What is the exterior of your home right now? Are you going to change the present outer walls, or do the new ones have to match the present ones? Do you have a picture of your house as it is now?

Here is a picture of the house now -- it's hard to see, but it's brick. I'd love to change the entire exterior of the house. I was thinking about doing the entire house in stone veneer. Thoughts?

You might want to post this on the Building A Home forum.

(As a lover of ranch homes, it's sad for me to see one about to be changed so drastically.)

Design looks nice. Will changing the exterior be justified for value?

Doesn't look so great to me - the second floor add on is way out of scale with the 1st floor, and you've totally lost the horizontal effect of ranch and prairie style (close relative of the ranch). I think you want the remodeling forum as you seem intent on transforming it into a more generic contemporary type of thing.

This forum is more about keeping original design elements and identity. Which is not to say a historic house can't be changed, or altered, or added on to - just that it should keep its original design elements as much as possible.

I would do everything I could to avoid the standard developer cliche of hipped truss roofs and decorative front facing gables that you show in your drawing.

Try several simple roof shapes that cover the addition. Try a 2 story central mass with eave forward or gable forward or to soften the difference in massing try a 1 1/2 story central mass both ways with gable or shed dormers.