Which retaining wall are you referring to as "the little r. w...."? If it's the one near the house, I ask, is there actually a need for a retaining wall ... or is it purely decorative? If the latter, just remove it. It's too cute. Way too cute.

In general, the pictures are low quality so it's difficult to assess what you really have, and therefore, give advice. Better to stand about 15' to 20' out from the front door and do a pan set of slightly overlapping photos that sweeps from left to right, capturing from lot line to lot line.

The retaining wall is about two feet high between the front yard and the street. You can see it in the pictures with light brown blocks as the wall itself. In the middle of it, there are two planters and a stair as show in this picture below. This is a needed wall due the difference in height between the yard and the street. There is also a small brick wall in front of the house that you can see in the photos as well. The small brick wall nearest to the house is decorational only.

I dislike the stone walls that are attached to the house. You can see that around the corner of the house and around the front door. Reminds me of the Flintstone's house. And of course, the air conditioners sticking out the walls of the house have got to go too.

First thoughts: in the view from the front, in the picture just above my post, your house looks both hidden and cluttered. The trees are unattractive and the planters are overly-large for the setting. The stones on the house don't bother me, but they clash with the landscape block walls. I'd much rather the hard surface on the house match, or at least blend/complement, the hard surfaces in the landscape.

What time of year was the photo taken? Is the tree actually dead or just not leafed out?

I'm going right against the grain here but I love that house and garden. To me it looks artsy, Bohemian and straight out of Tales of The City. I see so many neat, tidy, boring, 'curb appeal' pictures of US homes on here that this one is a refreshingly individual and quirky sight. 'Hidden and cluttered' are good things in my book ;-) I'd just get rid of some of the vast expanse of hard standing front left and start gardening the plot intensively. Remove weeds, trim, prune and add lots more colourful Mediterranean style perennials and shrubs. 'A riot of colour' is a phrase made for that house.

If the retaining wall is functional I suggest you ignore it for now. Spend the money and effort fixing the portico area of the house. I made a crude image of improvements.