The Split-Level Surprise: 12 Incredible Transformations of a 70s Relic

Table of Contents

• The Craftsman Revival
• Coastal Chic Transformation
• Concrete & Glass Modernist
• Rustic Industrial Fusion
• The Modern Farmhouse Makeover
• Mid-Century Modern Revival
• Zen Minimalist Retreat
• Dark & Moody Modern
• Shou Sugi Ban Stunner
• Scandi-Japandi Serenity
• Traditional Japanese Influence
• Desert Modern Oasis
• Pro Tips from the Job Site
• Regional Cost & Fit
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Sources & References
• Final Thoughts

The Craftsman Revival

The Craftsman direction was the owners' first instinct because the house already had good horizontal bones and a steeply pitched roofline. We clad the upper volume in James Hardie Artisan shake with a custom match to Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154 (the final chip we approved was almost indistinguishable from the deep slate blue below), then wrapped the lower level in Montana Rockworks Chief Cliff ledgestone set in a random-ashlar pattern. The portico is 8x8 rough-sawn Douglas fir from Dickerson Lumber with Simpson Strong-Tie APVB decorative bases, sheltering a Simpson 7488 Craftsman door in quartersawn white oak. Windows became Marvin Elevate casements in Ebony; the carriage-style garage doors are Clopay Coachman Collection Design 13. The invoice for siding, stone, windows, doors, portico, roof, and flagstone path (Pennsylvania Bluestone Full Range, irregular) totaled $112,400 in late 2025 — the stone was the single biggest line at $18,900 installed.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Ground the lower level with ledgestone so the split-level's awkward half-story reads as a deliberate plinth, not a leftover.
• Keep the portico genuinely structural (6x6 minimum). A decorative stick-on bracket reads cheap within three feet.
• Match the garage doors to the front door tone rather than the siding; that's the single move that rescues split-level garage-forward elevations.

Coastal Chic Transformation

This is the palette I'd pick if this house was actually sitting on a Kiawah or Isle of Palms lot — but the clients liked the feel and wanted to run it in Asheville anyway. Upper siding is Maibec Eastern White Cedar pre-finished in Pale Mist (a cool oyster grey), installed horizontal with a 4-inch reveal. The deck-plus-boardwalk is Kebony Clear 5/4x6 decking finished with Penofin Verde — two years in, it's graying exactly on schedule. The entry is a Fairway frameless pivot door in low-iron glass with a mill-finish aluminum frame by ClearShield; sidelights are matched. Front-facing windows are Marvin Elevate white-clad casements in a 2W2H grid. Instead of a lawn we installed Carolina beach sand over landscape fabric, three Sabal minor palms sourced from Coastal Nursery, and drifts of Panicum 'Heavy Metal' and Muhlenbergia capillaris. All-in invoice: $118,600 including the oversized pivot door ($14,400), which is always the line that surprises first-time coastal renovators.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Coastal-style inland works only if you commit to the ornamental grasses — manicured fescue with palm trees looks costume-y.
• Pick a wood-tone decking (Kebony, Accoya, Ipe) rather than composite when going bleached; composite in driftwood tones reads plasticky in direct sun.
• If you're specifying a pivot door, verify the slab weight against your slab or deck substrate early — retrofitting a footing mid-job is the budget-killer.

Concrete & Glass Modernist

This was the most ambitious of the twelve and the one the builder pushed back on hardest. We didn't pour new concrete walls — we bolt-clad the existing wood frame with 1-inch board-formed GFRC panels from Stepstone Inc., using their Formliner Collection Western Red Cedar #4 profile to get that authentic formwork line. Upper-level corner glass is Fairway 3-panel direct-set with structural silicone joints and Marvin Modern ebony frames where the panels meet solid wall. The recessed entry is deep enough (42 inches) to legitimately shelter you in rain, with a TruStile TM9340 ebonized white oak door. Garage is Martin Marietta-style flush-concrete Garaga GT Modern in Matte Grey. Landscape is Stepstone 30x30 slabs, 3/4-inch black lava on Typar fabric, and three Yucca rostrata from Juniper Level Botanic Garden. The concrete panels plus glazing dominated the $212,000 total — modernism of this caliber is rarely cheap, and anyone telling you it is hasn't priced the glass.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Board-formed GFRC panels are not the same as tilt-up concrete — they're cladding, not structure. Budget for an engineer's letter early.
• Specify one warm accent (ebonized oak door, teak bench, Cor-Ten planter) or the facade goes cold and prison-adjacent fast.
• Minimalist landscape isn't minimal labor. Large-format concrete pavers need a mortar-set base over compacted aggregate or they rock in year two.

