To cornice or not to cornice?

[Dzmitry Zakharau]

So I'm about to start rehabbing this house, and in my opinion adding a cornice all around would make the house not look as boxy and add character for little money. Maybe even add siding. My contractor is trying to talk me out of it, saying that I might find myself having to re-shingle the 2-year old roof because it would be hard to match siding exactly. He suggests oversized gutters instead, paint the block, and forget about siding. What are your thoughts on this?

[Neal Collins]

I don't know if a cornice would really be the update you're looking for. Maybe.

I like the idea of adding columns instead of the iron rods.