Porches & Decks Exterior Landscape Design

L Shaped Ranch House Exterior

2 years ago

Hi everyone, we recently bought this l shaped ranch house. Before, the brick used to be a dirty yellow color. Yes, we are the people who painted brick! We are hoping to add a front porch gable/portico as sketched out, but are looking for help. What can we do to add dimension and eye appeal to the house? There’s also minimal lighting so any advice on lighting in the soffits would be helpful.
The driveway was poured all the way to the house to avoid flooding the basement so we can’t plant anything in the ground on that length of the house.
Would love to get some insight and advice! Thanks so much.

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Comments (5)

Sigrid
2 years ago
Your sketched out portico is going to fight with the angle on your gable. I'd put a bench or some planters with some color to the right of the door. Then, I'd add some flowering trees to your front yard.
tracefloyd
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I like the lines of the house and don't think it needs a portico but the front door seems very short...or is it the perspective from the celestory window above it. Could you get a tall door that fills that whole window frame?

I agree you need large statement light fixtures and the streetlight on the garage needs to be replaced with something on/under eaves.

The real pots are nice but need real plants...remove the fake topiary.

I agree trees along the lawn edge that provide dappled shade will soften the lines of the driveway and planter bed edges, walls...about roof height when mature... uplights on them would be nice.

Trim the existing current trees to allow dappled sunlight in.
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cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
2 years ago
I love ranch houses! I agree that no portico is needed (nor shutters). Embrace the mid-century look. It is great. I would put planters on both side of the door. If you like to garden, you could have several layers of planters which will give you the effect of a garden. There is certainly room. It looks from the plants in front that you may need drought-tolerant or xeriscape plantings. If that is the case, I would eliminate a lot of your grass and plant trees and shrubs that do well where you are. It is hard to advise particular plants if we don't know the general area in which you live.
K Laurence
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
My only comment is a big ”NO “ to the portico.
Super Lumen
2 years ago
You have a mid-century ranch. The shutters, the location of the portico, and the style of the portico are all architecturally inappropriate to your home style. A big NO to everything.

If you want to improve the look of your house, find an exterior design expert who knows how to work within the mid-century architecture and give you some ideas. If you want an overhang on your front door for functional reasons(like not standing in the rain), there are ways to do that which will look appropriate to your home, but this isn’t it.