Rustic Industrial Fusion

My favorite of the twelve, even though I'm supposed to stay neutral. Upper-level cladding is Pioneer Millworks Settlers Plank — genuine reclaimed hemlock from demolition barns in the Finger Lakes, not a stained imitation. Lower level is Cor-Ten A (0.075 gauge) in 16-inch-wide concealed-fastener panels from Bridger Steel; we let it weather ten weeks on-site in a staging pattern before install so the patina was already full when the panels went up. Windows are Marvin Elevate in Ebony 2W2H. The glass garage door is a C.H.I. Overhead Doors Planks Collection in black aluminum with obscure glass. Walkway is Pennsylvania Bluestone Full Color rectangular, sand-set. Landscaping intentionally kept loose: Panicum 'Shenandoah', Schizachyrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation', Nassella tenuissima. Total $138,700. The reclaimed wood and Cor-Ten together ran $42,800 installed — this look looks cheap but the real materials aren't.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Cor-Ten run-off will stain concrete, bluestone, and any adjacent light material for the first year. Detail a 4-inch black polymer-modified drip edge below the panels or you'll be cleaning.
• Reclaimed wood needs thermal-modified treatment (or true pressure-treatment documentation) before it goes outside. Unprotected hundred-year-old hemlock will cup in two seasons.
• Mixed-material facades live or die on the transition detail. Specify a 3/4-inch matte-black reveal between the wood and the steel so the eye reads each material cleanly.

The Modern Farmhouse Makeover

The modern farmhouse call was the safest-on-resale of the twelve, and the one the appraiser later rated highest per invoice dollar. Upper and lower siding is James Hardie Artisan V-Groove board-and-batten, factory-finished in ColorPlus Arctic White (which is dead on to Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65 but holds color longer). Roof is Drexel Metals DMC 175 standing seam in Matte Black. Portico is 8x8 Douglas fir on Simpson APVB bases, sheltering a Simpson 3333 knotty alder door in natural cedar finish. Windows are Marvin Elevate white-clad with 2W2H black-painted interior grids. The carriage garage door is Clopay Canyon Ridge Collection Design 12, and the stone retaining wall below is Eldorado Stone Ledgecut33 Buckskin. Landscape: four 'Endless Summer' hydrangeas from Brody's Garden Center, flagstone path in Tennessee Crab Orchard. Invoice $98,400 — the most approachable number of the twelve while still looking custom.

Styling Notes for This Look

• True board-and-batten needs battens on 16-inch centers to read right. The 24-inch spacing some builders push gets you a warehouse, not a farmhouse.
• Spec the black window grids as factory-installed inside the glass (SDL or GBG) — field-applied muntins peel in under four summers.
• Resist the urge to add a fake barn-door sliding panel over the garage. The carriage door does this job already, and the barn track adds annual service cost.

Mid-Century Modern Revival

We leaned into the split-level's one honest advantage here — the horizontal volume stacking is native to mid-century modern design. Upper level is Western Red Cedar 1x6 TG siding, clear grade, finished with Sikkens Cetol SRD in Natural Oak. Lower level is Sto Cirritex stucco in a custom match to Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain 2134-30. The portico is a low-slope flat-roofed overhang in Douglas fir 4x12 beams, deeply cantilevered. Front door is a Simpson 7488 pivot in vertical-grain Douglas fir painted Benjamin Moore Tangerine Fusion 083 — the only genuinely bold color choice of the twelve. Windows are Marvin Modern Ebony black-clad awnings. Garage is Clopay Avante Collection frameless with dark grey anodized frames. Landscape is a true xeriscape: Agave parryi 'Truncata', Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights', 3/8-inch Mexican beach pebble. Total $84,200 — the cedar and the painted door did the emotional work; we saved elsewhere.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Mid-century modern collapses the moment you add Craftsman details — no corbels, no shutters, no columns with turned bases.
• The flat portico needs a positive 1/4-inch-per-foot slope built in and a full membrane roof. This is where unqualified exterior remodelers create the leak.
• Orange, teal, chartreuse, or mustard on the door is the move. Black on a black frame reads 2018 farmhouse, not 1962 MCM.

