If your budget stretches to it I would be extending the ridge to make it a classic holiday house A-frame house. Paint and plants aren't going to fix the ugly proportions. Or remove the front walls, windows and door to get rid of the poor proportions and glaze it in an elegant steel frame.

I would engage a creative design professional to prepare some options to turn your ugly duckling into a swan. It will be a challenge and not an easy, or quick fix.

Best of luck,

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

I’d paint the fascia under the gable to match the walls and give a greater impression of height. Upgrade the windows and paint the door a bright colour to stand out and add some feature, Some flowering plants along the front of building. I love the unique shape.

Personally, I'd love it for what it is - wondetfully quirky, and not change it much. Maybe some small changes per Kate but that's all.

It is what it is, a classic simple build holiday house. Play that up. If I wanted to reduce the ugly factor I may replace the tile sheeting with colorbond. As its nonsensical to have a tile profile go along near vertical sides. I'd replace the alu windows with nice cedar ones and leave them wood colour. If I were beachside I'd consider some glass louvres in place of the top story window.

If you are in the mountains I would put wooden shutters/plantation blinds on it for some gingerbread look. Plant azaleas and rhododendrons around it and call it Hansel & Gretels house. If you are beachside then pale colours, some old fisherman paraphernalia like a crab net buoy, paddle etc on the outside. A hammock on the deck and some native plantings for a dry vibe.

Don't try and make a silk purse out of it. It's part of our vacation history in this country and should be showcased for it's retro and quirky feel. Why not? You aren't living in it full time, it's a permanent caravan more or less. Kitsch it up. Let the full-time neighbours worry about the prestige of their street.

I love what's been done with this A frame. What would have been an asymmetrical door and window arrangement has been centralised by replacing both with bi-folds. It rebalances the entire building and also creates a walk-in walk out deck which your place lacks at the moment.

Thanks everyone. Yes, it is a great weekender. It will never be an architectural marvel, @Black Bamboo, but we do want it to be the best looking pig it can be!

Classic "A" frame we have one near us, takes me back to the time when there was an Avis car rental A frame building at Mascot in Sydney which we all admired.

The old A Frame really made a statement in it's day so I would go for Bold, painting the roof and eaves in black to give the roof impact and standout.

. White timber blinds or shutters bought inexpensively from Spotlight to dress the windows. Keep it simple, You could add the number and or name of the property in large white letters across the brickwork cheers

To my eye , the 2 problem areas are the brown roof , and the mix of wooden doors and alloy windows . The slightly yellowy beige didn't look too bad when mixed with the brown , and in fact i think would suit better than surfmist , as it sounds like you have kept the brown by the sounds of it .

I like bits of most of the above , and siruskey is probably closest to my thinking , especially as you have already done the walls in surfmist .

From there , I would do wooden framed windows , or heres a cheapo idea -- do 75mm x 25mm boards over the edge of the existing aluminium , and paint the same as the door jambs .

And do 'something' about the front lower balcony . Frameless tinted glass would be too modern for the style , and that brown is shudder inducing , so maybe just remove the wires and add 'criss crosses' in 100 x 50 or similar , stain the existing and the new in charcoal , but then do the top rail in a bright red , yellow or orange , or even a mid blue against the surfmist ( although it may get 'lost' against a dark roof in too dark a blue ) .

The upper balcony can be done to match , or left as is . It doesn't upset anyone , but doesn't enthuse either .

Maybe have fun by doing the meter cover in the same colour as the top rail , with the street number in big chrome numbers attached .

$10k and you are done .

I always enjoy Pottsy99 out there colour filled suggestions, you are so full of fun.

Although I have to disagree with the 10K spend I think/hoping that my suggestion would come in way under that figure which is always good. I thought that you had already painted both doors black? Is this a beach house or a tree change holiday house, Sorry I couldn't get my Paint program the do the large number on the Brickwork

Thanks for all the suggestions. The first photo I posted was the original colours. We are still in the process of painting. The body of the building is now shale grey. The roof is now surfmist. We are on our way to getting rid of all the mission brown. But have not yet decided what to do with all the doors & railings etc. It is great reading all of your suggestions. Great food for thought on how to amp up the charm.

Siriuskey it is a beach house. Though no sea view. We went for a lighter colour as it heats up under the sun.

Grey is so boring on its own , and is basically the new brown IMO .

With that 'after' picture , do the ends/eves in monument/charcoal . The only other option I can think of would be red/yellow/orange bright colours , BUT you'd have to do the weatherboard in a lot lighter white or similar -- grey with a bright line at each end would be basically like painting a stripe around a block of concrete -- still boring ! Blues or greens don't really work either with that .

Looking at the original pic , I would have stuck with the existing 'end' colour .

The veranda in white is okay , but again you have to do the lower one the same . I would have gone charcoal and charcoal , changed the windows to dark surounds , or had done the 'surround' trick , and like siruiskey , I thought the doors were originally dark ? White and grey basically aren't colours IMO , they simply link colours together and fill in gaps , so you have a non-colour and a non-colour , and you want more non-colour ?

Charcoal , grey and white works , BUT then you need that highlight so you don't drive right past and not find it on an overcast day -- I'd do the horizontal veranda rails upstairs and down in a mid to bright red , to reference the redder toned brick base , with the criss crosses or similar , and the posts , in the charcoal .

And in reply to the $10k , I was allowing up to $5k ( incl labour ) for redoing the tiles in your choice of charcoal -- as a matter of interest JoAnne , did you do it yourselves or get a contractor in , and what approx cost was it ( labour/prep/paint ) , if thats not top secret ?

Looks heaps better than the starting point. It's even kind of cute with a lighthouse vibe. You could go driftwood and shell colours with that house and it would tone in perfectly.

Thanks pottys99.
I take your point about grey being the new mission brown.
We got a local roof painter to spray the lot. Roughly about 5k.
There is no weatherboard. In true 60s fashion it is aluminium cladding.

Black bamboo I like the step placement on the image you posted. Ripping out the doors & windows may be outside our budget at the moment. Also our aframe isn’t that big on the inside, so I would be wary of losing wall space.

Pottsy99 the big numbers on the meter box could be a go. Thanks for all the suggestions. Lots to think about.

Make it fun.