Yes you are crazy. Changing the style of a home is the most expensive way to renovate, especially when you need to change the structure of the home to get the look you want. Best to work with what you have as a starting point. Often dramatic changes in a house style never really work as you make compromises along the way, and it often comes off as half baked. Your investment is rarely realised in the resale value with half-baked style changes. In the case of your home you will need a lot more than a few arches to make it a Spainish Colonial style. Do it all and do it well (and spend heaps of money), or don't bother.

But back to your question - if you must put in some brick arches you will need to engage an engineer to design them (and the footings) and an old-school bricklayer to build them. Both are expensive. If you are doing fake arches in lightweight materials they will end up looking try-hard fakes. Spend your money on something that will improve the value of your home like professional design advice, or a new bathroom.

If I haven't offended you too much by giving you a reality check feel free to contact me for a Dr Retro House Call and some professional design advice as I am very local to this house.

Best of luck with your research,

Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits.

Thanks for your input dr retro. I saw this house in Preston whilst driving around and really like the style. I know it’s no Spanish colonial but has a form of arch at front. Maybe I got the term Spanish colonial wrong for what I am wanting to achieve as there are lots of houses in Melbourne with forms of arches but surely arent really Spanish? No terracotta roof tiles and no arched windows etc. what style is this house attached? And am I crazy for wanting something like this for my house haha obviously I would be doing the bathroom kitchen. Flooring etc but I really love the beams in my house also. Thanks

maybe you could enclose the carport and add a wall across in front of the entry and add arches for twin roller doors and an entry porch and render all the bricks but the house isn't tall enough to create the look of the other house you posted and a lot of expense

The bones and style of the house is quite nice . It is it's own style . I 100% agree with Dr Retro -- don't be too dramatic with the changes .

Like you , I like the beams , so work with those .

Externally , 2 things I'd do -- get rid of the green on the front panel of the carport -- I can't quite tell off the photo , but I think it is green right across , but it looks narrower on the house itself ( maybe guttering ? ) . Anyway , get rid of the green -- in fact , any green IMO .

A mid silvery-grey would blend in , but I'd go more a metallic charcoal look , adding a slight look of mystery and darkness .

The 2nd thing I'd do , and it ties in with the charcoal idea above , is that gate that can been seen on the right , and I assume the fence , is brown -- I'd re-stain in charcoal . It ( combined with the gutters and carport ) would look more modern , but tie in with the redness of the bricks and driveway .

Leave the arches for that place that has fake golden ones . . . . . . . . . .

thanks for everyones input so far keep it coming haha. attached is something ive just done on paint HA HA dont laugh but this is what i was thinking re arch

dont know if it is feasable what do you guys think?

If it is basically a fake arch , leaving the existing walls a metre and a half back , it will be dark inside . If you are going to enlarge the room ( whatever it is ) there will be issues with engineering and floors and the like , as well as building code , as well as the obvious cost . I'd even say a curved window like that would be a couple of thousand , as opposed to a few hundred for a rectangular one . Yes , I know , its what you want , and therefore $$$ isn't overly important , but it would be expensive , and not achieve much IMO .

By the way , your mockup pic looks good with that charcoal line instead of the green haha !

Cheers for the response, haha. I was thinking of the arch just being around the porch so not extending the front room.

Then tiling the front porch with some terracotta tiles and hand painted tiles in between the steps. But your right the front room will be dark, but it kinda is already from the car port!

P.s I do love the charcoal line instead of that green

The photo of the white home, that you like, is more post war, Art Deco. Definitely not Spanish??

And yes Australian houses in Australia are not Spanish.

yes i agree that house in preston is not spanish haha, definately post war art deco. I am not familiar with the exact terms but yeah