Oh Marcolo, a monopoly house...really? I'd say this resembles the red monopoly house more than what I'm considering I happen to like the modern farmhouse style, I get not everyone does. And I'm guessing it is the attached three car garage most of you naysayers take issue with. The thing is, we need a three car garage and I fail to see the logic behind moving to an inconvenient location in an attempt to pretend it doesn't exist. Michou: I took a look at the Howard Bracken link and his homes are beautiful. Really perfect for a gorgeous napa location. I'm not sure how well it would translate for my rainy climate or our specific floorplan needs, but I like a lot of the elements he uses. Oakley: I have searched for farmhouses and the problem I run into is that there aren't as many existing floorplans in the 3,500 + sq ft range, plus I'm looking for a fairly specific layout (formal dining, master on main, non-open kitchen, kids room upstairs and attached garage). Also, most farmhouse plans seem to have large porches often wrap arounds. Here in the PNW we are sunlight deprived enough, so I don't need a porch other than a small one to shelter the front door and maybe a small one to grill under off the back of the house. The original elevation of the house is nice, but to me it looks like a nice version of many builder homes out here and it has a French country sort of look or something. I do think it's pretty but its not really "me". I prefer the fresher look of a modern farmhouse. To adapt it too our woodsy setting we will have some cabin-like and maybe even craftsman inspired details, but overall I want to keep it clean and simple. Here are some other modern farmhouses/ modern cabins. I wonder if those in the dislike camp do not care for these either, or if it's just the house I'm considering? I don't think this is all that different

honestly think that you are overthinking this whole project. You will achieve 90% of what you want with 10% of the effort that people on this thread are suggesting. 1) get yourself some new Marvin Integrity windows. Aluminum clad white on the outside, real divided lite. Go for 9 over 1 for a really great glassic look. 6 over 1 can look fakey. 2) have your contractor extend the soffits as was suggested. Have him put 5" fascia boards up on the ends to add more beef. 3) colonial front door. 4) 4.5" trim around all windows and doors 5) center that front-facing garage window when you do it over with a Marvin. 6) have your carpenter dress up the existing columns with some crown tops and bottoms to make them appear more stately. On your budget, your house will never look 100% perfect like a movie house. But it will look 90% of what you want, with what I just suggested. This project can be done by a carpenter and a trip to Home Depot or Lowes for under $10,000. Architect? Contractor? You're pampering yourself with those expenditures. Have a little guts and do what I said.

So things are coming along nicely, but not without complications. I was going to go with breaking up the visible part of the columns (below the fascia) into equal sections but then one of the channels would go right through my sconce lights on the sides of my garage doors. So I made the sections a little larger to give me some space between the top channels and the electric boxes for the sconce lights. One issue is that the house is old and so the fascia isn't perfectly straight/level. So the space between the top channel and fascia isn't the same on every column. My installer made the executive decision to keep the channels at the same level rather than shifting them up/down based on the level of the fascia. So far I don't think it's noticeable. But I'd still like to give myself some more breathing room for the sconces. At the garage I'd like to put the top channels about an inch higher than they are on the columns. Do you think that would be obvious? There's at least ten feet between the garage and the nearest column. Here's a photo from before. I haven't started looking for sconces but I feel my options will be very limited with tight spacing. An extra inch or so probably gives me a lot more options.

I like a lot of the ideas that @Kathy Furt suggested. A lighter color paint for the exterior and bronze trimmed windows will "update" your home immediately. She gave you a lot of inspiration photos that absolutely relate to your cute house. You MUST get a landscape designer to at least LOOK at your property. I pulled out my entire front lawn landscaping because it was so dated and old, there was no pruning it back to life. I got ideas from a landscape designer and used some of her ideas, some of my landscaper's ideas and mostly my own preferences. Picking the brain of a landscape designer in your area will help a lot. Your house has the potential to be more than adorable. It is cute right now. And it will look updated with new color, new windows and new landscaping.