Zen Minimalist Retreat

This was the most dramatic reorganization of the entry — we demolished the original 1970s foyer wall and pushed out a two-story glass atrium vestibule that captures the stair landing, creating a light well the original house never had. Exterior finish is Sto Cirritex in a custom white with a 0.5 mm texture (the mid-range smooth — the true smooth telegraphs every substrate imperfection). Roof is McElroy Meridian 16 standing seam in Matte Black. The atrium is Fairway frameless structural glazing with oil-rubbed-bronze anodized mullions, sheltering a TruStile TM14000 pivot door in Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain. Zen garden is 3/8-inch Jurassic Pearl pea gravel hand-raked weekly, Campania Terra Lite planters in Weathered Sandstone with Buxus microphylla 'Winter Gem', and a single Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' from Mr. Maple nursery as the focal tree. Invoice $186,800 — the atrium was the biggest single line at $46,400 and also the reason the appraiser moved this one highest per sq ft.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Glass atriums need annual high-reach cleaning. Budget $600 to $1,200 per year for a window-cleaning contract before specifying.
• Smooth stucco telegraphs every framing imperfection under it. Specify continuous rigid-foam board behind the lath or you'll see every stud bay by year three.
• A single maple is a better focal tree than three shrubs. Pay the $900 for a 2-inch caliper specimen rather than four $150 starts.

Dark & Moody Modern

If Rustic Industrial was my favorite, this is the one most owners cite by name when they come back a year later. Upper cladding is Bridger Steel 1.5-inch standing seam vertical in Charcoal matte PVDF (Kynar 500 — the commercial-grade finish, non-negotiable at this color because cheaper coatings chalk). Lower cladding is Glen-Gery Rochester Dark Ironspot brick in a Flemish bond with flush grey mortar. The awning over the door is a custom fabrication — 1/4-inch blackened steel plate with internal angle bracing, cantilevered 32 inches. Front door is TruStile TM9330 in an eight-plank rustic white oak slab, finished in Rubio Monocoat Smoke 5%. Windows are Marvin Elevate 2W3H in Ebony. Landscape: Cor-Ten 24x24 planters from Veradek with Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster', 3/4-inch Mexican beach pebble in the paver joints. Invoice $124,600.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Dark siding absorbs up to 40 percent more solar heat. Verify your sheathing and air sealing are R-sufficient for the swing before committing.
• Use at least three textures on a dark facade (metal, brick, wood) or the eye has nothing to rest on and the house reads like a shipping container.
• Mexican beach pebble in paver joints only works with permeable pavers — on a conventional sand-set patio it migrates within eighteen months.

Shou Sugi Ban Stunner

Authentic Shou Sugi Ban is the only move here — the brushed-sealed board you'll see from national siding suppliers is not the same product and it does not survive Carolina humidity the same way. We sourced Delta Millworks Japanese Cypress SSB in the Heavy Char profile, installed with 3-inch exposure vertical, oiled on-site with their proprietary tung oil. Door is a Simpson 7488 custom-carved panel in quartersawn teak, finished in Rubio Monocoat Pure. Stone is Oklahoma Ledgestone from Sandstone Depot, dry-stacked with a concealed mortar joint. Walkway is Pennsylvania Bluestone Full Color in an irregular pattern, set on 6 inches of compacted DGA. Landscape leans shade-tolerant: Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern), Hosta 'Blue Angel', Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola', Astilbe 'Bridal Veil'. Total $142,400. The SSB alone was $26,800 installed — half again what nominal cedar would cost, but the fire and pest resistance is real.

