Restore the facade. Don't render as you'll loose the fabulous brickwork. Just re-point it. Do maintenance on the roof as needed. I'd pressure clean then see what it comes up like. If it's still a bit ordinary then paint it. I would do a bit of investigating on other original colour schemes before choosing charcoal, even though I admit the charcoal does look really good! By the way we render as we don't want to pay brickies to really use their craft so we buy cheap bricks and render. Render does look fine when used as a feature rather than a whole facade. Don't compete with neighbours make your house more desirable by keeping its character. I would however consider spending some good money on the landscaping. There are some superb gardens on these wonderful homes around the inner suburbs of Melbourne for example and would work great with yours.

Natural White & Whisper White will both work well with Polytec Classic White. I would steer clear of Lexicon - it's a little too cool to work well with Classic White. You might find it easier if you get some sample pots & paint up some large boards as both Whisper White & Natural White will look lighter and 'more white' once they are on the wall. Lexicon half or quarter would be incredibly light as a wall colour and too stark for most applications.

I'd go for the contrast , and go charcoal . Not really a highlight colour , but it would show a reasonable 'break' between the light cream and the light grey , in a reasonably subtle way , but surfmist or similar would achieve nothing IMO .

I am currently living in a rented house with beige tiles and similar walls. They look fine during the day but very sad n dull in the evenings. Better have a look at some display homes with similar tiles to yours in the evening.  Good luck ὄD