The trim and pediment around the door is too colonial for the rest of the house. A cottage style door will probably work better. Would you have to demolish any brick to add the sidelights, or are the shutters part of the door frame ( both on the interior and exterior)? If they're not on both sides, just changing the door to one with some glass at the top may give the effect of the transom. Are you married to the color of the door?

Moore colorful plants in the beds, and two color planters flanking the door, and bright coordinating cushions on the bench would look nice. And don't forget some more prominent light fixtures and new door hardware.

I'm hoping to go see the house this weekend, but I wanted some ideas ahead of time because I'm not very good at re-imagining or seeing the potential in a place.

Thank you for "pediment" I couldn't remember what that piece above the door was called, only that it reminds me of colonial revival. Not married to the color of the door, or even the door itself. I really like dual-door entries, but if that is not possible then I like wide entries with dual sidelights and transom windows. Most ranches in our price range do not have that around here.

Would brick demo be so bad? I agree w/you, though, need to see what is on the inside as well. It likely has an 8' ceiling and the "tall" entry is just for looks.

As far as the landscape goes, it's practically a blank slate at this house so I would have a lot of fun designing a front garden.

I agree with beanie! Starting with just those two things and you will be able to see the rest of what you want to do much easier.

Have you looked at the listing photos online, mello? The one of the kitchen that shows no landing space by either the fridge or stove is thought provoking...Would you be able to do some interior updates, as well your beautiful landscaping?

You could also do two big planters between each set of posts with the colour dependent on what you do with the door and then put a railing on the left side between the garage and the first post, perhaps black wrought iron or aluminum.

If you remove the colonial stuff around the door (is it original? Could be!), you can work with that kinda cool MCMish porch.

But it might work better to cottage-ize it and lower the porch and um...I bet it's the angle of the photo. Right now the porch seems oversized. Go check it out and report back.:)

Yes, this house can be made to look good!

The colonial pediment could be original. There are entire developments here of post-war ranches and splits with to-the-floor picture windows on the one hand and original colonial revival touches on the other.

This would look nice with a asymmetrical door on one side, full window on the other. I'd keep the overscaled porch. It gives it character.

It is an original colonial-revival pediment, and is the main thing about the front entry I do not like. I do like the over-sized porch, a nice refreshing change from some of the ranches with cramped-looking stoops. The front windows face south, so the front rooms are probably nice and bright. The house is 800 sq ft bigger than our current place, which means we likely won't feel so cramped, and the yard is also much larger.

I've looked at the online listing pics, the kitchen is not good -- DH says it looks like a garage (I agree). The range...yes that whole wall is bad but maybe it could be re-worked. I wondered if maybe the kitchen could be opened up to that pool table room. I also dislike the bathrooms, but maybe paint would make a big difference there. The floors seem nice. I have passed this house over a few times, but having seen most everything else I figured might as well see this one too. In it's current state, the house looks kind of icky, but maybe it's just due to unusual decorating choices and wouldn't be too much work for us to tackle.

This house has sat on the market a while (for the market around here), so it may have other issues beyond it's poorly functioning kitchen and unusual choices of decor.

ETA -- > Palimpsest I don't understand what you mean by an asymmetrical door w/full size window, do you mean a window that is the same size as the door not a sidelight window? Would that throw off the symmetry of the porch, or would it be a better balance to the asymmetry of the house overall?

Yay! I like that attitude about doing some work in it. If you could have seen my 1937 Cape house when I bought it in 1986...well, it wasn't impressive. But I looked out and saw the river flowing against the yard, which was a ravine filled with dying trees out back, and said, 'This is IT!' as soon as I walked into the very passe' kitchen with literally 24" of counter space. It years of hard, but FUN work, and almost 30 years later, I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else than my modest Cape.

I hope you have similar luck and find a place you like soon. Yes, opening the pool table room to the kitchen would probably give you something amazing! Let us know how the showing goes when you see it?

