There are plenty of ways to handle this sort of boring and uniform neighborhood generic landscape without destroying the overall caharacter or openness of the landscape. Scaling down the lawn area via adding more planting area can be accomplished sensitively if done with an eye to working with the long predominantly horizontal lines of the house, using plantings in mass and in varied height layers, using plantings as architectural masses with contrasting forms/textures/colors, etc. Unfortunately you'll tend to find that most homeowners in such tracts aren't going to want to spend the kind of money it may take to make an attractive change. Simple things like adding saw cut patterns and concrete stains to break up huge driveways, or removing bands of concrete and replacing with planted turf-block or decorative brick/stone/tile pavers is one way to play down expansive driveways. Front yards can be made more interesting by creating semi-enclosed entry courtyards at the entry with enlarged paving/walkways that provide additional usable space for people and reinforced with some plantings at the perimeter that can provide views of garden plantings from both the street and from inside the house, while leaving the majority of the front lawn intact and visually aligned with the neighbors. I've often used several of these devices to update the standard tract home landscape here in SF Bay Area gardens, in some cases losing the lawns entirely. Another approach might be to eliminate the typical foundation shrub plantings, and instead push the planting areas out to the street, thereby enclosing a large sweep of lawn at the house and putting the garden on view from inside the house, at the same time as giving a bit of privacy or at least visual separation from the street.

Hi sweeby - I think my quality of life would only be improved if I was sure to leave myself enough room to get out of the car since the fence would be on MY left! If it's too big a project to scoot over to the right a bit (e.g. if paving over a little bit of my yard is too big a project), then yes, it could end up not worth it. But they often park right next to me and I still manage to get out, albeit somewhat carefully. But I tell you, if building a fence *would* actually leave me room to get out easily, I would also love having a fence there (I'm now thinking only the length of my car or a bit longer...but I'm no longer thinking about the whole driveway yet just in case I can't terminate the easement - which I don't know yet)...because it would mean I wouldn't have to see them so much when in my front yard or sitting on my stoop. When I see them my hearts sinks. It's always very awkward. Even before the drama they never said hi. It's just yuck yuck yuck. They're the only ones cutting off noses (that would be MY nose - or my car's nose at any rate) I promise. ;)

I vaguely remember a party line in the home when I was a very small child - maybe 4 or 5 years old. It's funny to me how many countless hours I spent on the phone as a teenager. My girlfriends and I would see each other at school, then be on the phone together in the evening (s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g that curly phone cord into all kinds of unnatural, elongated shapes). I remember just HANGING on the phone too, not really having anything of consequence to talk about. Maybe watching the same TV show and commenting occasionally. When I had a boyfriend, it was often the same thing. Now I do not enjoy talking on the phone much at all. I DO like to speak with my parents (my mom and I have been known to hold marathon, chatty sessions), but for the most part I am just not comfortable making calls or talking to others that way. I'm not even sure why that is, unless I just got it all out of my system as a teen!

Thanks so much for taking the time to create this image! It's quite helpful to see what it would look like. I agree that a mansard roof can be an issue. We were thinking of making the roof the same as that of the solarium (as seen to the left of the house). It's like a mini version of a mansard. Also although the idea of heating the driveway is a practical one and less expensive, it doesn't address the aesthetic issue of the steep driveway. We're hoping to come up with a plan that will incorporate a new garage and some surrounding landscape for both safety and aesthetic reasons.