Here is another go at it following some previous suggestions. Stone is now gone, one white corner is removed and the white is toned down a bit. Plan for the stone was to hide some of the exposed foundation on the left side but I will just add another horizontal board or two on the bottom to do that. This post was edited by mnovak99 on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 19:09

The shutters on the windows are distracting and are not original to the house. Shutters should always look as if they could close over a window. These are too small. Try removing them and let the woodwork around the windows be the star. The roof is fabulous. So is the brick. If you don't need the enclosed porch to use, my feeling is opening it up as it probably was originally would be better. Try going to your local library or historical society to see if they can muster up old photos of your house. Additionally, start reading up on 4 square homes and if you really want to start learning about preservation, watch Brett Waterman's show, Restored. Can be found online or on DIY channel.

Add more light at the front door and more personality in that recess with a custom transom above it. This is just for concept. A hanging light would hep too.You could paint the garage doors to match the window trim so they would fade away. Figure out a way to move those two downspouts away from the entrance. Then find a pro who can help you develop a new landscape plan. Some of it can be installed this fall and some next spring. Avoid died mulch; go for natural like cypress to help repel pests and to degrade nicely over time.

The white part can be extended to fill in the entire triangle. Over the door, the extensions would need to be built out so that they were in plane with the rest of the white-- but totally doable. Once you have the triangle all sided, paint it a dark colour that co-ordinates with your brick and roof. Then your house will stop looking like it has giant patches on it and you won't need to paint the (very nice) brick. Even if you choose not to build out the vent covers to full gable size, painting them a dark colour will help immeasurably.