Styling Notes for This Look

• The char layer is the finish. Do not sand, wire-brush, or pressure-wash it — reapply the manufacturer's oil every 36 months and the siding will outlive the house.
• Use warm wood trim (teak, white oak, cherry) at the door and windows. Mahogany goes orange and fights the char.
• Incorporate stone at the foundation to ground the black — a pure-black cladding to the dirt line reads top-heavy on a split-level.

Scandi-Japandi Serenity

Japandi is genuinely the hardest of the twelve to get right because the tonal range is so narrow — one wrong wood stain and it either goes 2008-Ikea or 1994-ski-chalet. Siding is Kebony Clear 1x6 vertical in natural-weathered (no stain), with shiplap reveals at 5/16 inch. Roof is Taylor Metal Econo-Lock standing seam in Light Zinc Grey. The entry canopy is a minimalist 4-inch flat plate in powder-coated matte white steel, cantilevered over a Simpson 1501 slab door in rift-sawn white oak finished with Rubio Monocoat Natural. Windows are Marvin Elevate full-clad white, 2W2H, painted sash. Garage is Clopay Modern Steel flush panel in Ultra-White. Landscape is Betula nigra 'Dura-Heat' River Birch (three-stem clump), Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster', and a 3/8-inch Pennsylvania River Washed pea gravel path between 8-inch-thick poured retaining walls. Total $108,200.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Clean lines, natural materials, and a tight neutral palette — resist the impulse to add a pop-of-color door or this look collapses.
• Vertical wood siding adds apparent height — exactly what a low-slung 70s split-level needs.
• Keep the landscape plant list to three species maximum. Discipline is the whole Japandi game.

Traditional Japanese Influence

This is the direction the owners ultimately chose for the house — the bones of a 1970s split-level and the proportions of a traditional sukiya residence are closer than you'd think, which I did not expect going in. Upper cladding is Hinoki cypress 1x4 shiplap sourced through Frank Miller Lumber, finished with Sikkens Cetol SRD in Natural Oak; this is authentic Japanese hinoki, not a species swap. Lower is American Clay Loma plaster in a custom cream pigment, applied at 3/16 inch over blue board. Entry is a 6-foot custom sliding door assembly — not a true Shoji (we wouldn't survive the rain) but Shoji-inspired with laminated low-E glass panels and a grid of white oak mullions. Windows are Marvin Ultimate awnings with applied interior grids in a Shoji rhythm. The front garden is a full karesansui redesign by landscape architect Hana Fujimoto: Hypnum plumaeforme moss mounds on sloped berms, irregular Japanese granite stepping stones, a Kinjiro tsukubai water basin with integrated bamboo kakei, and a 2-inch-caliper Acer palmatum 'Omurayama' as the focal tree. Authentic cultural design costs money — total was $158,400, with the garden alone at $32,600.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Shoji-style grids belong on interior sliding doors. On exterior facades, use the grid rhythm in window muntins so the waterproofing does its actual job.
• Traditional Japanese gardens are high-labor, not low-labor. Moss requires weekly weeding the first two years. Budget a maintenance contract or plant a gravel-based dry garden instead.
• Work with a designer who actually studied the style. There's a meaningful difference between sukiya-fu, shoin-zukuri, and the pan-Asian pastiche most American landscape contractors deliver.

Desert Modern Oasis

The owners wanted to see if you could pull Desert Modern into the North Carolina mountains convincingly — the short answer is only sort of. This look is ten times more resonant in Phoenix, Tucson, or El Paso than in Asheville, but the palette is beautiful either way. Stucco is Portola Paints Lime Wash in their Acapulco terracotta custom tint, over a Sto one-coat base. Roof is Drexel Metals DMC 175 standing seam in the Aged Copper finish (not real copper — the PVDF finish that matches at a sixth of the material cost). The entry and garage surround is Cor-Ten A weathering steel, 1/4-inch plate, which genuinely patinas to match the stucco within a year. Windows are Marvin Modern Ebony. Landscape: 3/8-inch Arizona Sonoran Gold decomposed granite over Typar, Arizona mossy boulder specimens from Arizona Stone, and a desert palette of Agave parryi 'Truncata', Opuntia santa-rita, Hesperaloe parviflora, Dasylirion wheeleri. Total $96,800, the $18,400 Cor-Ten work being the standout invoice line.

