Thanks for solving the mystery of what these are. I've had trouble narrowing it down, despite the number of garden books I own. I do love these bushes, unfortunately, the previous owners never cut them back and they're now so top heavy that every decent storm breaks off some branches. So far, the ones the storms have broken haven't provided any new growth, which leaves me hesitant as to how much cutting back I can do without ending up with a hedge of bare trunks. What you see in this photo is only one of about 7 shrubs in total. I'm afraid they've become too dangerous to leave as is. Now that I know what it is, however, I can start looking up information on how I might be able to prune them down to the proper shape. Unfortunately, my only other option is to take them out completely. Thanks again for the help!

You are definitely going for the right look for a foundation planting, namely a layered series of different textures with evergreen at the back. But I agree that a total of 5 feet from foundation out is not enough width to get that job done. You have enough sun to work with and you have a vision, so why not do it up right: expand the bed 3-4 feet, move the roses out a few feet, and then put in some spreading yew or a globe arborvitae-type thing about 2-3 feet out from the house. You'll have to trim the yew or whatever you put there, but it will give you the look you want. Yews are incredibly overplanted on the foundation, but for the back row of a layered planting, I think they work just fine. Put a low layer in front of the roses, maybe some Blue Star Juniper, then you can keep the layered thing going on during the winter. The Blue Star is fairly slow growing, (especially living on the east side), so don't expect it to fill in quickly. Instead, cough up the cash and plant several. If you think widening the bed is daunting, just lay down wet cardboard on the turf and cover with lots of mulch. Then cut out wide holes for your plantings. The grass will be long gone in a year. Boxwood could work against the foundation too, but it grows like molasses. Just my thoughts, based on having been in a similar situation. Get what you want the first time around, so you don't have to do it again later.

I personally prefer to see them pruned into tree shaped forms. Just cut off all the lower branches. The only problem with this is that when sun gets to the lower part of it, little suckers (new limbs) appear that have to be removed. But I think the little tree form looks interesting.

Yes, you can prune it. Cut it down by a third. Then next year, cut it down by a third again. Every year, cut it down, they are really hardy shrubs. It'll be fine, if you really want to you could cut it down by half, but mulch it and water it so it becomes fuller.