That ivy was pretty incredible. I know you might not want to go back to things growing on the wall but what about espalier of some kind?

Home Orchards - Espalier Fruit Trees · More Info

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Find out what will grow well in planter tubs and line them up along offending wall(s)

or consider taking up the concrete at the far end of your driveway (far left of your photo).

Always choose plants based on their mature size because one day without you noticing they will be their mature size which may be too big for your space.

It’s not an eyesore!

Really, the plain=ness of it is quite beautiful.

I think I would leave it alone and spend money on replacing the concrete with Belgian block or some other very character-ful stone. True cobblestone would be nice but it is so hard underfoot. Even ordinary brick would be great.

If you lived in Austria or far Northern Italy I would say fake a faded historic painting on the side of the house above the lean-to, just a fragment of something barely visible.

But it would just look silly where you are.

What a charming house! I love me some Tudor. :)

Need more info: budget, where you are, and close-up pics of the bed.

I think your side door would look great (and be useful) with a cover over it. Something simple:

FWIW, most of the vines appear to have been the deciduous Boston Ivy although there was English mixed in.

Nice home and yard with great potential to be even better. But definitely would not paint any brick or stone.

First step would be remove every loose thing and stone from around the house and then rip off all the ivy all the way around the house and then have the entire house pressure washed.

The only "temporary" landscaping I'd suggest you consider -- at least until you get the exterior of your house itself the way you want/need it -- is potted plants that can be moved as needed.

Like the hanging baskets you already have.

Another idea is to create portable 4'x4'x6' high treated posts with brackets for hanging baskets -- you'd need to keep the weight hung on the brackets balanced -- similar size and weight pots across from each other.

You could add solar lights atop the post with (or without) motion sensors).

Such posts can be set in wide based plastic holiday tree stands or

Set in concrete in a bucket or

You can create a wood stand for a portable post with several 15" long treated 2"x4" treated boards -- one affixed each side of a square treated post so they each aim in a different direction.

Would create a treated wood deck across most of the right side of the house as show in the front pic, with the deck floor one step down from the porch (end of which is also visible in the pic) and overlapping the floor of that porch so the two can be reach from each other easily.

Would at least consider painting any/all painted parts of the exterior of the house with the same color. Would choose either the gray on the side of the porch roof or the brown in the gable end and paint all painted exterior siding the same color with the trim either a darker shade of the same color or black.

If you focus on putting your plants in hanging baskets -- you already have some -- putting them on posts, either portable or on the porch or deck wood or on an arbor (if you build one), you can take those indoors in the winter and hang them on brackets over windows so you don't lose your plant investment either to weather or animals that might eat them.

In that first pic: If you choose not to create a deck ... or even if you do, seriously consider cutting the pavement left of the steps at the top of the slope and remove the sloped concrete ... then digging a nearly level space in front of that basement window (barely sloped away from the house) and create a retaining wall left of the steps from the house straight out at a ninety degree angle from the house.

You might then consider an arbor to replace just the overhang over the basement window, with or without a clear or semi-clear greenhouse material for it.

If you make the retaining wall an "L" shape, you could leave just enough of the outer edge of that concrete as a sidewalk from upstairs to downstairs.

Just want to toss in here that I’ve lived in Italy for nearly 15 years now and before this year watched wave after wave of American, British, and German tourists come through and swoon over the historic character of the houses, and the beautiful way Italians let things age, acquire patina, acquire a story over time, and all the tourists weep and grieve and wonder why they cannot have this at home — and then they all go home and continue to rip out and apart every bit of quirk and history from their houses and replace with something plastic. It has gotten positively weird to see how many people turn up on Houzz asking how they can reform their beautiful houses, that have a presence all their own, into somethings else, and to see the elaborate expensive suggestions that are proposed when there is really nothing wrong to begin with — except that every square inch hasn’t been painted or remade to be uniform.

In fairness to the original poster, only a “touch” was asked for, and of course I don’t blame people for offering their creative ideas and sharing what they would do as owners. But this house is 100% fascinating.

Also, please don’t power wash it without being sure your house can withstand it.

Very, very well said, ital.