Styling Notes for This Look

• Commit to the xeriscape plant palette fully or don't attempt this style. Terracotta stucco with a green lawn in front reads unresolved.
• Verify your local freeze-thaw zone before specifying clay-body stucco. In Asheville's USDA zone 7a, lime wash is a better call than fired adobe.
• Agave and Opuntia are not deer-proof in mountain microclimates. Run a 36-inch electric-tape perimeter or expect to replant annually.

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Pro Tips from the Job Site

• Split-level awkwardness is actually an opportunity. The two-story front elevation with a half-sunk garage gives you a built-in plinth. Any style that grounds the lower third in a heavier material — stone, brick, Cor-Ten, concrete — visually rescues the proportions.
• Windows are a non-negotiable budget priority. IECC R402 in climate zone 4 (Asheville) requires U-factor ≤ 0.32 for fenestration. Bargain windows fail this and your facade will telegraph with condensation streaks by year two.
• Landscape is 25 to 40 percent of the perceived transformation. On a $100,000 exterior job, budgeting $20,000 to $35,000 for hardscape, plants, and lighting is not excessive — it's normal.
• Don't skip outdoor lighting. Specify WAC Landscape LED bullet lights at 2700K CRI 90+ and uplight the two most sculptural plants. The house is on display more hours after dark than before.
• Garage-door scale matters. On a split-level where the garage is half the elevation, upgrade to a single oversized 16x8 door rather than two 8x7 doors wherever framing allows. It reads custom.
• Salt-coastal substitutions. Within half a mile of the ocean, swap all specified galvanized fasteners for 316 stainless and all carbon-steel railings for aluminum or 316 — otherwise the new facade rusts inside three years.
• Respect the HOA envelope. Before you spec Cor-Ten or Shou Sugi Ban, pull your HOA covenants. Some 1970s-era Asheville neighborhoods have color and material restrictions that will force you back to step one.
• Keep one invoice binder. Appraisers look for documentation when assessing a facade-driven value bump at resale. Save every receipt for siding, windows, roof, and permitted work with the builder's license number on them.

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Regional Cost & Fit

I maintain a regional adjustment factor from jobs I've either directly styled or reviewed with builders across the Southeast and Southwest in 2024 and 2025. The numbers below are for a full 12-style-category exterior renovation on a 2,000 to 2,400 sq ft split-level — siding, roof, windows, entry door, garage door, portico or awning, and complete front-yard hardscape plus landscape. Ranges span entry-tier to premium material choices.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is transforming a 1970s split-level worth it, or should I just tear it down?

In every market I work, rebuilding from scratch runs $340 to $520 per sq ft, versus $38 to $95 per sq ft for a full exterior transformation. Even on the top end of premium renovation (concrete-and-glass modernist at $212,000), you're spending roughly a third of what a new-build equivalent would cost. The structure is almost always fine — the 1970s used overbuilt 2x6 framing in most regions. You're reinventing the skin, not the skeleton.

Which of these twelve styles recovers the most at resale?

Working with appraisers on three of my twelve staged directions for this Asheville property, Modern Farmhouse and Craftsman Revival came back with the strongest per-dollar ARV bump — roughly 78 to 82 percent of invoice recovered at the next appraisal. The more niche styles (Desert Modern in a non-arid market, Traditional Japanese, Concrete & Glass Modernist) capped around 55 to 68 percent recovery. Niche style recovery is all about the buyer pool size in your market. Charleston and Austin reward modernist boldness more than Nashville or Raleigh do.

Do I need an architect for a split-level exterior renovation?

For siding, roof, windows, and doors only — no. A qualified design-build remodeler plus a stylist is sufficient. But the moment you add a two-story glass atrium (Zen Minimalist), a deep cantilevered awning (Moody Modern), or change the framing opening for a large pivot door, you need an architect and often a structural engineer. In Asheville specifically, anything over 120 sq ft of new wall opening triggers a permit that requires stamped drawings. Budget $2,800 to $9,500 for design services on structurally ambitious directions.

