I do not think that stone works at all with that house so remove it. Do not paint the brick it is IMO the best part of the house IMO The garage is huge why???Which door is the actual house guest entry ? IMO if at all possible the addition should be up not out back to balance that huge garage . Anytime the garage is bigger than the house it is all wrong. Can you go up ? All tah facde has to be one entity what you have now is a pice on the left , a piece next to that one garage might have been okay but the monster one ruins the whole image . That should have been made to sit way back from the front . If you could find the brick it would be nice to somehow incorporate it in the whole facde somehow to bring this all together to lok like a plan .If this is how it has to stay then remove the stone do siding there paint all the diding the gray from the monster A nice new entry door in a red or some color to make it look like the entry and the other door done to match the siding. Then come spring get to work on a huge landscpaing plan to try to balance out that garage

Appreciate the comments. And yes I do agree about the garage. (My SO is a mechanic and added this garage to the house years ago). We initially had plans drawn up to add a second story but we truly don't need the extra living space (and extra tax burden that will never go away). Unfortunately, moving is not an option. Still trying to figure out how to make the outside more cohesive.

Current plans are to add a short hipped roof to the front so the walkway would be covered. Also, remove the stone and put siding above the brick in that area. Having a hard time picturing it all in real life.

Initial plan was the second story addition but honesty it just is too much house for our needs.

I've seen some porch add ons that really bring these ranches into this century. Your plan is an improvement. I would agree the more pronounced the front porch add on is the more balance you are adding. You need to beef up your main entry. I might even consider getting rid of the access door or moving it to between the garages.

The size difference between the home and garage is so vastly different that you really need to look at unifying factors for cohesion. Anything you do that does not consider how to tie the two building together is going to be lost.

Finish your entire house and garage in the same material and color. Then really beef up landscaping outside the garage and in front of your home to help distract from the major changes in size.

Any changes you make just to your house are not going to be noticed because your eye still goes directly to the massive garage.

Also out of curiosity, half of the visual sacr of your homenis garage yet your vehicles are still parked in front. Will this always be the case?

I would reverse your colors, paint the house gray. Paint the big workshop red so it will look like an attached barn.

White trim for both will tie them together.

The smaller garage doors would be the gray of the house to extend the house visually.

The lightest gray in the stone on the entire house can be another option. I don’t know how to do AI but I can “see” it in my mind. Bright colored front door too.

A good architect can take the house and make it make sense.

I do think that some portion os the house needs some additional height.

I'd also replace those commercial style garage doors with something more residential.

I like the brick. I'd remove the stone and keep the brick natural. I'd paint the garage door gray. I'm not sure I'd worry about getting the commerical barn to look like part of the house. It is what it is.

If you're remodeling and adding space anyway, I'd have your architect do some new front elevation designs.

Or, at a minimum, I'd remove the stone, keep the brick and paint the entire rest of it some shade of sage green. Patricia often posts a pic of brick & sage together that is lovely and cohesive.

And then landscaping!