Sorry, no option to include photo on original post.

I would put a trellis in the middle of the front where the door used to be and grow something on it that looked good summer and winter.

Thank you! I hadn't thought of a trellis, was thinking ground level, but I love trailing vines.

If you don't put a door there. I'd put a tree/shrub. You want something that will be the right height and width. Make sure you plant it far enough away so the branches won't hit the house when it is fully grown.

A trellis and vine that fits the space is okay, too. Many vines look mediocre in winter and in damp environments, you can get some mildew behind dense foliage.

It would look great with an open porch and door.

Don't put a non-operational door there, people will knock on it all the time.

Since there is no door there you have to block it in an obvious way

I actually like the odd turret effect created by closing the previous front entry. It clearly says this is not the front door, look elsewhere. You need to accentuate that strong architectural "This is not the front door. This is a castle turret." effect to help direct people to the front door.

The arrow lined pile of stones out front between you and a busy road can be most helpful. I'll want a few more perhaps. Line up the stones with the arrow pointing out towards the busy road centered on the turret. Behind that line of stones is where you plant a row of Ontario approved low maintenance plants say three feet high for your castle hedge.

There is no need to plant against the house at all, no reason to cover it with vines. The grass can grow right up to the house. You have outer stone wall. short hedge thing of some sort (a shrub rose for Ontario?), castle turret. Done.

I like the turret.

Thank you for all the feedback. A fake door might cause a lot of confusion, as our main door is at the side. Also, strangers knocking on the playroom walls would probably scare the little ones, and make our nearly blind dog bark like crazy ;)

Love the idea of some low hedges in front of the 'turret'. So grand for an old farmhouse;) Will post the results in the spring.

Can you enlarge the window? At the moment it is reminiscent of a WW2 machine gun post.

Any planting in front will help. A small tree or shrubs or anything

Looking forward to pictures in the spring! Would be nice to see a mockup on here from one of the pro garden designers.

"reminiscent of a WW2 machine gun post." It is a defensive, castle turret window that clearly says there is no door here. I would be real tempted to add a short stone band on the house at the base.

Seriously, don't plant shrubs against the house. Leave it blank and plant away from the house behind the arrow shaped line of stones out towards the busy road.

Christopher, that is an interesting idea. What kind of planting are you imagining?

It's Ontario and that is out of my plant comfort zone. It looks like there is a bermed bed with a weeping cherry on the left and a wood structure on the right. So how does that change things? I just want to arrange those stones better and plant a short shrub behind the stones (house side) in an identical formation. I like the turret. I want to show it off.

The 'turret' looks like it was originally an airlock arrangement. They are fairly common on older houses in New England, and the colder parts of the Northeast. The outside door opens into a small entryway, with a second door into the house. So I'd want to screen the entire thing a bit from the road because even without a visible door it says Entrance.