Are those skylites or vents? What is that sticking above the chimney? The only true way to make it more attractive would be to remove it and reframe the entire structure.

You aren't changing that "contemporary" roof line cheaply ... might as well tear down and start over!!

Where is the front door?

You could do a lot with new landscaping, new driveway, and maybe new garage doors.

Dormers on all three roofs. Even just shed dormers would help. would let in more light.

Hey the door is just under where that half moon window is

Those are skylights on the roof

New landscaping for starters, Why are the skylights elevated,? mine have always been flush with the roof & darker, unobtrusive. Yours ”pop” . The roofline isn’t the problem, it it’s the other things. What’s on top of the chimney?

Roofs are not focal points. Yours seems to be because the main part of the house is entirely hidden and you only see the windowless garage door and the roof. Move the shrubbery so there's a clear view of the house and door and make that, through landscaping, the focus of the house. And get a garage door with windows.

Once you move the focus to the house, the roof won't be a problem.

The easiest way to deal with this without all the structural work is landscaping as others have said. Take another look at what we're looking at: all you can see are the garage door and the roof. Where's the house? Where's your entryway? Hire a garden designer to help you completely re-landscape and possibly hardscape the right side of the house so the eye is directed to the house itself and not to the garage and roof.

Houses where landscaping emphasizes entryway and house:

Charming One Story Home · More Info

This house has more garage than house, yet big tree and inviting entryway make the garages recede:

Large Scale Remodel & Addition · More Info

Eyes right away from the garage.

Craftsman · More Info

In the meantime, get your roof, chimney, and house powerwashed so you start with a fresh new structure.

Well it didn't always look like this. It's a shed style house on the front Not sure you plop a dormer on the room and expect it to not look like an after thought.

If you could get the roof lines to match you could do clerstory windows instead of the skylights.

Here's the back of the home.

It's pretty bright inside. Not sure a dormer would look appropriate.

I think your best bet with something like this would be to lean in to its existing architecture (vs trying to mask it). Looks like a kinda interesting Cedar Contemporary home, a style that has a bit of a following. Look up “Sea Ranch Architecture” and consider attempting to emulate the look and feel of those homes.

The landscaping definitely needs a total rework. The front door is the only visual interest on the front of the house, so there shouldn’t be anything obstructing the view of it— if anything, the landscaping should be framing or drawing the eye towards it. As for the roof— am wondering if cedar shakes might give it some more interest/ presence. Or, assuming you have cedar siding— what if you stripped the siding down to its raw cedar look, and paired that with a metal roof?

I get the landscaping and all the comments on it, that clearly has to be done. However the roof has to be replaced. So if I'm replacing it, I might as well consider changing it so it's more attractive. Currently I really don't like it but wanted to see if anyone has a better idea that I might be missing.

It would've been helpful to mention you had to replace the roof.

Since you are replacing the shingles as they've obviously met their life span, a couple things roof-related can be done based on your appetite for work and budget:

• align the skylights on the garage roof;
• when choosing asphalt shingles (assuming architectural), pick a very subdued blending so as not to draw attention with color/shadows;
• move the plumbing vents to the backside, if not, at minimum paint to match shingles;
• change the clay flues to a single, full width sheetmetal chimney cap.

If you’re going to significantly modify the roofline of a home like this, you should be consulting with an architecture firm. The current roofline is an integral part of the home’s design- changing it would majorly impact the exterior and interior in a structural way. I appreciate that you would consider pursuing that route vs tearing down and starting over, but if you can afford a house like this & major improvements to it, you likely can afford an architect!

Yes absolutely would need an architect and get plans approved to make the change but trying to understand what my options would be before I get to that stage

What is your budget, 10K? 50K? 150K? That will dictate what work you could do as well. Ripping the roof, and reframing, etc. will be 100K plus (COL area dependent).

I agree with other posters - the addition of dormers might be the least expensive option for improving your roofline. I also agree with the comments about landscaping. Right now it's hard to see the walls of your home because of the overgrown shrubs.

The option s are get flat sky lights, take the weird stuff off the top of the chimney and remove the overgrown , too large shrubs. I would not add a dormer to that house . Get a garage door with some windows in it. and then go to work on landscaping

The roofline isn't the problem. The problem is all the stuff interfering with what was supposed to be simple, clean lines. Namely, the protruding skylights, what ever those clay things are on the chimney, and the plumbing vents.

Will this be your personal residence or a flip?

Please ignore the landscaping. The landscaping is easy. The roofline isn't. This will not be a flip

I can only presume what's behind those huge shrubs so I suggest you start with removing them so that we can see the house.

The sellers are asking $2M for the house and grounds. The poster is trying to determine if the house can be fixed. Location, location, location.

The roof and architecture reminds me of Sea Ranch also. Very nice, I would keep the house as is except for the arched window. I would replace that with a rectangular glass. Natural landscape with grasses and native plants.

I agree that you should lean into the contemporary design of the house. Flattening the skylights will make a big difference. Adding a contemporary garage door, front door, and lighting will also help. Eliminate or shorten the clay pipes in the chimney and consider adding a square window above the door instead of the more traditional arched window. And of course, as you already know, address the landscaping.

