our neighbors did a charming front porch addition on their brick ranch - changed the whole look of the house. They worked with a talented architect to get the roof lines and proportions correct, so that is a good first step

The porch idea with the gabled overhang looks nice, but I don’t think it will work as you hope: the fascia on the roof needs to be more substantial to complement it. You might find a designer, roofer, contractor, or, better, architect, to design it for you.

Beefing up the trim around the windows, and adding sills, would look better. Window boxes? Just doesn’t seem to fit the style.

Landscaping will make a huge difference!

Hopefully the circular driveway is far enough away from the house for some good landscaping. I don't think a circular driveway will "draw visitors to the door". A great front walk and landscaping from the existing driveway would look nice. Cutting up the front yard with asphalt doesn't work for me. Pleasepost a picture of the new driveway design

No, the house does not *need* 'dimension and character'. You *want* it to look more like some 'inspo' pic you pulled from somewhere that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your house.

What it needs is landscaping, and a restoration of the stoop you pulled out.

Adding a porch onto a 1960's ranch is often an exercise in 2 + 2 = 5. Getting the rooflines right without Escher geometry can mean a complete redo of the existing rooflines.

Also, a circular drive is a lot of paving in an area that doesn't want a lot of paving.

Unless you have an enormous money tree, put the money into landscaping.

This type of porch will be very expensive due to rooflines. Where is your current driveway? A nice walkway from the driveway to the front door would be so much nicer than a circle drive that will overwhelm your house. Landscaping would make all the difference!

IMO get another house . THis is a quientessential MCM ranch what it needs is some TLC to make it better not adding colonial stuff to make it worse.. I love MCM and this is one pic I use often for inspiration for exterior of a simple MCM ranch. The landscaping is fabulous and also pretty simple to care for. IMO trying to make this something it is not will end up being a huge mistake. Notice the flat roofed entry that is what you need if you want some more interesting entry not some stuff tacked on the front .

THis is my MCM ranch back yard

Thank you everyone!

I already have the driveway installed. I have one where I am now, and LOVE that it brings everyone to the front door instead of through the garage....ugh!

The house is the only one for a long stretch of road, with a huge yard. We cleared out a lot of huge soft maple trees, leaving the few hardwoods.

Just to be pedantic, Maple is a hardwood.

It needs a deck, an entry. but not large columns. also how far is the driveway from the front door, how much space are you actually working with. Landscape will also go a long way.

Not sure if I misunderstood that the driveway goes right to the front door so the landscaping below reflects that:

The driveway leaves room for about an 8 foot deep porch a step down, and a short walkway.

(And as to maple trees, there are what we term "soft", often called silver maples, all over the midwest. They earn the name because they constantly drop limbs. Also, they get uglier as they age. These were probably near a hundred years or older.)

I agree, this is more ranch than MCM, as it does not have the low angled roofline set right on top of the windows.

I love stick style and prairie style, thus the styling I show here for the porch. I realize I cannot make the house into either of those, but use a bit of detailing that leans that way. (I think I have the porch sized a bit too large in the mock-up.) I do wish I could widen the frames around the windows to give them more emphasis.

You have a basic brick box, which, it seems to me, can be turned in any number of directions. You said you like stick style and prairie style, so maybe this, which sort of combines the two?

Large portico extending across the driveway to shelter guests, horizontal trim (sticks) added above/below/beside windows, dark gutters and door surround, prairie style door and light fixtures, maybe black gums (tupelos) along the circular drive (great for fall color), prairie landscaping in the area the circle encloses? (I left the windows white, but if they can be painted, bronze would be better.)

Choices will quickly narrow down based on budget and before considering landscaping, it‘s important to complete the updates. Suggest looking on Pinterest for ”updated red brick ranch with porch”. Collect your favorites and reach out to a pro to discuss feasible options (same with landscaping ideas, head to a nursery for advice)

As plain as the house is now most anything would add character and detail to your house. Will suggest if you add a porch that you make it wide and long enough to be usable.

I would go with 1/3 of house length for better balance

Celery is right that a wider portico would be better. This is not a third of the house, though, because I still tried to avoid covering the large window. (Could perhaps cover it partially?) This just extends the portico to the house/garage angle on the left (even though the portico is then not centered on the door). Also adds decorative olive-and-blue panels that mimic the geometric stained glass often found in Wright's houses, emphasizing the door and the horizontal lines so essential to the prairie style.