It looks like a standard online floor plan factory house plopped on a site. It lacks balance, continuity, and does not relate well to the site.

"What do you guys think visually?"

God. Awful.

Got to know the location. First floor height may be base flood elevation dependent.

There are more imaginative ways to blend a house into a sloped lot. Vitznau House arch.: Lischer Partners

Accessibility Nightmare! First responders would have a very difficult time getting a gurney in and out of that entrance. During winter, it's a broken bone special at its best.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I understand the negative comments but it would be helpful if there were suggestions to improve. I’m at a loss.

I don't care for it, but a single picture isn't telling the entire story (or is it?). Why was it built so high? The slope from left to right doesn't look that steep. It looks as if the lot could have been more or less leveled with the house built down with the garage and perhaps a retaining wall on the right. As it is, it looks like the house was built up 15 feet or more for no apparent reason. How about a side and rear view? Are the brown things on either side retaining walls with built--up terraces?

Four gables and three have different pitches. It doesn’t look cohesive.

The home was originally a 1989 split level on a 16ft? slope, it was burned down in a fire last year and it needs to be rebuilt. It’s a hard location to give up, but insurance won’t pay the full amount unless it’s rebuilt on that specific lot. This is a view of the backyard from the northeast.

So what are your intentions for the home? I suspect that as a 1989 split level, it had a more horizontal look. On a slope, that works, especially from the street. The vertical lines and gables accentuate the height, making it look a little like the house on the hill from Psycho. Okay, not that scary, but it just looks taller, while the garage looks like the original garage.

Have though about getting a hold of a local architect and letting him look at the site? Explain your wants and needs and allow him to come up with a design. Its tough to suggest exterior based on a rendering of the front and now the real elevations alone. Houses need to be developed with the exterior and interior in concert with each other. Thinking only of one elevation or aspect most often ends up looking like Mr Potato Head and disjointed with no real continuity.

IMO you needd an architect to design a house for the lot and IMO that is not it.

Who actually designed this?

These images are renderings for a potential build.

Looks like all the outdoor space is in the back. I'd improve garage to interior access by moving it and the driveway to the right side of the front. Remove the right-side tree. Plant several on the left front and down the left side. Conifers would be my choice.