How about Schefflera pueckleri, Agonis flexuosa 'After Dark', a multi Chamaedorea plumosa, or Pittosporum angustifolium? These all tend to hold on to their leaves for quite some time, not constantly shedding, and all are evergreen. Others that make nice smaller sized trees might include Metrosideros collina 'Springfire', Rhaphiolepis 'Majestic Beauty' and Tristaniopsis laurina, but these will tend to shed more frequently, and drop more flowers.

:) Our house isnt near your previous house of almost 4k sq ft (ours is 2,250) but when the foundation was first poured and cured. I remember walking on the slab like this doesn't look like all of our rooms on the 1st floor are going to put let alone the 3 car garage. Once framing went up the house even appeared smaller to me so thats why I had to laugh with your post because I remember at that point pulling out the tape measurer to make sure the dimensions were correct. Let me tell you that if you feel its small now, you will start to think its even smaller once the drywall goes up because you wont have the depth perception of being able to look between all of the rooms...lol In the end the specs of the rooms were on but for some reason during the build they just appeared to be smaller than they really were!

maybe Salvia Marcus https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/SAMA.html

ended up getting a good deal on boxwoods and planted those. those $2 ebay flats would take forever to grow and look like a hedge. And a 2 ft border of vinca minor sorry I don't see a way to quote or even italicize your post, so I'll just reply in ALL CAPS. - Here (not sure about your location) one needs to think about where and how snow will be removed. Plants lining the drive can be in the way of snow removal or can be damaged by removal of wet, heavy snow. ALREADY THOUGHT OF ALL THIS. THE DRIVEWAY recently HAD A RAISED STONE /brick BORDER INSTALLED about 6" tall. snowblower will feel that and not go into lawn/vinca. especially a single stage blower with soft rubber paddle vs a dual stage with metal auger can damage brick if not careful if didn't actualyl know it was there though. it's actually better IMO to have vinca there if there were no raised brick border because if some were chewed up by a snowblower, it'll just grow right back in spring vs turfgrass might need to be RESEEDED if crown is damaged enough. - Depending on number of cars and drive width, is there room to get out of the car when parked if the drive is lined with plants? If the drive is particularly crowded with vehicles, for instance for a family gathering, is there room to walk up the drive to the house without having to avoid the plants lining the drive, or is there a pathway to accommodate foot traffic? I hate having to step out onto plants other than grass, and stepping over a 2 1/2' hedge would be inconvenient for all but the most physically fit and casually dressed. YES THIS IS WHY I put the hedge 3 feet away from the edge of the driveway, so car doors can open fully without hitting the hedge (if cars are parked that close to the driveway edge. the vinca border right along the driveway is low-growing vinca minor, it only grows about 6" tall especially if trimmed down once or twice a year which also promotes denser growth. And UGH! Keeping 75 feet of vinca (times two sides) in bounds would be something of a chore if it is happy. It sends out long runners that root where they touch, and I am constantly fighting to keep it out of the lawn and adjoining beds, etc. and it will try to grow out onto the driveway with the potential of being a trip hazard if it loops around and reroots. That's a lot of regular trimming. Pachysandra might be a better choice. pachy (and english ivy) climb and vinca doesn't. And it's quite sunny and vinca is the better of the 3 for sunny areas, and it fills in the quickest. It can be put around a hedge or other plants and not take over them as long as they're over a foot or so tall. With weekly or every other week mowing any vinca runner can be cut back in literally like 10 seconds while edging the driveway with a string trimmer. The vinca border has a bed edge/clif cut out of the lawn and just run the string trimmer vertically over any runners to keep it out of the lawn. Yes if unkept the vinca can creep into the lawn but I see this situation all the time with other groundcovers and it's not that hard to keep in place. Also trimming a 2-3 ft tall hedge is a cakewalk for me. going up on ladder and trimming branchy stuff becomes a chore but a simple hedge trim like that is no problemo.