheaper to turn the garage into living space and add a larger garage in front, so the house would become L shaped?

Hard to offer ideas as we don't know your lot size, setbacks and local building rules. Is the house on a slab, crawl space or full basement?

@BeverlyFLADeziner 's idea shows what could be done with a comparatively simple change.

You can check at city hall to see what permits were issued on the house for changes over the years. The garage may have been an add on. Also the plans may have the names of architect and contractor in case you want to consult them about this unusual house.

A convenient time to build a new addition is when the roof needs replacing anyway. Will that be in the next few years?

Do you have any more photos?

To answer some questions, I have ~2 acres, and the house is sitting on a slab. It is original - meaning there were no add-ons after the original construction. There is a lot of rock that was blasted to get the original footprint of the house cleared so I'm trying to keep the footprint the same, "maybe" extend the garage forward a bit to make a deeper garage (our cars barely fit, right now) That way, I'll have some extra space above for the second floor.

the original roof is "old" but not sure how old or how much life is left. I do like the look of metal roofs and I think it could work on this house too. Minimizing the asphalt in the front I agree would help this out a lot and make it look more welcoming, too.

Everyone has been really helpful with their ideas. This BeetleJuice house will change, not sure how soon I can get an architect but hopefully in a year it will be done.

Thank you so much everyone.

Good luck

250-600K and an architect can work wonders to change the bones.

$2K worth of purchased scaffolding, paint, sprayer, and extensive sweat equity can be a temporary relief from the doom and gloom look.

My third thought is to take a lot of 'before' pictures, because they will help the improvements prove to be remarkable.

I think it's important to see this house as a whole. This house was built as an exuberant custom postmodern design to fit its lakeside setting. It is what the conversion of the old farmhouse in Beetlejuice was trying so hard but failing to make real. The back of the house facing the lake is spectacular. An architect can rework the front and extend the garage. Even a foot or two wider garage can make a big difference in getting cars in and out. Perhaps the ~ 3-foot wide left corner of the garage can be reworked with the aid of a structural engineer to make the garage doors each a foot wider. The asphalt in the front provides turnaround space and extra parking.

My advice is to live with the house for a year to see what you really want to change and decide your highest priorities for your budget.

Adding lots more windows would be another option…considering your beautiful location ..that would be a life enhancing first step…a lot relies on which side faces the morning sun exposure..when you add the second level …that will take care of the major oddity factor

Mark, funny line.

If you search "1970's or 1980's contermporary home redo" you'll see quite a few.

This is one that lauren liess did

I love it in the black

https://southernhospitalityblog.com/feature-friday-lauren-liess-designs/

hire an architect. (prob not mark!) and work with the lines of the home to create something new

modern black farmhouse

My fourth thought is to avoid trends, that is how you (your house) got to where you are.

Those are some, in my lousy opinion, attractive precedents. The issue is the subject home isn’t a typical 70s/80s contemporary/passive solar design. It’s Robert-Venturi-after-a-four-day-bender-ist. Which, for the record, I kinda like in a bizarre way. I told you my opinion is lousy.

Looking at the rear view of the house, it appears that the "triangle on the garage is only 2 walls and no roof. If that's correct, removing it should be more like a facelift than open heart surgery.