Do you feel my door cover suggestion was bad? I’m genuinely asking because I feel exactly as you in regards to keeping a home’s character (I lived in Europe, too). And I have no problem acknowledging if I made a bad suggestion. That‘s what’s great about these boards — insightful and honest discussions from a variety of backgrounds. I like when there’s a lot of back and forth between everyone.

@Jilly No, certainly not and it wasn’t directed at any particular suggestion in this thread. Just seemed like every time I clicked on a post about people wanting help I was seeing these wonderful interesting houses or kitchens or fireplaces that people thought were awful or out of date or needed major improvement — and it really is true that everybody likes Italy because people have managed to save so much of the past — even if it’s not spectacular, just no reason to throw it away.

I so agree!

I kinda like the ivy.... it's right out of Grimm's. Germany.

Espaliered fruit trees are kinda French or English. IIRC you need a warm spot for those to work. If you have a snow-blower, I think not.

You could do a seasonal vine like Virginia Creeper? Or trumpet vine?

Those little rooflets you have on the other sides of the house? I would take that idea and echo it in a little rooflet over the back door. I realize things are a bit crammed there because of the window.... If the window doesn't matter, I'd make myself a little enclosed porch-let for wet boots, etc. Whatever it is, I think I'd try to echo the other little roofs.

Virginia Creeper is Parthenocissus quinquefolia. The OP has just just removed its close relative, Boston Ivy, Parthenocussus tricuspidata. So, replacing the latter with the former would make little difference, other than BI lies flatter and neater against a building. As I mentioned above most of the vines in the pictures are the deciduous BI, not the evergreen EI.

And, Good God, don't plant trumpet vine! Ever! Anywhere. In addition to being wildly aggressive, it's not a clinger but a twiner so could not possibly attach itself to the house. But it will still try for world domination.

Great house. Before you do anything, check the stucco for soundness and adhesion to the underlayment. This is real stucco. It wears out. Fifty years is about what you can get out of it before it starts to fail. There are few of them out there, but you need to find a mason with lots of experience with stucco. Allowing ivy to adhere to the surface will have weakened the adhesion.

There is a much bigger project here than a few plants and a lean-to. The side door really needs a small entry porch to protect it from the elements. When you do this, you can plan for some storage of the items that you need to keep close by. I'd speak with an architect for some ideas and suggestions as to materials that will be complimentary to the main structure.

yes, check that stucco as a priority.

@Jilly (true stories from Italy: When railroads were invented, hundreds of walled Italian cities and towns pulled down their medieval walls so that the train tracks and and stations could be brought into the city center. It was also a popular thing to do to show that Italy was now politically ”unified” as well as commercially unified and “modern” — but a few towns that had for centuries been very wealthy (because they made good wine or textiles) had built walls so thick to keep out the invaders who wanted their wealth, it was really just too difficult to get rid of those walls, so they gave up and their train stations were put outside them. One of those towns was the Tuscan city of Lucca, and the sad residents, who felt left behind and old fashioned inside their “ugly” old fat walls, soon noticed a strange thing: Italians from miles around would come to Lucca on Sundays, for no other reason that they missed the old walls of their town! This was more than 150 years ago, and Lucca is now credited with being the first Italian town to grasp tourism could be developed to revive the local economy — but you had to hang on to what you’ve got. They built a promenade and bike path on the top of the walls to make it easier for Italians to enjoy them. They opened the first school of tourism in the country, where young Italian developers still go today to learn about sustainable tourism. Other cities now wish they had their walls back...

Wonderful house. I suggest you unify the side and front appearances by using the same trim colors for the windows. For the lean-to that's needed to hold snow removal equipment, you could build or buy one that will look like it's part of the original construction. If you only want it there during winter, a portable plastic shed (where the gray box is now) may work out well.

In the longer term, a wider-along-the-wall porch stepping down from the door would be a nice addition. You can add a small railing for safety now.

Ital, how interesting, I’ve never heard that ... thanks for sharing!

I’m not recommending planting Trumpet Vine but I’d just point out that it is self clinging. It has aerial rootlets like Hedera. That’s if we’re talking about Campsis radicans.

Yep. Needs a little awning and some flower boxes