It's elevated above the road and a massive concrete driveway funnels the view into the turret and the stairs that are perfect for Inigo and the six-fingered man to have their epic fight. Your best bet would be to cut 1/3 to 1/2 off the driveway's right side and plant some tall trees. Otherwise if you love the interior and the location, just live with the exterior and do some over the top decorating for Halloween.

Thanks, everyone, for all the advice, landscape and otherwise. I don't necessarily dislike our brick colour either. I think the problem is that the original family that had the house built, opted to increase the floor plan (main floor and basement) by putting a family room where the garage would normally be, right beside the main house. This is great for our family as far as the interior goes, but it ends up affecting the balance on the exterior, not only colour wise, but also as far as structure goes. My feeling is that the overall drab feeling of the house might be remedied by choosing a nice colour siding (I am leaning toward taupe), which would also be used for the garage door. In addition, perhaps a cosmetic change to the long main floor roof line would break it up a bit? I am in full agreement that the pillars/posts/columns need to be more substantial.

You can also print out house photos and do some doodling on them with sharpie markers to work out ideas. You will want to make a to scale plan view where you actually lay out measured beds with circles that represent the growth of shrubs at 10 years and the ultimate expected canopy of trees at maturity before you start purchasing or get out the shovel. The placement of your sugar maple isn't ideal since it blocks sight lines to your front entry to some extent. I am not at all suggesting removal, but you do want to limb it up to at least the roof line of the house so that only the trunk is in front of the door and not branches as well. Do your best to avoid the root zone of this tree if you reroute the path, both for the longterm well-being of the tree and the path (be sure to make it at least 4' wide) as they are shallow rooted. Don't plan on doing extensive plantings under the maple since the maple will win over most new plantings with its extensive shallow root system. Mulch and a tough groundcover such as the perennial Geranium 'Biokivo' may be the answer there to fill the space. Comments about using color to reduce the impact of the garage doors is spot on and I totally agree with the need for better landscaping. I don't know where your septic is if you have one, but you want to avoid planting woody plants such as shrubs and trees on top of or close to the septic. Having a tree to the side off the front corner on either side of the house can give it a frame that grounds it and also ties it into the woods in the back visually.

Thank you all so much. I appreciate the input. Celerygirl, seeing the colors imposed on the house is amazing. I like them all. Probably favor the top one. Can I bother you for the paint name? Love the door, would never have picked something like that! Houssaon, The belly board is the the strip that separates the bottom brick from the upper siding? It really does make a difference in the sample house you posted. It would run from the left side of the house, over the garage doors, little porch area, over the first floors windows and then ends at the right side of the house? I really like that idea. Thank yo so much. Ohio, Thank yo for you recommendation. Is there room for taller windows, which I far prefer, and if so, would you install windows with or without mullion? K Laurence and Decoenthusiast, I agree, however, we listed our house, expecting it to sit a while and it sold in 2 days. Our rental has fallen through and our timeframe for remaining in the area lengthened longer than anticipated. We have a trusted contractor who can supposedly do it all in 2 months (fingers crossed!!!!). If this falls through, we have no where to go :( Thank you all so much!! p.s. what do you think about the little porch area? can anything be done to enhance/change the railing.