If you limewash I would do the technique where some of the brick was allowed to show through to provide a vintage appearance to the home. And your home needs a landscaping solution.

nice house - I think a professionally planned landscape would give you the best ROI - the landscape looks like an after thought right now

if it were me, I would also select less ornate and more modern exterior lighting fixtures

hi. here is a better picture of the landscape. it was just updated earlier this year

the other end

The house looks like it could be cleaned, which would brighten it up a bit. The colors it has now, are perfect on your house. Its not the style house to try to make modern, and lime wash would ruin it and make it look dirty. It may be the wrong season for it where you live, but, when the season is right, please put out colorful flowers to give it a boost. Annuals, will probably give it the biggest boost of color. You have a beautiful home, and I would leave it alone.

I agree with Kendrah and am shocked to learn this is new landscaping. It looks like far more is needed.

Add more low evergreen bushes along the front of the house. I would not paint or limewash it, but I would professionally power wash it. Our brick house was 10 y.o when we power washed it and it really brightened up.

I would still add some colorful landscaping (rhododendrons, hydrangeas, roses) to the mix.

I can understand if you want to preserve your privacy but it's really hard to give curb appeal advice without being able to see the whole house and yard from the curb.
Do I see five different stone/brick treatments on the front?

brick, stone, cast stone are the primary mix. but also some accents have the brick ends that read more red. I am not looking for a “modern” home (i should not have used that word). But the front of this house has some issues. and looks too busy.

also there is SO much free coverage at the front and it’s incredibly hot here. also my water bill is not
ally 1000-1300 in the summer months and i am not wanting to add more irrigation time. that’s why i went with a minimal dry scape across the front with a lot of rock. That being said there are planet of planter areas in the actual front yard that i add color flowers to in the spring.

picture of the full front (best i could do)

"Best I can do....."

Are you not allowed to tread on the grass front and right of the ENTRY door?: )?

what?

I think what Jan is saying is that you could take a few more pictures of different angles and views that are a bit closer to the home so we can still see the areas you wish to change a bit clearer but from the front of the house vs side.

left

middle

right side

Aha.....................................!!!!

The full reveal of the issues

This^^^ all three is where my money goes, with a landscape Architect. A good scrub of the house.

You aren't going to make Texas Mc Mans. Make the best of the surrounding.

It really is a good scrub of house and better landscaping

I would definitely get new, larger, simpler entry lanterns, I believe that was mentioned above.

Out of all the stone treatments on the front of the house, the red brick trim on the stone seems the most out of place. I would get someone to color wash the bricks so they look the same color as one of the lighter stones. Don't paint them, it will look too flat and be almost as noticeable as the red.

IMO that will in no way modernize that exterior . You might give amuch more modern landscpe plan a try but honestly a mcmansion os always going to be one and this one never going to be modern without a huge renovattion

OP has already said using the word modern was an error. Clearly they see the house is a bit tired as it and want to improve it.

You’ve got so much going on with patterns, textures, rooflines, and different window sizes and shapes, that it’s overwhelming. Also you seem to be in a neighborhood filled with this type of house. I would do the lime washing Beverly has suggested to bring some degree of uniformity to the exterior. Then I would take a new look at landscaping that you can install in phases.

Paint is not going to fix the builder’s over enthusiastic embrace of 1 of everything. Focus on a much nicer landscape. Hire someone who has actual landscape design experience, not just maintaining a gas station rock garden. Focus on the inside and make it welcoming.

England in Texas.

Paint everything that is paintable a dark charcoal.

I like this color because it is not a true black and the undertones would look great with the stone, as it is. And, it will make the black windows more important.

that’s a creative idea! thank you!

agree. sometimes a simple solution is the best.

Plan.

new lanterns
power wash
paint ALL trim dark grey
treat the red bricks so they look like the rest.

not wasting my time on landscaping
… nothing grows here.

Landscaping really is needed. Add to it over time with native drought Tristen plants.

Resistant not Tristen

not wasting my time on landscaping...nothing grows here

This is exactly what the front of your house looks like - 'oh landscaping a waste of time.'

I 100% agree that installing irrigation is a terrible idea for your climate, but it is absolutely not true that nothing grows where you are without it. You just had an uncreative landscape architect, if you had one at all. And they clearly didn't show you the options for various plants that love your climate.

There are gorgeous xeriscaped gardens that are not water reliant and look incredible. Your current stone hardscaping is not a wasted investment and can serve as the foundation for a xeriscaped garden to be built upon.

This is all xeriscaped garden in Arizona. Looks lush but indeed, these are all drought tolerant plants and bring life to what would otherwise be anothing entrance.

Both of these pictures show how repetition can serve as a powerful unifying force in a landscape and draw your attention and focus. You have zero repetition in front of your house. It looks like the installers left in the middle of the job.

As for your pebble garden, I like it a lot. No grass to water and hardy native perennials add interest. My suggestion is to add more low growers, and some large pots. Even the chair in this photo adds interest (Victorian).

What will soften the stone is climbing ivies. Our first home (1911) the owner was a master gardener. The hip roof colonial was stucco and she planted ivy on the west which went dormant in the winter. Its large leaves were meant to keep the house cool.

On the east side, the ivy was evergreen, smaller, tighter leaves, which was planted to keep the house warmer in the winter.

Inspiration:

I forgot to add pachysandra to the list of plants, as it is a hardy ground cover and to add ground lighting.

