I think the roof line on the right on the house below might give you a possibility -- a very shallow pitched roof on each wing with a deep overhang, which could perhaps follow the overhang line of the central part of your roof, the lower part of which seems to have a shallow pitch.

Your pillars look as though they bear a considerable load, so it's probably wiser not to mess with them too much -- you might clad them in a light stone that blends with the roof (any colour you choose for the walls is going to have to work with the roof anyway, so it would then also work with the pillars).

I must say that I agree with having that I don't see much Spanish in the house.

Oh, I wanted to suggest your do a natural wood door.

The top of the chimney should be the same color as the bottom of the chimney. Columns are too bright and would look better painted the same color as the house. Please straighten and widen the path to your door. I beg you not to attempt Craftsman type design on this house if you buy it. It will not look good.

Improving the curb appeal substantially depends on how far you're willing to go. Right now, that long, sloped central roof makes it look like the house is angry. I don't really understand why they carried the roofline past the chimney. Would you be willing to re-design and re-roof the center as well?

We just did a total redo of our 1985 house that had many of the same issues. Could you bring the roofline back so that it ends at a more logical point, just off the front face of the house itself and doesn't swallow up the chimney at all (most houses with a front chimney have the chimney as an element of its own outside of the normal roof line). That would allow you to remove those massive pillars, which block so much light (although, since it's Florida, that may be what you want). In terms of the side roofs, looks like you have a similar situation to my house -- the front left side extends. Where your two flat roofs are, could you maybe do a slightly lower version of the main roof (my photo helps, I think), with a gabled garage front. And not to spend all your money, but not sure if you like metal roofs, but that might look awesome.

The "before picture" was 8 months ago. We also had to do the entire inside of the house, total gut job, but in and done in 6 months, including new deck and screen porch....it was a horror, but so worth it. Looks like yours is just aesthetic. Good luck

Thank you so much do you think this is a possibility?

i remember about 12 years ago when a lot of builders thought those roofs were tres cool!

Katie -- I was at your stage when I called in an architect to help me see what I could or could not do. I think you'd really benefit from it. The house you just posted is really cute, but only an architect could tell you if you could turn your ugly duckling into that swan!

Hi Katie - I think it would be rather difficult to change this to nice Craftsman Style home. The overall massing of the home does not suite that style typology. I do think it would be worth considering a more "spanish style" influence but look at the South American Estancias for inspiration. I have scanned some images from a book titled "Argentina The Great Estancias" by Rizzoli Press. The file size of the document is too large to attach to this comment post. I would be happy to email you the images if you are interested. I think your house has the beginning of the overall massing for this type of look and then you could change the look of the columns and porch ceiling to resemble the columns and ceiling in the images. If you could extend the central roof form to both the right and left over the flat roof additions you could achieve the overall look. If the flat roof additions cannot be roofed over then perhaps you could like at a more creative way to treat the parapet walls (I have a couple of images in the scan document). The chimney is also another design element that you could really turn into beautiful feature as well. The landscaping also plays an important role in the overall look. Regards, Brian O'Keefe Architect. www.bokapc.com

Rusty, I suspect there were other reasons for Katie and her husband to buy this house, and I also don't think she's asking for a masterpiece, to be fair. I happen to like the facade, but she would just like to change it to be more to her taste. That's reasonable, I think.

I'm in far northern California. This house is surrounded by several house with the same look although theirs does not have the roof tiles painted also the pillars are more ornate. (Also Spanish street names unusual in far nor cal) I'll take a picture of one next time I drive by the house. Maybe I'm mistaken as to the Spanish Influence. I do know those are not additions. They do look like it. Lol! The inside of this house is incredible! It truly is. It's updated but it still keeps some of its charm. Having over an acre of land in the city makes this place a diamond in the rough. I would like to get away with spending no more than $25,000. The landscaping can be done by hard work on our part. No one has lived here in a long time and we still have water restrictions.

Sjb2814 your house looks so amazing!! What a change! Great job!

Brian that was just for this project. The inside of the house is immaculate. Inspections are starting tomorrow so we will know for sure soon. Not sure why they painted the tiles in the roof. We are getting an incredible deal on this house and my dad is going to help with landscaping fencing and putting in a pool. Really the front outside of the house is the only thing I'm not sure how to tackle. If it's going to cost more we may wait. It's hard because it's really the only thing I don't like. Thank you so much for your help.
Katie
Ps. Your ideas are awesome we may go that rout. It's very similar to the other homes in the neighborhood.

widen the walk way 50% and change it to red brick pavers to add some color and then change your front door to french doors and then go from there

Katie, remember too, that sometimes, If you live with it awhile, you adapt, and that awful thing you hated? not so much.

Hi Katie Gorman, if you want to give your yard a lush, green look all year round, have you considered artificial grass? At SYNLawn, we offer a 15-year warranty on our products, which are made right here in the U.S.A. You won't have to worry about spending the time and money mowing the lawn, and you'll save up to 50 percent or more on your water bills! We're not sure where you're located exactly in Northern California, but we do have several distributors in the area: http://www.synlawn.com/contact/. If you're going to do the landscaping work yourself, you can check out our DIY page here: http://www.synlawn.com/do-it-yourself/. Let us know if you have any questions. Good luck!

I think this home has a lot of potential. I think cabana, not southwestern. And I like how the roof extends to create a nice shady front porch. But is the chimney painted below and not above?? Hard to see since the photo is taken from so far away. Also, on the far left, there's weird extension above the window (circled). I would remove that. Also, get rid of the plants encroaching on the front porch and extend the porch. See my VERY quick and rough sketch. Add lots of chairs/benches. But paint the home in Craftsmen somber, earthy tone. I would paint the square wing on the left a different color so it makes more visual sense. Then get a Craftsman style front door.

I think a stronger, more geometric landscape with more palms, etc (NOT more lawn) would unite the home with the landscape. The entry walkway is pitiful and the bumpy round rings around some of the trees doesn't work. Think stronger lines. And add lots of palm trees and a few more shade trees. Basically, use the palm trees as a veil through which you see the home. The front walk could be gravel (white or light gravel) with large slab flagstones (Craftsman) or rectangular going down the middle. Where I show the bump out on the walkway, this could be a spot for a long bench or 3-4 huge pots...or a long sculpture.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. They were all really great we ended up not buying this home. Turns out the roof had much more damage than we first had thought. It was leaking on both of the flat roof sections. We talked to an engineer and a contractor and we did find out that this was more of a project than we could handle.

Thanks for the feedback, Katie. Good luck with your house hunting.

Thank you for the update.