For what it's worth, i thought i was looking at the back of a house, not the front. Photos from Tracefloyd are good references. Notice how the roof was designed with different heights. Depending on budget, this might be an interesting option to explore.

my 2 cents

I agree with the comments regarding the landscaping, however your first priority and question is the roof. I would not try to change that other then the material. Unless budget is not an issue. Don't go any higher the house is too high already, lets use what budget you do have on items going forward like painting and doing things to lessen the salt block look if the house. As for the roof chose the best look for your budget. Except for the center roof over the front door. I would us a copper standing seam material, lower the chimney make it simple rectangle and paint it DARK charcoal. loose the details on there now. The other roof material

but a simple design and what looks good nest to the copper and select in a LIGHER charcoal. Paint the siding a light golden warm tan. Down the road I would a stone facade more of a large rock look in tan, some black and copper colors, over the siding or in place of it that is under the copper roof where the front door is. Paint the front door a darker color of the siding or scrap it down to raw wood if possible and put clear sealer on it. It appears there might be a raised porch if so great we can embellish that with railing enlarge it, add steps etc. You need a plan going forward that can be done in stages when budgets permit. I have a very raw sketch and done in 5 minutes. but it can give you an idea. I am a designer and am happy to help select all the colors and materials for you if you like my suggestions. I have more but might be too long for this article. Sue Kelly suekellyinteriordesign@gmail.com

You can’t put lipstick on a pig!

Tear it down and re-build. Why would anyone buy a house with the main focal point of the front be a garage door? Rip off the roof and re-do - it might be cheaper to sell and buy a nicer house.

Some hideous comments here. This is someone’s home and they are asking for improvements.

If you are still contemplating an offer on the house, make sure you like that style of house. It is a very strong aesthetic, and from my experience in the housing market, these "contemporaries" typically sit on the market longer compared to some other styles. You should not muddle up the exterior with tchotchkes, but lean into the design. It was not done well to begin with, having such large blank walls and doors/windows meant for another style. But it can be fixed in fairly simple ways (maybe say $20K to $50K) to be more aesthetically pleasing. I do have some more appropriate ideas than what has been suggested thus far, but will wait to see if you return under escrow.

@amy is this home even for you? You have a few posts about updating homes in the last five years and a pro account. Are you a “pro” crowd sourcing solutions to your clients homes?

@WestCoast Hopeful yes for me i mainly do interiors, exteriors are not my thing. One pervious post was a family members house. Like most, I come here to get ideas when im out of my depth and it isnt my area of expertise.

@Jane Hyatt you actually can if you're creative enough to see how you can transform something. Like others who are better at exteriors who have commented with ideas.

Keep the rooflines and windows and install an extensiv greenroof; durability, flora & fauna life, isolation and above all

an every day joy.

I do interiors as well, and if I had a client with a dilemma like yours, I'd refer them to a competent architect. Exteriors is their area of expertise. But what you're asking for will require an extensive outlay of money and will impact the interior as well as the exterior.

If the homeowners are fine with the design of this house, the main “To Do” is to get flat profile skylights. If they are reconsidering the siding, a cedar shake or more textured roof shingle can be considered.

When the roof is such a huge part of the front visual, you need to make it prettier. No question that landscaping will help but we can’t get a 20 foot maple out there next month. A consult with a landscaping company should be included in the redesign of this home’s exterior.

If you decide to move forward with an offer, I would again encourage you to lean in to (and/or attempt to “fix”) the architectural direction of its original build by emulating the Sea Ranch style in any renovations. Replace any half circle elements with cleaner lines, consult an architect on overall design including window placement on the front, consider new siding (potentially natural cedar that will gray over time— am wondering if the existing siding is actually cedar that was painted or heavily stained?) and use the same siding material on a custom garage door so that it’s camouflaged from being a focal point, and consider metal roofing options.

The above would have the potential to elevate the home to something more in line with what you would expect from a multimillion dollar beach-adjacent home in the Hamptons.

Old Home Restorer hit the nail on the head. It would look more like a $2M house in the Hamptons.

@Old Home Restorer Thanks, I totally hear you and understand why you're saying what you're saying. I don't love the sea ranch to be honest (I wish I did). Maybe the second photo you posted but I'm not into the others. I do think I could get away with doing something like this

Or this:

The roof is leaking and has to be changed anyway. If you look at the backside of the house it's more traditional:

Not sure if that's make sense but this is where my head is at currently. Either way, I really appreciate your comment and pictures (pictures always help!)

What you have in mind for this house probably shouldn't happen. It would be a muddled house because proportions don't always translate well when you apply a root style that it wasn't intended for originally.

Elevation changes are directly related to the floor plan. For example, the lower pair of skylights above the garage are probably for a bathroom or walk-in closet with a sloping ceiling taking up some of the garage attic. So a dormer with large windows there wouldn't make sense.

If you don't like anything even near this style as given by the inspo pictures, it may be best to pass on this house. Unless you don't mind putting in another $500,000K+.

@amy kalokerinos, are you the prospective buyer, the owner, the listing agent, or an advisor to the owners on what to do to improve the house while it is for sale?

Re: exterior alterations that go for a cottage or shingle style, I suppose anything is possible with the right amount of time and money! But I think it would be pretty difficult to make the sum of its parts — ie the spirit of the home as a whole (both interior and exterior) — feel like it was meant to be a cottage, if that makes sense.

But I’m sure there are architects/engineers/designers that would be up for the challenge if you gave them a blank check to do so! 😆