SFGate

Legends Lifestyle This is a beautiful home and we love what has been done with the backyard! What a perfect place to spend time with family and friends, we see why you want to bring that atmosphere to the front of the home. A colorful decorative shutter would look fabulous on this house and draw the attention away from all that brick! We offer a array of really nice mailboxes that help a great deal with curb appeal, the copper barn star might be a long shot, but some kind of wall decor would look really cool on they front part of the home! Finally, this home would look great with the addition of a cupola, it will add so much character! Good luck with your updating! Any of these products you can find at www.coolbackyards.com

gingerclaire I like what you've done at the back I would have thought it was a completely different house! Are you sure you need our advice?

I definitely think you should bring the black and white window style round to the front, and try and get the styles of window at the front looking more consistent - almost every single one at the front is different.

Have you thought about bringing your use of stone facing to the front? If you did that, you would have to work out how to avoid the deep red brick colour fighting it.

I also like the chevron shape your have made along the roofline at the back, could you do something similar with the left-hand roof angle?

vineyardflute Your home is beautiful and the curving lines of your landscaping are a good start. Is it the lighting or are the colors actually different in the back? I don't like painted brick but could see you repainting the remainder of the house in a "browner" shade to tone down the red a bit. Maybe you could add a wood structure in front like an arbor or swing to pull attention from the front of the house.

Dytecture I would paint the siding a gray color to give a bit of contrast with the red bricks.

arlendau Have you considered staining your red bricks to a dark brown?

rinqreation Lovely house! I agree with Dytecture, paint the siding in a color that is stronger. I'd go for white or black (depending on the sun). Or stain the brick to a rich chocolate (not paint).

Michelle Dalton Def paint the brick a creamy white and then the siding a darker shade. Also paint the door with your favorite color. Shutters on the top and bottom large windows painted black.

James Buckley I see that you have planted two trees in front of your least favorite part of your front facade. Once these trees mature some more they will block most of this gable wall. In the meantime you could have an oversized trellis built from redwood by a local carpenter. Grow foliage up the trellis to block much of the blank brick area in the middle.
Also, if you add a pergola, shutters, or some eye-catching feature, it will draw one's eye away from the left side gable end. The patio you have in back has a nice arc to it. Maybe repeat that in the front planter bed you have in front of that wall (exaggerate it)

gigi57 Love your home. I would paint the siding a taupe in the gray family. Add some black shutters.

mr p.o hi.. your home is so gorgeous .it can be made more by planting the japanese bonsai trees in garden as a fence and just color ur house with combination with grey ..and white little maroon combination then it will look stunning,,

decoenthusiaste Here are a couple of paint inspirations that might work for you.

arlendau If you want to keep the red brick, then you may want to consider taking your siding and trim to black and charcoal. Will work well with the red brick and be very classy. It is a leap, however, to go to black flat/satin siding. Enlarge your picture and take some colored pencils to the printed photo. There are a few photos in Houzz of this look.

katherein I would paint the downspout located to the right of the garage to match the brick so we don't notice it.
Secondly I would plant a corner garden at the front of your property to create a focal point. Everything seems pushed up against the house and this seems to draw more attention to the facade of the house. If you trick the eye by creating a garden right at the front of your property line next to the driveway (a large wedge pie garden) I think this would camoflage some of the issues. I would get rid of the coral color of siding and move to a grey. I think this would diminish the dominating effect of multiple styles of windows. Finally, you can barely see the door and while you might not want to paint it this would create a focal point. Alternatively if you could create more or a presence for your front stoop this would help too.
By the way you have lots of good things happening including your fab. back yard and your lovely front flower bed.

curacaoblue I think the back of your house is jealous of the front. If there is a way to continue the look around front I say go for it because the back looks lovely!

maureenroth I agree with curacaoblue. The back is gorgeous. Don't know what your budget is, but if you could use the stacked stone that you used in the back and refaced the brick in the front, it would update the house and give you the continuity you want.

surfor I agree with Decoenthusiaste...the 2 pictures included offer a couple of great color choices. Your house is really nicely proportioned, but the big square pink brick wall on the front split level section would have looked better if the bricks had either been taken all the way to the top of the gable, or if the brick portion of the wall would have matched the other side of the front in height...as it is, it just looks like a big pink brick block.

lindaf633 Hi! For the Front, on the left side of the house use wood like the top to cover all of the Brick and use flagstone or whatever stone you used in the back area to cover the brick in the center of the front of the house. Then both front & back will be in the same update mode.

