Readers, put on your thinking caps and ready your fingers for your keyboards: Today we’re looking for reader suggestions to help Jordan add curb appeal to her 1955 suburban ranch home in Houston, Texas. Jordan writes:
I love your website and have combed through almost every article! I’m having a problem with our 1955 built ranch house. We live in a small neighborhood in Houston, TX and most of the houses were built in the 50’s and 60’s with a few odd new builds in the mix. My husband and I love the house and really want to be here for quite a long time, but I just can’t stand the exterior of our house. I bought the house because the floor plan was great, the price was good and a fair amount of updates had already been done… but I knew I didn’t like the exterior.
She continues:
My main bone of contention are the glass blocks in the front of the house. They are there to cover up a old wood burning stove (fireplace) but they are so ugly… also, the bay window on the left is in the dining room and that looks a little off to me as well. We are planning to re-pave the driveway and walk way this upcoming spring and want to tackle the rest of the exterior at the same time.
I have racked my brain and don’t have any good ideas yet… if you have some suggestions, I would LOVE to hear them… thanks for your help!!
Jordan
Jordan – your house looks lovely, but I have to agree with you, those floor-to-ceiling windows all along the front of the house are new to me. Yes, readers, look closely — those are floor-to-ceiling window / nooks to the right and left of the fireplace, which has the floor-to-ceiling glass block behind it. And in the dining room, that’s a bumped out bay with floor-to-ceiling glass. Someone sure wanted to add light!
What do you think, readers? Let’s assume Jordan says we can get rid of the wood-burning fireplace. I’ll let you run with this one, and my pipe in at some point after noodling the question myself….
Anna Fitzgerald says
If someone needs help with a mid century Exterior renovation who could I contact? How fast could I expect a reply? The architect I hired did not stay tru to the era nor did the landscaper. Help! Time is of
the essence. Painter is due to arrive!
pam kueber says
Hi Anna, on questions like this you need to find the particular professionals you are looking for to help. This blog is informational.
Amy Ortega says
To do this right you’ll need to spend some money to undo previous renovations. First restore the front porch. Use big window(s) in the new LR wall. Get that pipe off your roof and patch the shingles. Replace the dining room window getting the new one tucked back under the eves. Again use mid century style windows. You might want to consider a narrow rectangular window near the ceiling that mimics the windows on the right side of the house (if those are high narrow windows on the right). That may make your dining room too dark if it doesn’t have a window on the other outside wall.
Get ride of that walkway. It would look very nice with varying sizes of rectangular concrete pavers set about 3 inches apart to allow grass to grow between the pavers. Set them in a generous pattern that make a left 90° angle to the driveway.
Dig out the hedge on the right and put in a deep bed to balance the house. MCM houses used a lot of bushes. See what your choices are in your area. Balance evergreen with varieties if deciduous bushes that provide leaf/flowering color. Don’t get bushes that grow 15 – 20 feet tall.
Personally I’d lose the palm and go with a more delicate little tree. Anchor the front yard with a larger tree to the right of, and in the middle of, the front yard if it doesn’t have one already.
Your house has some great bones and you could have a great time researching mid century landscaping and curb appeal. Spend the time to know how to restore your pretty home and you’ll love where you go with it. Good luck and best wishes!
yvonne says
HI – Have you been in touch to find out what, if anything, they ended up doing? We are building a 1960’s style ranch next year so I’ve been browsing for exterior pics and came across this…. Would love to see what they did.
Yvonne
pam kueber says
Hi yvonne, I don’t know how this turned out….
Karen Rice says
I am getting in on this conversation two years late. The curb appeal has probably already been improved. The home looks very neat and well kept. I think the landscaping needs improvement. Looking at the home, I would remove the hedges on the right and increase the flower bed on the left to fill in the the complete area between the walk and the driveway using ornamental trees and lower shrubs. On the right, I would also pull the flowerbeds out along the side of the walkway and use lower growing plant varieties but again would use ornamental trees. It would be helpful to either put a color on the door and dress up the hardware and use decorative potted plants. Large lanterns beside the door on each side might work as well. Its not going to be symetrical but not balanced can work and be very interesting. It could use some warmth…maybe painting the brick (I know..no one likes to paint brick) but it might add warmth which is needed.
Gaffers Sattler says
I think it needs a double front door with an accent color (brunt orange) if the inside can tolerate a wall blown out. The door is almost not visible.
Also nuke the narrow walkway and put in a cascade of large rectangular cement pads. Bring in some soil and add some mounds to give a little 3D. Then add a Japanese black pine or Japanese maple and lava rock circular island inside the lawn.
You don’t need to rip the hedges out just trim and thin them out so there is more bonsai going on than topiary madness with the electric hedge trimmer.
melanie thompson says
renovating my 1960’s ranch and looking for advise on exterior paint color. adding a wrap-around deck with screen porch off the back, and a very asian landscape with lots of Japanese Maples and bamboo with 2 levels of decks (eventually)! trying to decide which way to go. Have a tan brick now with brown shutters and brown roof. getting new roof with addition and also have to paint the unmatchable brick. looking forward to reading through your website!
thanks!
Melanie
patrick says
front bed:
I’m guessing the 3 windows to the right are in a bedroom, which would be nice to keep some privacy for – even if they aren’t, i have the same idea.
Pull out those shrubs and plant a new line of shrubs further out into the lawn, maybe 10-15 feet out from the house. You could follow the curve of the bed on the left and and make a giant “S”. Then, plant a secret garden back there just for you to see from those windows and from the front door – guests could even see it as they approach the front door. You might even give it a path into the garden from the front door area.
In the end, you get some privacy from the street for those windows, a beautiful garden to see from indoors, and a better shaped landscape. And, I’m guessing ripping up 10 feet of lawn isn’t going to hinder too much football in the frontyard.
glass blocks:
Can you paint the grout between the windows? – leaving just 1 or 2 vertical white lines so from the street it looks like 2 or 3 tall windows instead of the black and white grid.
patrick says
garden bed – you could plant the new shrubs without pulling out the old and let them grow a year or 2 – then pull out the old
Glenn Smith says
Three things I would do:
1. Get rid of the stove and flue. Period.
2. Get rid of the sago palm and the high shrubs to the right. Replace with something lower.
3. Replace the front door with a Crestview Door! http://www.crestviewdoors.com
Ali says
I agree that someone must have enclosed a porch, but if you’re not interested in un-enclosing it ($$$), I think that replacing the DR window and getting rid of the tall hedge and that funky tree in front of the glass blocks will work wonders. As for what kind of window to replace the DR with — depends on whether you also want to get rid of the other floor-to-ceiling windows. If you do, replace them all with size and style appropriate to the period. If you DON’T want to replace them all, I think you have to match the DR window with the others. I also agree that adding landscaping with lots-o color would be groovy.
Tami says
Wow, what great ideas, except for most of the plant choices. If you’re in Houston, you definitely should NOT be planting things that come from the Appalachian forests like azaleas and dogwoods. Also exotics like Japanese maples. The climate’s all wrong and I’m guessing the soils are too. You’re just setting yourself up for increased maintenance . . . then you’ll REALLY hate your exterior. I’ll bet you can get great inspiration and guidance from your extension service and/or the Lady Bird Johnson Center.
Good luck – you’ve got a great house there!