Home exterior makeovers

Home and Garden

See the before and after of homes with smart and subtle updates to their exteriors.

Smart and subtle updates can take the exterior of your home from boring to beautiful. Susan and Alec Berrong added a front porch to their Dunwoody home. Built by Paul Springer, the front porch gave the formerly boxy house another dimension. It also expanded the family's outdoor living space.

Before: The owners wanted to add new windows and a covering over the front door of their two-story, Cape Cod-style house in Dunwoody. They ended up doing a lot more.

After: Bob and Joan Mathews house was reinvented to look like a charming English cottage. Neighbors and others are still wowed by the transformation.

Before: Architect Stephen Fuller's house started out as a one-story brick colonial. Despite the house's small size, it did have 10-foot tall ceilings and sat on a deep, narrow lot in a desirable neighborhood.

After: The core structure of the house was maintained, but there were many changes, including the addition of a second floor. A shallow front portico was introduced, along with broad steps and tall French doors to allow the front of the house to connect to the front lawn and gardens. The overall exterior detailing follows a classic Georgian direction.

Before: The homeowners wanted to add space and style to their house, which was built in Atlanta's Rivermeade area in the 1980s. Because the house was on a flood plain, expanding the footprint was not an option. Instead, another floor was added.

After: To give the homeowners the additional space they wanted, the architect incorporated steeply pitched roof lines. He raised the eave line on the front facade to give the upper level windows the proper spacing and added a bay over the existing garage for a master bath. He created a small covered front porch to make the front more welcoming, painted the brick and installed new bronze-clad windows to reduce maintenance.

Before: This humble, 1930s cottage in north Buckhead was typical of those seen in many Atlanta neighborhoods.

After: The brick was painted and a classically detailed front porch was added to help maintain the home's vintage charm and tie it into the neighborhood.

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Smart and subtle updates can take the exterior of your home from boring to beautiful. Susan and Alec Berrong added a front porch to their Dunwoody home. Built by Paul Springer, the front porch gave the formerly boxy house another dimension. It also expanded the family's outdoor living space.

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