I would definitely consider taking the space from the garage or basement (perhaps where oil tank sits currently) to be able to make the garage connected to the house. Your house is very different if you need 5-6 steps to go from garage to lower level. You might also want to consider a ramp if you have room. Think of what a pain it will be to take the trash to the garage. Or even worse, you arrive home in the car, park it in the garage and then have to go outside again to enter the front door. For me, those tiny little foyers in split entries are completely useless if you have more than 2 people living in the home. Just think of all the sports equipment, knapsacks, boots, coats etc your children will want to bring into and out of the home. Find some way to make the garage door connect to the basement and even try to add a man door so your children can go through the garage without opening one of the big doors. Then plan on a very decent sized mudroom in the basement. My kids no longer are allowed to use the front door. They all come in the garage man door, walk on one side of the garage (there is a pathway away from cars) and enter the home. Upon entering there is a large space used as mudroom (not finished yet, but still functional). I will never go back to having the family arrive into the tiny entry. In the old house, you usually couldn't open the door without pushing back packs out of the way. Carol

That's what we want to see ... things that need changing. In terms of developing the house facade presentation, what is more important to you, your family and guests ... that the house, and especially the entrance, look welcoming ... or that when packages are delivered, there happens to already exist a way to screen them using otherwise ill-placed foliage? "Would love to change that front stoop area. Is this a design job for an architect or a landscape designer?" What kind of change are you talking about? All I can see that it's screaming for is a corner post or column to replace the planter, and for all the shrubs to go away. The walk, which could be wider, needs to extend the full wide of the porch. So far, these things are a job for a handyman. There's are significant portions, the left and right of the yard that don't show up in the first picture. Could you add them? To take them, stand at the same place the first pic was taken so they will all fit together in the end.

My neighbourhood is full of renovated 30-40 year old bungalows and side splits and the transformations are exciting, adding value to the neighbourhood and for any that aren’t, owners are befitting re their property potential/value. Many resemble those in link below/like Bev’s examples. https://www.brickandbatten.com/split-level-house/?epik=dj0yJnU9T2s3OS1QYkdsa1NabE8wS1V2aFhBSndhNWdQS1J3bzImcD0wJm49REJrOXpPX014LUtCT0hRbmNIanpIdyZ0PUFBQUFBR1FzS20w It comes down to your budget and what you had in mind, but even if it‘s just landscaping, or painting, on line pictures will help (also drive around your neighbourhood).

If you're going to paint your brick, I'd consider doing it a darker color rather than white so that the roof blends better. Painting the brick white will end up emphasizing the mansard. Maybe this is a bit counterintuitive, but I'd also consider removing the bushes in front of the first floor of the mansard section. Because they are concealing the brick, they're contibuting to the top-heavy feeling. To add more visual interest to the main part of your house, I would bulk up the column holding up your porch, and maybe do more than one. I would also add some decorating casing around the windows on the first floor to draw the eye down. If you're not going to have a garage, I agree with the suggestion of moving the driveway and I would create a "parking court" in front of the front door, but with gravel or oil-and-stone rather than asphalt.