Urban Oasis I always like a nice, large walkway leading to the front door from the street. It's much more welcoming. Also, add a portico over the doorway to make it the focal point.

Mary Young Bloom Lovely Frank Loyd Wright...ish home. If this were my home, I would bring the stone that was used in the back to the front brick between the garage and the front door. Paint the rest of the house (brick and siding a rich darker tone. Replace and update front door. Black shutters on two prominent windows. Take tree out by front door (it will over grow house). Also remove large bush (looks inconsistent). I would hire the best landscape architect in town for pergola and landscaping ideas for large brick wall on left.

Elise Lovely home. Consider changing the color of your bricks with a stain that penetrates vs paint.

http://www.dyebrick.com/product/brick-tinting-kit.html

design89 To the Homeowner:
The back of your home is beautiful! It has both a traditional and a classic look. Stone always does a good job to ground the foundation of the home. Taking this stone to the front of the house for continuity is important, and it would add a stately and up-to-date look for the tri-level. Adding some European touches in the windows if the budget allows and some wrought iron detail would be very nice. It would bring the total of the house forward into the new century.
Suggestions to consider:
The front of the house has too many changes in materials with the brick and siding, and the changes in the styles of windows make the front look too busy. To minimize the changes and continue the stone in the front, think about these suggestions, budget allowing of course. Some of these changes can be done in gradual steps, but the most important change you can make right away is painting.
1. Change the siding to stone on the left and right sides of the “block.” This would create a look of columns and help change the flavor of the house from contemporary tri-level to a traditional European style, which also gives a feeling of permanency.
2.Chance the siding to stone under the window to the right of the front door.
3.If siding is above the garage, a nice detail here would be to add an arbor framing that area and extend the width on each side to enlarge the size of the garage door. Paint the arbor an off-white like the rest of the house trim. This would continue the feel from the back where you have an arbor. Paint the arbor in the back the same off-white.
4.Paint the door a snappy, happy color; and one that introduces the color palette on the inside of your home. (I am thinking of a bright gold, raspberry, or turquoise.) If there is an opportunity on the inside to have some of the same stone accents, it would continue the same feel from the outside.
5.The main change to make and can be done right away is to paint the whole house the same color. This would distract from all the projection changes presented in the tri-level style. A shade of ivory (specifically, Sherwin Williams’ Palais White) with off-white for the trim around the windows and fascia boards would give a more cohesive look. This change would minimize the changes in the window styles and the changes of brick and siding materials. A lighter color would make the home look much larger than darker colors. Also the lighter Palais White will be just as happy on a rainy day! Change the dark color around the windows in the back to off-white to be the same all around the house. The dark color around the windows distracts from the wonderful stone and is very busy. You want the stone to be the main focal point. You want to use the lightest color and one shade lighter than that one in the stone. This change would make the stone “pop.”
6.Adding some wrought iron detail (black or antique pewter) such as for the arbor around the garage and a very large “Italian style” iron trellis in the middle of the brick wall on the left would make quite a statement. A large window box and shutters of wrought iron under the main window (center) would be a nice detail for the third level and the first level center window. An arch shaped wrought iron detail above the third level window could be added and this same shape for the top fo the large iron trellis. The trellis should be mounted with a 3-inch projection to allow plants to wind and climb. And, of course, add a wrought iron mailbox.
7.Avoid mixing too many “add-ons” from different time periods of architecture. The tri-level: it is what it is. Some modifications change it from a so-so look to a well-thought out plan as if the changes were there from the beginning and “well-appointed.” Remember, the European touches are timeless.
If you can only do one thing, then paint the whole house (brick and siding) the same; that is, the Palais White and then paint the trim around the windows, doors, and fascia boards off-white. You will not notice all the changes that chop up the flow from one section to another. Your house will look so much larger.
If budget allows, change all the windows and doors to a more European style and replace the siding with stone.
Good luck with your project(s).
Respectfully submitted for consideration,
MPM Designs

surfor I agree with Mary Young Bloom - nice Frank Lloyd Wright-ish, prairie-style look. I would capitalize on that very classic look. Rather than shutters, wrought iron and other out of character additions will detract from the lines of the home, less is more. A classic paint color and a change of the front door to something more in a Shaker style would do wonders. I would paint out the window surround to the same color as the house siding. Use SOME stone in a color tone similar to the new paint color if you want to cover up the brick. Conversely, if you were able to remove the brick on the left side (in the picture) above the line of the first floor so that the brick was a linear line across the front of the house and replace it with the same wood used on the rest of the front facade, it would unify the front of the home.