This may or may not work in your case, but I'll throw it out there. You could raise the grade so that it pitches away from the house and sheds water onto the drive or walk (convex). You can sod around a portion of the space so that you can cut a nice shaped bed that does not have to relate to the hardscape. Just don't make it so narrow that the grass looks like an add on. If the downspout is situated in a way that you can add a piece or two to the bottom to redirect it out to where it can runoff, it would help. If you need a channel to make it flow without the baggage of an extended pipe, you could do that with some river rock. The trick is to raise the area high enough to keep the swale that the river rock fills higher than the surrounding hardscape so that it does not hold the water where it meets the walk. The top of the river rock can match the surrounding grade of the bed and/or lawn.

1) Like idea of removing bushes to open up. Railing a good idea once bushes are gone. Composite decking over brick questionable. Not sure about look and concerned about ventilation underneath. Brick ties together current entry area and walkway. Entry area is a small space and not sure would look right adding another material to mix. Composite is basically a mix of cardboard particles and plastic. While there has been some progress since products first introduced, (wrapping outer layer with solid plastic) cardboard particles are vulnerable to molds and can cause boards to disintegrate if particles eaten out. Without ventilation under deck, I would suspect moisture levels would be too high. It would also be rough on stringers, though if they were ground contact pressure treated wood they should be able to take it.

I would be more concerned with landscaping. What climate zone are you in now? I've never decorated for fall/autumn, but then I've never lived on the east coast. By "east coast" do you mean Florida or Maine? When someone says "east coast" I always think of Florida first. Your house style could be Bungalow or Ranch, but the defining feature is the red tile roof, which is typical of Mediterranean style, and you do have a semi-arch that supports that style, but the windows do not. You could make it more Mediterranean by adding an arched window above the front door - possibly.

DK, I’m glad you mentioned that having the back of the home facing south would mean the master suite would be warmer as well. I don’t think that would be optimal in the Deep South - it’s just sweltering, and I cannot tolerate being hot in our bedroom. Is it crazy that I may now try to position our new home to AVOID the hot afternoon sun??!! I like light and all, but since it was mentioned that it won’t be a dungeon, I think I’m good with just some light trickling in the living room. Hubs is very sensitive to light and would be as happy in a cave... so he’s not too concerned about a lot of natural light coming in. We are doing lots of recessed lights throughout the home, and almost all will have dimmers, as I enjoy them in our current home and like the ability to have something in between dark and “in your face bright” on occasion. :) Funny you mention landscaping, as my husband owns a landscape company! I know nothing about any of it, but I’ve heard him mention things like this several times when a client wants ABC plants for a certain location, but only XYZ plants will thrive there. After speaking with my husband about the whole skylight/sun tube issue, he was not a fan - and for the exact same reasons given here (additional heat, “putting holes in the roof”/compromising structural integrity, additional cost, cost of potential repairs, etc... so it sounds like that’s out. He did say he might consider a couple of skylights in the roof on the covered porch only, but feels like that defeats the purpose of a COVERED porch. I mean, he’s not wrong there. LOL All that said, there has been a ton of good information given, and I appreciate all of it! I welcome and appreciate any and all suggestions and opinions - I’ve learned so much from y’all! Keep ‘em coming!