Thank you for the great feedback so far. No one thinks I could get away with divided lights? As far as changes, we are changing the windows on the far left (bottom floor) to french doors. They will match the French doors on the top floor above it. We are changing that whole section of the house to stone (top and bottom floor). The other areas where you see siding (in the center part of the house), these will be bricked in. The columns will be changed out to stone. We are getting a new cast iron balcony railing on the second floor. And if the homeowner's association approves, we are extending the space on the far right about 10 feet to create a garage with double wooden entry doors. Opinions? I also have a question... Does anyone know which French doors have the widest glass area - Anderson Eagle, Neuma (or) Marvin Integrity? We have a view in the back of the house and want to maximize it with the best door choice. I cannot seem to find these specs anywhere. This post was edited by TXBluebonnet11 on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 20:21

Jakabedy, thanks so much for posting this. Our 1965 long ranch in southern NM has some similar materials; some exposed adobe brick, and wooden beamed ceilings, although without the intriguing wagon wheel design of this home. And yes, we had the dated carpet, although ours was pale yellow, and rusty orange, not dusty pink. Our home does not have the generously sized doors and doorways that make this home so solid and striking. Also, ours was built with more formica, swirly pink cultured marble, and annoying popcorn. We had original iron grills over all the windows, but we removed those when we restored the adobe exterior, as they completely blocked emergency exit (and made cleaning the windows nearly impossible.) I agree with lazygardens, this is a common detail here too, and I think it was often included as much for stylistic reasons as for security. IâÂÂm finding the character of this home a bit harder to deal with, than others we have owned. Our progress has been slow in figuring out how to hit the right notes, and we've stayed paralyzed in the major areas. Sometimes I feel like it doesnâÂÂt know who it wants to be...mid-century, or southwestern. Kind of an interesting but challenging hybrid. It was helpful to see such a good example of what our home probably âÂÂwantedâ to be, when it was custom built in 1965. Great to see such a clear picture (with all the original finishes!) of what the goal was. Our home feels rather maze-like, and IâÂÂve been working on a post for input, regarding carefully opening some kitchen walls. Peering at these photos has been very helpful. I can see that key openings help tremendously in making one area âÂÂfeelâ more visually open to the next, in this house. It will help us with our thinking. So glad you found this and posted it here.

Thanks bmorepanic. Exactly right, there is a spectrum of styles that would work which creates too many options. In the end, it's hard not to let price be the deciding factor. Why pay $25+ a sq/ft if it's no more inspiring than $7 a sq/ft really? The issue of where to start and stop the tile is another thing we can't resolve, especially because of that angled corner. Oh well, any strong opinions are welcomed because we're about ready to toss up our arms in defeat.

I'm no expert I just know a lot of people are doing cement board around me. I am not sure if they glue then screw and caulk to prevent hiding spaces. Best to check with an expert. However. It can all have the same look with a smooth stucco or other surface and scoring. Here is one with a slight two tone chimney. Not to much but enough to diminish the height a bit .