Dear Homework,
My wife and I recently purchased this ranch home on 1.25 acres. We have taken out many trees and overgrown shrubs and completed some tuck-pointing. We are having the roof cleaned, then we will be left with a blank slate and would love some helpful input.
—Room for Improvement
Dear Room for Improvement,
The first impression one gets when seeing your house is that it is very long … and dull. It has a few assets, though, like a nice wide lot with plenty of mature trees framing it from behind. It also is nice that neighboring houses don’t intrude. And the home possesses doors and windows that can be finessed into a very handsome composition.
What’s lacking here is a sense of composition. That’s because everything is of the same visual weight: some elements need to dominate. So I’ve raised the height of the living room window and roof, which helps connect it to the nice wide chimney. Now the façade has the important vertical counterpoint it desperately needed. A metal chimney cap, taller/relocated cupola and two dormer windows also help draw the eye upward.
Additional architectural improvements include a new slate-blend roof, longer windows, arched entry vestibule and a new garden wall. The house now has real architectural importance and needs an appropriate landscape setting.
Begin by lining the cul-de-sac with red maples to frame the house beautifully and eradicate the barrenness in the original photo. Under-planting the maples demarcates the property’s edge and would help hide cars on the circle drive. Low foundation planting, a flower box and a new brick walkway complete the picture.
Hope that helps.
—Homework
[HomeWork is penned by Paul Doerner, president, The Lawrence Group. If you would like your home critiqued, contact us at homework@townandstyle.com]
