Hi All, I used Penn State extension calculator to determine the sq ft i would need to accept the downspout water based on roof size, soil type and average rainfall - that was how I came up with the initial plan of a 10 ft wide recessed area. Phase 1 - Goal - Stop melting roof snow from creating icy pond on walkway and street sidewalk as first step in overall plan redirect downspout and improve curb appeal. We dug a 50ft x 4ft x 6 in recessed area, 0.6 in rain tested it. The troth was filled, with overflow onto the lawn, a bit over the sidewalk and ponding between it and the berm. Prior to the troth overflow the sidewalk to the berm was not ponding. Pointing to this as the source of the icy problem. Phase 2 Based on reactions to prior mock ups, i wanted dark stone or mulch to ground the bldg, a subtle safe walkway from the emergency door (the back of the building faces the street), a rain garden to be part dryriver bed, part plants and part graded lawn. Below is a draft, not shown isgrading from dry river bed out 6 additional ft across from left to right. The software I used has limited colors, river rock will be lighted than shown. Additional plants will be added. For Phase 1 I would do the river rock and gravel right around it, and revamp the downspouts. All and any advise welcome!

Warm gray siding with red-orange door would look nice. There appears to be a lot going on with your plantings, I'd remove the majority of them placing a tall planting only in front of the pipes that run between your windows. Ornamental grasses and other contemporary plantings would look nice.

Your shutters are fine and look original to the house- and I think house loses something by removing them By early 1900s and certainly by midcentury theyve become merely a decorative element - think about it - who in the last 2 centuries has actually needed to close up shutters on their house! Look instead at design of the house - do they serve a good decorative function, and I think answer inyour case is yes. They add emphasis to the windows, and the balance of the large window on the left and two smaller on the right is pleasing to the eye. Sometimes internet claims are repeated so often that they take on a life of their own. This is not to say that there arent some houses with ridiculously small strips of shutters just way too wimpy and out of scale with the grandeur of the house- or sometimes the placement of the windows is weird so you dont want attention drawn to them. Yours is not like that. Yours is a modest smallish (but totally adorable) house so decorative elements should be keeping in scale with that. For that same reason, if you should do a portico take care that it doesnt look too massive or out of scale. The pitch or angle of the portico roof should be same as rest of house which in this case is pretty darn flattish. It shouldnt be, or look taller than the rest of the house. Oh - one more reason to remove shutters is the house is just way too MCM (with emphasis on the "modern") so the shutters just look ridiculous. Not every original feature is worth keeping and 1970s in particular had many houses where the shutters just are way too out of character with the extreme horizontal lines of the house. Again yuor house isnt like that - it is a ranch, but that is not same thing as or synonymous with "mid century modern." it still has some traditional features - eg multi-paned windows - I would guess late 1940s- 1950s? I would just enjoy the house for now and focus on landscaping as others have said.

Agree with Creative Visual Concepts - those are the first two things that popped out to me: missing risers and missing landscaping. OP, are you wanting a front porch because you think it will add to curb appeal or that you want a covered front door? ETA: Also agree that the front door should be an accent color - the door itself, not the sidelites. You have many colors that would enhance the front and work with your siding and trim colors. Here is a suggestion, one of the deep blues or even black.