I lke the black or really dark trim that helps for sure but landscaping is your best bet still

Please don’t add vine clinging plants to your house. They destroy the mortar.
Look for landscape designs similar to what Kendrah recommended. People in hot, water-starved areas have great gardens that are meant for those climates.

Trying to modernize this home would be akin to modernizing Versailles. Love your castle for what it is.

A gorgeous place. The colorful fall decorations you have added can be replaced with different ones as the seasons change. The view when you drive up is important, but the family entrance, wherever it is, deserves some colorful seasonal decor, too.

I sympathize with the new landscaping and reduced water usage. Homeowners in my area will have to make big changes to their landscaping in the next couple of years due to high fire risk. It will take a while to get used to the no-foundation-plants look.

I like the plan. Please post pictures after the power wash but before you do any trim painting or red brick redo, then reassess based on the real colors. A deep brownish black might be the thing vs. gray but until you see the cleaned colors, you won't know. I'm a fan of intricate brick patterns done well, so you may find that is something you want to emphasize not hide or it may look hideous. Until it's clean, you'll never know which parts to lime, paint or keep as is.

Completely understand the landscaping challenge. Until garden centers and landscape designers local to you are fully immersed the our new climates, it's hard to tackle your large project. My neighbors in Central North Carolina are kicking and screaming at the thought of giving up their fescue for summer grasses that turn brown in the winter. There is no amount of water that will keep fescue growing through two straight months of no rain and temps above 90 but they keep reseeding every fall because the local grass pros keep pushing it. Don't get me started on HOA's weighing in on xeriscape designs.

It's a beautiful home, keep us posted.

these are the two color choices i am considering. but leaning towards grey as i am concerned about the brown fading to a strange color over time

Kendall charcoal is my favourite.

Dark Bronze all the way. No Gray. Just my .02.

It is a pity that your landscaper used so much boxwood. It likes a lot of water, especially when it is newly planted. It would have been better to use some more drought-tolerant alternatives, especially native plants which often do well without much additional water. Here is an article with some suggestions, if your boxwoods don't do well. https://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=7555&frontpage=true

English Ivy does have a potentially damaging 'foot.' However, Boston Ivy attaches with mini suction cups...about the size of a pin head. They do not harm brick or mortar. Boston Ivy is deciduous; when it is leafed-out in the warmer weather, it keeps the brick cooler. With the leaf drop in the winter, the sun is able to warm the brick. Very pretty way to soften the look of brick or stone.

Some inspiration

or

Do browns fade? There are a number of Tudor wannabes in my neighborhood that are brown and holding strong and we get a lot of sun. I'm no color expert but I don't see any gray tones in your house. Brown tones look great in @Celery. Visualization, Rendering images visualizations.

But please clean the house and then decide. You'll be amazed at the real colors. There is a forum on Houzz for color, tap into that too or at least put "Paint color" in a new thread with the clean house. You'll get lots of good color advice.

The house looks quite large, so whatever you do will be pricey. Go slowly, assess at each step as the house reveals its true colors.

Lovely, stately home, has a certain type of European feel.

I’m in Texas, too, and there’s quite a large variety of plants beyond cacti that are great for Xeriscaping. I think the style and grand size of your house needs a more lush, interesting, and mature look, layered and with varying heights, especially in the shady areas. You could have a wide variety of flowering plants and shrubs, ornamental grasses, groundcovers, annuals and perennials, evergreen shrubs, etc. It could be stunning, while still being water conscious once established. And besides plants, some decor mixed in … not all of these, but examples: iron or concrete benches, bird baths, tall obelisk, paths, beautiful large pots. I’d go for an Old World feel, as if things had been there forever.

Judging by your grass and trees, I‘m certain lots of drought-tolerant plants could grow just fine there, especially Texas natives. Pollinators would be happy, too. :)

My advice is that it would be well worth hiring a talented landscape designer established and experienced in your area. Get consultations with several to see their portfolios and if you like their work. They’ll be experts on your soil type, how the sun moves around your yard, irrigation, plant types, drainage, the amount of maintenance involved geared for you, and everything else. If you want the least amount of maintenance, it might also be worth hiring a landscaping service to do the work for you. But the right plants shouldn’t need excessive upkeep … maybe twice a year for seasonal trimming and clean-up, and refresh annuals if those are in the design. I wouldn’t plant anything that would need frequent trimming to keep a certain shape and size, unless you hire out for that or enjoy doing that yourself.

Search for landscaping inspiration in Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and other major Texas cities/areas to get visual ideas. Obviously soil types and climates are different around our vast state, but again, just to get an idea of overall designs you might like.

I hope you won’t limewash the house. Beautiful landscaping would embrace, compliment, and enhance it.

Notice the areas of dark discoloration on the stone, brick and concrete. Some of it may be caused by irrigation, gutter issues, heavy shade and/or a humid climate. If you lime wash, you're just kicking the can down the road, the discoloration will likely return except it will involve cleaning AND re-painting. Use a professional to clean the surfaces to avoid pitting the stone and mortar. You can direct the non-lime wash dollars savings toward refreshing the landscape.

You have a beautiful home, consider getting a landscape architect to help. They will know to avoid the small gravel which traps the small tree leaves that get stuck in between the small stones and are nearly impossible to clean.

ETA: Depending on the soil where you are, some areas need to keep the foundation watered as clay soils expand and contract during weather cycles which can cause the foundation to crack and shift. If you're watering the foundation, you can also include some foundation plantings.

@melindas1977, yes, Boston Ivy was on our home. 1911 to present time, no damage to the stucco.

went with this dark brown. so far just these wood door things are painted