Modern Farmhouse yes. MCM not possible with the existing architecture. MCM doesn't support porches.

I don't see this becoming MCM.

Not gonna happen.

Not a pro but just some thoughts.

Would changing the porch to a more MCM be enough for you?

I suspect that aside from changing the porch, recreating this home into an MCM would be a major, expensive undertaking. Enough so that you'd be better served to go house shopping.

Changing the porch, however could give your home entry something of a MCM vibe.

IF your area gets ice and snow, you need the sloped roof but you could still change the siding beneath the porch. Vertical cedar siding is often used on those exterior walls around a front porch /entry on an MCM house

and your railing and steps could be modernized.

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/21019105/build-a-new-home-with-a-mid-century-modern-vibe

and your railing and steps could be modernized, perhaps creating a landing one step down from the porch and turning /aiming the steps toward the driveway.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/421368108890292720/

You have a lot of blank wall above your garage doors. Would you want to alter your garage roof and add MCM windows above the garage doors? Or

Would you want to build a room over the garage and do so with a more modern or MCM windows/vibe and a new roof line?

https://www.houzz.com/photos/green-built-modern-contemporary-exterior-seattle-phvw-vp~4360777

Those were my thoughts. Just change the porch to look more mcm. Thought about changing the windows to black trim and doing the wood on the wall on the porch. Maybe change the slope slightly of the roof over the porch so it looks a bit more mcm. i like the idea of changing the stairs. We probably wont add a room over the garage but like your idea of altering the roof over the garage and adding windows. Thank you so much!

You have your plan, good plan. So go for it.

Have a vision for the whole house, not just one feature. Then, work on the feature. Otherwise, you'll get a hodge podge and things might not go together in the course of time.

Houzz has a lot of articles to do this.

Would you consider working towns MCM vis your indoor furniture? It will likely be easier to attain vs spending a few hundred thousand on updating the exterior. Good lighting, well proportioned furniture, vintage tables, eclectic rugs and throw pillows combined with streamlined upholstery work well in any home style.

For what it’s worth, a neighbor-friend on a street where I used to live put their house on the market a week or so ago, and I looked at the listing, which included a link to street view. I happen to scroll a few houses further, and I noticed that one of the houses on the street — a colonial like yours — had been ”updated” to have black windows, modern door, plain columns, sort of like picture Maureen posted. It truly looked awful, especially since the surrounding homes all still have a coherency of history about them (houses typically 100 years old on the street, not special, but just typical of an era, with variety of victorians, colonials and 4-squares).

I think the people who updated their probably knocked $100k of the value, possibly more. It looked like the house had a fire or a tree fall on it, and they couldn’t afford to rebuild it to its orginal charm.

HOWEVER:

When I actually lived in that neighborhood I was taking a walk one day, and I passed a small group of people meeting on the sidewalk in front of a 100-yr old colonial house where the BACK SIDE of the house had been completely knocked down and rebuilt in steel and glass. I overheard the architect (who was standing right there) explain to the 2 other people) how when they toured the house, they should notice in particular blah blah — I just stood there, shamelessly eavesdropping, and when they started to walk toward the house I tagged along — I think the architect didn’t quite realize I didn’t know the other 2 women.

Anyway, the back end of the house was super contemporary (it faced into a hill, so there was no problem with the all glass walls).

Why don’t you leave the front of your house as is and do the back as MCM as you wannabe?

Sarah, thank you for the advice. We have actually started decorating the inside with mcm furniture, wall hangings, etc. We really want the exterior to match the exterior though. Still thinking about it.

Maureen, that is a great idea Thank you!

Ital mover, thank you for the advice. Fortunately our neighborhood has homes that are all different Aesthetics from spanish style homes to colonial to traditional with a mcm or two here and there. So I think it will be ok as far as not to interrupt the neighborhood’s coherency. I really like Maureen’s suggestion to go modern farmhouse but we are still thinking about it.

Houzz article on updating colonials: Updating colonials

For years I treated my MCM house like it was a ranch house, then MCM became cool again. I laughed and said, "We no longer have an old house, it's a mid century", thinking it was a fad that would pass. Our house was actually built by an architect-builder team that gained a following in central Florida for their mid century homes. There were tours of their homes at one time but now most have been torn down and there aren't enough left to have a tour.

We've not only come around but are going to great lengths to renovate and restore our MCM house, (There's a discussion on it here on Houzz.) We've gotten so many great ideas, suggestions and ah-ha moments from the comments.

Your house is lovely but I'm now a big believer in letting a house be what it wants to be, and not what I want it to be. I spent too many years disrespecting who my house was (Yes, I believe it's alive! and has a personality and mine is becoming fully present.) My thoughts for you would be to research and learn as much as you can about your house's history and the original architect's other work and either learn to love it or simply sell it and buy the house of your dreams. But this house is not and never will be a mid century house IMO.

This is what we did to our 90s Cape house on a lake

back

Tsk, tsk, tsk! Headed for a muddling!

Depending on how much you want to remodel the exterior of your home you can update the vibe to make it less traditional in general. Changing the siding will help. Updating the lines of the porch adding squared post (wood) and modern horizontal railings. Get rid of the shutters and if you can add larger more modern windows. Changing to a MCM style front door, more modern garage door, house numbers and porch lights will help shake the 80s suburban colonial off your house.

https://www.brickandbatten.com/19-stunning-pictures-of-mid-century-modern-home-exteriors/?epik=dj0yJnU9elJDRFlRSHN2QVRoeXkzc2NCcXRjU2puem9PclhkdWMmcD0wJm49QWN3ajF3WF81OWJkdkY1UVVSekh5QSZ0PUFBQUFBR0ZtYTZz