What term can describe the result of this extra effort for this first view of the front of a property? As used above, I would just simply call it the front garden. I think there is a bit of west coast vs east coast different pages thing happening here too. Yardvaark's observation that plenty of people put all their effort out front and have a dog patch out back they would never dream of inviting guests in to is completely valid. Outdoor privacy, found in the back yard not the front, and privacy in general was valued a lot more out west. Much like 'foundation plants' had a certain ethos and design style associated with it, 'curb appeal' these days does too. Inkognito's original question way back at the height of the housing frenzy before the crash was "Is this whole notion that the only reason for working on the way our house and garden is presented is so that we can sell it on detrimental to domestic garden design? Yes it is. As the wealth of working people is clawed away from them in service to the god of vulture capitalism's endless greed for growth and profits, homes are ever more considered their last available investment and asset that will likely have to be sold off for people to survive their decrepitude with any amount of dignity. They can never really expect to grow old and die peacefully at home. This is an investment not a home. Not that 'curb appeal' implies completely ignoring everything else, but when it becomes a primary and most valued focus of applied residential landscape design, is it driving standard residential landscape design towards the banal beige of real estate agents wet dreams? When does it really become just another form of capitalist consumption that has to be changed out every so often like paint and wallpaper to keep things fresh? What about real homes and a sense of place? What about real gardens filled with life and individual personality? "Oh great. You have fabulous curb appeal. Do you garden?" Added: Yes you can read this as an extreme take on things. Few things are that black and white or all inclusive. It's not like the term 'curb appeal' makes my skin crawl. There is also a valid need to stage homes when they go on the market. It's more about how the ethos contained in this thinking takes hold and affects people's thinking and expectations about what gardens are really for. No matter, there will always be the Hyacinths who continue keeping up appearances.

Thank you again everyone for all the help you have provided. My wife and I couldn’t be more appreciative for all the advice. At this stage, I feel like we have the following...remove railing, install potted plants/feature on side landings of stairs, paint porch a dark gray that matches the stone walkway, replace exterior lighting, remove interior window shutters, revisit landscaping options, install window planters. In terms of the exterior shutters and door colors...the current color is a dark maroon/purpley color (has to go). Based on some of the great feedback I’ve attached a couple options...1) High contrast black on white with a pretty brown stained door 2) Lighter shutters with a brown stained door. I think I’m leaning a bit more towards the high contrast black on white...thoughts on either and if brown is the way to go for front door or match color of shutters? Also color of planters under windows (same brown as door)?

I hear you saying you like gray and blue than do the house in gray and add a blue front door. I really big help would be to redo the landscape with some softer lines and let the stonework with the landscape right now the stone is the odd man out with a bunch of straight lines. The entrance looks like an afterthought and really doesn't go with any one thing. I would remove that and add a pergola over the garage and restructure the entrance.

A clay roof would be so charming here! A metal roof could look really good too, it's also common on stucco homes in the southwest. IDK, but it might be easier to maintain too. If you went that route, I'd recommend terra cotta, dark brown, or maybe even blue. (Or if you're made of money, a copper roof and let it turn green.) I have a metal roof and one lesson I learned is that it's super hard to get a vendor willing to install anything -- nobody wants to be responsible for cutting into it. You might run into the same issue with clay. So if you think you will need to add skylights, roof vents, etc, have it done when the roofers are there!