Cute house, I do like that door and sidelight combo. Guess I'll know more after seeing the place, and I will come back with an update.

Cute house. Could you look at re-facing the brick with stone, similar to what is done with fireplaces? Seems like it would be a better fit for what you are trying to do with the exterior. From what I have seen, the stone used for re-facing is very thin & might work. I would also remove the red mulch and add some additional green shrubs with natural mulch. I love the porch, and agree it just needs a bit of dressing up.

I think a new garage door with some character would help. Kind of looks like a blank empty space at the moment.

Nice house with good possibilities and useful suggestions here! I am betting that the first thing an inspector will tell you is that you need to put up a railing and bannisters along the entire edge of the porch and stairs (which actually could be widened a bit), for safety's sake. That will be a first step in changing the look of the front. The landscaping that you do will also make a tremendous difference. I might wait to change the color of the door until that was done, since it could affect color choices.

I love the idea of an iron railing, and Pal that mock -up is great...totally changes the entry is a good way.

I'm not going to be able to see this house this weekend after all... Been battling a cold for days and still sick, so very hopeful to go next weekend instead.

Cleaning up the entry is exactly what that house was begging for!

My3dogs, how did you find the online photos? Thanks! I want to see the inside now!

Well, if mello says it's OK, she or I can put the link to the listing up. I don't want to violate her privacy if she'd rather it's not shown.

Interesting to see the different directions one could go. This is the listing link for those who are curious about the kitchen that lacks landing space for fridge and range. I'll take the link down in a day or two:

oh, melle..you know they now show me listings in your area, lol? probably because of these two you shared once..as an examples of what you like/dislike..

but since i didn't know your neighbourhood of preference, etc..In short I just looked at them

the kitchen does look like a garage! I like the fire red, very bold of them; but layout is not easy. no countertop around the stove makes it really challenging

lots of work, or so I envision

bathrooms too..although it might be photos distort the places. Bathrooms are hard to shoot too they're smaller. possibilities will reveal themselves to you when there

Iike the living, the backyard(possibilities!) , and the house overall is nice. I do think brick has nothing to do there. But I'd go there and feel it you know? It can be 15 things that you dislike and one you love, and that one will overweight other 15..

ah. don't mind their decor. just kinda wipe it when looking..in your mind.

interesting bedroom with that step..

At the beginning of our search I wouldn't have considered this house but we've lost out to cash buyers/higher offers on what we did love, and prices just keep rising. So I'm really challenging myself to try and see the potential in places that don't shine.

I also think this house has potential and want to see it when I'm feeling better. It was on the market at the same time as another down the street, but the other was totally updated/repainted...the other one went off the market within a couple weeks, this one is still available:

the last link shows as active..how come? or it is active, and you want to see it too?

I like it! of course some work to be done, some challenging spots..don't like that side fence next to neighbor's RV..but overall? it's sweet. see the potential

The last link is active; the identical house (but totally updated) is not. I edited it for clarification.

I guess I posted it to...idk...show the various slim pickings of what seems to have potential but needs work? We're leaning toward homes that aren't updated at this point. It's a tangent to my original question, I guess a bit of venting from the frustrating house hunt.

..kitchen's much easier fix, can be done down the road..layout is better

bathrooms show more sense.

living areas are nice. love the windows

look past the carpets. wallpapers, blah blah

ah..of course I'm not familiar with the locations..that should come first. Street, amenities, schools, all that jazz.

but I do think the second one will be easier to work with..given no big issues..check layout, everything..I do like the bones better, and the exterior better, from what is shown and you might feel different about that.

Do look at the houses across too..)) I need houses across to be nice as well. LOL.

Very true. Our offers were both on homes in the neighborhood of the second house...it's a great neighborhood.

I have an anti-climactic update to this post: went to see the house. Although the area overall is fine, this particular street didn't have a good feel (and it was a Saturday morning). Ended up canceling our appointment and moving on.

Thanks for letting us know. Something you absolutely love is still out there.