What a lovely house, one of my favorite styles!! My comments will be general since I know little about plants in CA (though if I lived in a warm enough area, I would plant a lemon for ornamental value and cooking.) I agree with others that books, websites with photos, and even just driving around to look at others' gardens for inspiration will help you decide what you like. Below I have linked a site with lots of photos. You can just rummage through the landscape and exterior categories or you could add search terms. I didn't get much for 'norman' or 'norman revival,' but 'half-timbered' got some that were similar to your house in style and 'tudor' or the decade your house was built might be other possibilities. I would rethink having a foundation planting here. I think the house is stunning and doesn't seem to have a foundation that needs covering, so I would plant away from the house instead of right along the house. If you are married to the idea of a foundation planting or if you have a front walkway from the drive to the front door that defines a planting bed, I'd make the planting relatively low so it isn't blocking/distracting from/interfering with enjoyment of your house from a distance, but could be enjoyed close up. Many houses which aren't so nice, need a foundation planting to cover up an unattractive foundation or distract from unappealing architecture, but I'd show off your home. I find the current planting distracting. I would put your gardens out farther from the house, perhaps a wide band (8-10' pehaps) along the drive and then another under your tree of part shade plants. I'm concerned about the boxwoods' placement along the walkway. Different types of boxwoods reach differing sizes, but yours are close enough to the sidewalk that with a bit of growth they will be brushing folks' ankles as they walk up the front walk. I'd move them so that at there permanent size they will be a foot or more from the edge of the sidewalk so those walking up the front walk won't feel crowded, and you might need to plant them a bit closer to each other if you want them to grow together. Then cut or bury an edging an equal distance from the boxwoods on the side away from the walk and remove all the grass under and around them, mulch to prevent weeds and plant a low-growing plant to fill in between the boxwoods while they grow, such as thyme which won't bother the boxwoods. One of the hardest things for me as a gardener is to plant shrubs with their ultimate size in mind. It will feel a bit silly for now moving the boxwood back from the walk, but you will be glad you did in a few years unless they are a very very dwarf type. Also, I would plan on keeping them low so the front walk doesn't end up feeling like an alley in a few years. One more suggestion on the boxwoods; plant another couple of the same type of boxwood somewhere else on your property so the if something happens to one of your plants you will have a plant to transplant to fill in the gap rather than having to find the same variety a few years down the line and then plant a young plant that will take time to fill in. Or alternatively, rethink the boxwoods entirely in planning your garden. I have seen them used as a frame around or a backing to a cottage type planting. Deborah Silver, a Detroit area designer, frequently uses them, and often they are either framing or backing flowering plants. Here's a page with some examples, but you can search her blogs for 'boxwood' to get some other ideas. http://www.deborahsilver.com/blog/celebrating-the-long-view/ About allergies,which I have lived with and gardened with for many years . . . There are a couple of types of allergies: skin contact and pollen or other airborn particles. The types of plants that put a lot of pollen into the air are wind pollinated rather than bird/insect pollinated. Plants with attractively colored and shaped or scented flowers are insect/bird pollinated, and their pollen is too heavy to be blown around, so if you stick to plants with attractive flowers, your gardens shouldn't be a problem with pollen allergies. However, wind-blown pollen can travel for miles, so you can't avoid it from outside your yard. There are a few plants the cause contact dermatitis somewhat commonly and some that cause rashes only for specific people. Examples of the first type: Euphorbias and gas plant (Dictamnus alba) many folks find cause rashes if they brush against or get sap on their skin. Some plants that cause problems for me though not for most people include tomato plants (which are fuzzy, though I don't know if that is the root of the problem) and grass. I don't know if you know what plants in particular to which you are allergic, but for me, I avoid direct contact with known triggers (DH mows the lawn when I am away and he closes up the house before starting, and he turns the compost since I know I'm allergic to all grasses and the molds that live in my compost) but I have no problem with having a grass lawn or compost spread on the beds as long as they aren't getting stirred up. I wear long sleeves to tie up tomato plants and don't plant ornamental grass in my planting beds to avoid skin contact, but I really can't avoid tree pollen from maples, pines, oaks, etc, so on bad pollen days I don't spend much time outside. I remove ragweed, plantain and other weeds that I know have high pollen output and create problems for me before they bloom. I don't know what your budget is, but often contacting a landscape designer to give you some general ideas which you then can actually plant may be helpful. Here is a link that might be useful: [houzz home design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/exterior-home-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_736)

Some great suggestions, but not based on a realistic budget which you have not said anything about. I'm in the no shutters and no balconies camp. Both are out of scale and the balusters on the balcony look more like interior country style ones than classic exterior ones. Can't really imagine what your husband is suggesting. Be sure you don't end up with a jumped up look where nothing relates to any classic style.

I suggest you omit the drip cap at the window heads and replace it with simple bent coil stock flashing which will accomplish the same function. That way you should be able to keep the widths of the mouldings consistent. I also suggest you use PVC materials so rot won't be a concern ever again.

I have avoided window treatments for the main bedroom in my Tudor house because my husband and I love wood frames and beams. However, I need to add blackouts and see-through treatment because the moonlight affects my sleep. Any advice on what would work? We'd like not to install anything on the wood frame. I posted a picture of the window below.