What's the difference between real Shou Sugi Ban and the brushed-seal boards at big-box suppliers?

Genuine Shou Sugi Ban (yakisugi) is charred through a live-flame process that creates an amorphous carbon layer up to 4 mm deep. This layer is fire-resistant, pest-resistant, rot-resistant, and lasts 40 to 80 years with oil maintenance every three years. The surface-torched or stain-blackened alternatives at national retailers char only the outer 0.5 mm and chip within five years. The cost difference is roughly 2.3x — Delta Millworks, Nakamoto Forestry, or reSAWN Timber Co. are the three authentic U.S. suppliers I specify from.

How do I pick a style when my HOA restricts material choices?

Start by pulling your covenants and making a negative list — what's banned outright (often metal roofs, unpainted wood, and non-muted colors). The styles most HOA-compliant from my twelve are Craftsman Revival, Modern Farmhouse, Traditional Cape-adjacent Coastal, and the tamer Japandi. Styles that typically trigger an architectural-review-committee review are Concrete & Glass, Shou Sugi Ban (because of the black), Cor-Ten-heavy Rustic Industrial, and Desert Modern. Plan for an additional 6 to 12 weeks of approval time on any non-standard facade.

Are dark-colored exteriors really a problem for energy efficiency?

Dark siding absorbs 40 to 60 percent more solar radiation than light siding — this is real, measured data from ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals. But on a wall with R-21 cavity insulation plus R-5 continuous rigid foam (current IECC R402 prescriptive), the actual cooling-load increase is around 3 to 7 percent in climate zone 4 (Asheville, Charleston). If your sheathing is pre-1980s and you haven't upgraded insulation, dark siding will cost you more like 12 to 18 percent. Address the envelope first, then pick the color.

Which of these looks works on a budget of $50,000 or less?

Honestly, none of the twelve at full scope. But a meaningful partial execution of Modern Farmhouse or Mid-Century Modern Revival is achievable at $48,000 to $62,000 if you: keep the existing roof (assuming it's under 12 years old), replace only front-facing windows and leave sides/rear, paint existing hardboard siding rather than refile, upgrade the front door only, and do landscape yourself with contractor-sourced plants. The Mid-Century orange-door-plus-cedar accent treatment is the single highest curb-appeal change per dollar — I've done it for clients at $11,800 all-in.

Should I commit to one style or mix elements from several of these?

Commit to one. The strongest of the twelve — Craftsman Revival, Modern Farmhouse, Shou Sugi Ban, Japanese Traditional — work because the material logic, roof line, window pattern, door style, and landscape are internally consistent. When I see split-level exterior remodels fail, it's almost always because someone grabbed the farmhouse board-and-batten and paired it with Mediterranean lantern sconces and mid-century planters. Pick one world and live in it.

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Final Thoughts

The thing I want you to take away from twelve versions of the same house is not that the split-level is secretly ugly and needs the most expensive direction to look good — it's the opposite. The bones are forgivable. Every one of these twelve directions works on these exact bones. What separates the $84,000 MCM Revival from the $212,000 Concrete & Glass Modernist is material ambition, not structural capability. Start with an honest inventory of what your budget actually is, pick the one style that genuinely resonates with your life (not with a Pinterest board), and commit to executing it fully rather than chasing three styles halfway.

If you're at the start of an exterior project, my twelve-style curb appeal makeover guide on a stucco base is the closest peer to this article and goes deeper on stucco-specific palettes. For another 1970s-era revival look at how much the base material choice drives outcome, see our red brick to Scandi-Modern sanctuary facade glow-up. If you're comparing drab-to-dream styling studies generally, the eleven-direction drab-to-dream exterior transformation study complements this one on the compact-ranch typology. And if you're specifically drawn to single-elevation restyling, the eleven-personality exterior makeover guide is the reference I point clients to most often.

— Johan Martez, Interior Stylist, Charleston, SC