siriuskey the grass trees are welded iron & wire, made by an artist who lives in our area, they are gorgeous and we don't have to worry about them dying! Yes you are right, the verandah is coming away from the wall, which is where the little birds nest ;) I love the last picture you posted and its the look we want. Interesting that all your images show grey/galv roof, which is what we want (not red). Mel N yes the cost is due to lack of tradies in the area so we have to add on travel, accommodation, meals. Also quote does not include removal of old iron & timber from site so we have to factor in dump fees. We could dispose of the timber battens easily enough, everyone needs firewood here, it's the iron that's expensive to dump. big reader yes she is a treasure, we love her. tessaway the house has plenty of light in the front rooms, it's very bright here, almost every day is sunny. We would just like to see the full height of the windows from the front garden. Maybe we should just enjoy the house, add pergolas to the sides and not worry about what she looks like from the street.

Dear all, I am seeking input on what to do about the roof line of our planned extension, which I have posted about before. We are replacing an old 80s extension on our Federation villa, the house is in a historic part of our suburb and we are on a corner block so we need it to look good from the side street (the South). The local council likes to see a clear differentiation between the “old” and the “new” , but have advised that the use of different exterior materials and window styles for example would likely suffice, for example if the roof style is similar. Our building designer ‘s initial drawings connect the two sections of the building per the diagrams using a wide and deep 40 cm boxed gutter only 2m long each side of the joining roof - the joining roof is there to show the building as a long single structure, however it's not required for any structural purpose. We are not sure if we are happy with this look. ( I find rooflines etc hard to picture). An alternative might be having a flattish roofed section of say 1-2 m width connecting the two pitched sections , with parapet walls at either end, giving a clearer distinction between old and new. The areas under the flattish section in the room layout lend themselves to this approach perhaps. A simple extension of the front section roof backwards was rejected because the old villa roof is of the old style “box gutter in a large depression” type and we wouldn’t want to exacerbate that problem. Any thoughts appreciated, thankyou

(echoing others here) No, no, no NO! ............The issue isn't the brickwork nor the roof tiles.....rather it's the currently multicoloured trim of say your guttering, garage and windows etc... I'd also argue that the idea of the "award winning" example posted above, will most likely date in time.......although I like the landscaping aspect of that one - but otherwise it's too heavy tonally for my eye and the rear extension is a harsh juxtaposition formally........anyway,I digress.... On your home here I reckon you best to work within the inherent style rather than try and force it into something that it is not. Other things, some not that expensive, will go a long way here, for example, bring the trim colours into consistency, consider relocating the downpipe on the far left brick column, and focus on a proper front landscaping design (including removing the concrete aspect) and de-cluttering the verandah will also make a world of difference. Looks like you have a beautiful established (jacaranda) tree in your front yard - perhaps make that that the "hero" of your frontage / streetscape That's what I did on this project, whilst completely different style the point is it was more about the garden - the house and structure becomes supporting and complimentary to the external landscaped spaces Good luck! PD www.pauldistefanodesign.com

No to terracotta, that would be closer to your gutter guard that doesn’t work with your bricks and would be the first thing I’d address. You could square up the bricks around the garage doors and modernise the front door screen. The roller doors could be more modern too, although they look fine and what they are.