I'd never heard of a ventless FP, so did a google search. I'm assuming that you don't live in CA or MA, All kinds of combustion, whether gas or wood, requires the oxygen in air to create flames. Therefore, no fire could ever be truly "ventless," or it would extinguish itself. Ventless gas fireplaces are really using ductless or chimneyless technology, so they vent out into the room. That's why the volume of air in a room is very important Several states within the United States, as well as other countries, have completely outlawed ventless gas fireplaces because of health concerns. Canada, Massachusetts, and California don't allow people to install these types of heaters because of their potential to build up carbon monoxide, deplete oxygen, and lead to unconsciousness or even suffocation. Check with your local building code before purchasing one of these appliances. A milder health hazard offers another disadvantage to this choice. Ventless gas fireplaces lead to an increase in the room's humidity. Burning gas or propane creates water vapor that can build up in a room and possibly lead to mold and mildew growth. If most forms of mold aren't truly dangerous, they will certainly increase allergies and could spoil fabric, photographs, and books. Here is a link that might be useful: What are Ventless Fireplaces?

The longer rectangular box that is mostly painted over is a super-old Winegard TV distribution amplifier (as someone suggested above). Here is almost the exact same one, I'm pretty sure: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Winegard-DA-8150-82-Channel-Distribution-Amplifier/193941261031?hash=item2d27cccae7:g:SZEAAOSwxjZgRUNJ The other box that is completely painted, with the two connections at the top and power coming out of the bottom, I think is one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/303839191777?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338722076&toolid=10001 a pre-amp TV signal booster, effectively similar to the longer box. But, those boxes utilize coax cable-TV-style cable, and the intercom amplifier uses thinner, twisted pair wires that are orange red and black. The cable going into the antenna device in the closet appears to have a larger, heavier gauge wire with green, black, and red conductors....I would try to trace that specific cable as far as you can and see where it goes first. Were there any other kind of junction boxes underneath the house? The intercom amp appears to have a line coming into the DOOR input, one line going to the regular input and one line going to the output terminals, which would suggest that they likely just had one door speaker, and one inside speaker to communicate with the front door. If you had multiple intercom speakers throughout the house, typically you would have multiple wires going to those terminals, but I do believe those particular nutone systems could be "daisy-chained" as well, with one room station wired to the next, in a line, etc...so it is possible there could have been more. I am absolutely fascinated by what this thing in your closet could be! If it is, in fact, somehow wired into one or both of those two TV distribution amps, maybe it was some kind of project idea from Popular Electronics that utilized making your own antenna and using those amps to power it somehow, but I just can't imagine why you'd have it in a closet, it is so intriguing. The key-switch on the wall looks very common to many old alarm systems of the time, but typically you'd have other security system components around, like sensors on your doors/windows, and a siren mounted somewhere outside your house...It is also entirely possible that the TV distribution amp boxes underneath the house were not related to that antenna thing, but it seems like it would be too much of a coincidence, especially since someone wrote "closet" down there on the joist. This three-year-old mystery is so damn interesting! haha

Thought I’d post an update. We decided to go with smooth hardy plank. I picked the stone: ElDorado York limestone. I wanted the stone that was in the linked picture up above but I can’t find anything like it in the manufactured stone options, and I have heard real stone costs so much more money so I was trying to stick to the less expensive manufactured stone . Anyway, here is what I am trying to decide between now. We decided to have our trim color Matched to our brown windows, and the only issue with that is that we found there are a lot of pinkish purple tones to the brown of our windows so it limits the paint colors we can choose for the body of the house. I wanted a darker, warmer color, but that is difficult with this specific trim color. My favorite colors so far were Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray, and Sherman Williams warm stone. My designer friend told me they both had too much gold in them, and not enough contrast for the trim color. She pointed me towards Sherwin Williams Keystone gray or Benjamin Moore elephant gray. Both were too llight for me. . I liked the Keystone gray better because it had more gold in it than elephant ear, but wanted it a little darker so I had them darken the Keystone gray to 125% (25% darker) and 150%. (50% darker) ( they left out the extra white when they did that ) Anyway, that’s where we are at. I think I have it narrowed down between 2 of them... the Keystone gray 125% (=25% darker) and 150% (50% darker). my designer friend still likes the original Keystone Gray (one on the right) because she says it gets too golden when it gets darker. I know these pictures won’t be very accurate because the white balance keeps changing depending on what light is hitting it. Here are pictures… from left to right looking at the picture is Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray (she says it's too golden for the tones in the trim), then Sherman Williams keystone gray 150% (50% darker), then 125% (25% darker) then just regular keystone gray on the right which is too light for me. Designer friend likes the lightest one on the right because she likes a lot of contrast between the trim and the body color but I don’t really like a lot of contrast since I like the look of stained wood. In the next few pictures, I have them labeled. BM equals Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray (which designer friend says is too dark and golden), then: 50 equals keystone gray 150% (50% darker), 25 equals keystone gray 125% ( 25% darker ), and then “ - “ equals regular Keystone Gray with no darkening. This next pic is Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray on the top, then the next two down are SW keystone grey 150% (50% darker), then the bottom two are SW keystone grey 125% (25% darker). And I forgot to label this one but the top and the very bottom are keystone gray, the next two in are 125% (25% darker), then the very middle one is 150% (50% darker). I did not paint the Benjamin Moore Kingsport gray on this wall. They All look very different depending on the light and the time of the day. And then just a couple of updated pictures: I don't like how the deck turned out but that's a whole different story. I wanted a darker brownish less orange tone... I would have picked a different darker wood with clear stain. That's what I get when I leave a decision up to the hubby. Kinda like the rough cedar trim hubby decided on to put around all the windows/doors/belly bands vs. having smooth hardi like I would have wanted if he would have asked me LOL. By the time I realized it, 3/4 of the trim was done and I couldn't ask to have it changed. Oh well. Worse things could have happened.

A good strongly purple flowered lavender variety would go well with the yellowness of the juniper, all the more so if it also had particularly silvery foliage. However with lavender it is critical that you pounce on it and shear it back every year right after bloom or it fairly soon goes to pot. So you would have to be around for that and make sure you got it done each year, from the first year on. Lavender is of course a flowering shrub, however its need for consistent spent flower (and shoot growth immediately below the flower spikes) removal kind of puts it into the same level of bother category as is typical with herbaceous perennials. With tidying up after bloom being one of the main work making characteristics of these latter. But lavender is evergreen at any rate, unlike many herbaceous perennials.