(MONEY Magazine) – When Amy Adler bought her Pleasantville, N.Y. home with her late husband in 1986, the couple made only cosmetic renovations to the 1950s three-bedroom raised ranch. By 2004, with her two children gone, Adler felt "it was time to either move or redo." Because the house had been a big part of her kids' life with their father, who died in 1993, the professional chef decided to stay put and give herself the house she'd always wanted. Using a cash-out refinancing and savings, she embarked on a $450,000 renovation. Of course, a kitchen upgrade topped her wish list, but so, too, did an exterior overhaul. "It looked like a glorified trailer," she says. So while pushing out the front, rear and side of the house to pick up 1,200 square feet, Adler also upgraded the outside with a new roof, siding, entrance and windows, choosing cedar siding and so-called architectural asphalt roof shingles, which resemble wood but are easier to maintain. Happily remarried today, Adler says her kids, also chefs, visit often to use her new kitchen and because "now the house finally looks like it belongs in its surroundings."

Ranch dressing The 1950s raised ranch had a nondescript front door, bland casement windows--some of which didn't open--painted aluminum siding and a low-pitch roof. When the contractor took off the siding, he discovered the house had been sheathed in gypsum board, which is okay for vinyl siding but not for the cedar shingles she wanted. Replacing the gypsum with plywood added $9,000 to the re-siding costs.

Welcome that The gracious new entry sports a gable roof with hand-carved cedar beams, brackets and columns ($16,000), a granite-faced foundation ($4,120) and a Rogue Valley wood door with sidelights and an arched window above ($4,550).

Outer beauty The house was treated to an entirely new envelope: architectural asphalt roof shingles with copper flashing over a rubber ice shield (because of the roof's flatness; $11,500) and cedar siding ($15,100), primed to help with maintenance. Asphalt shingles, standard or architectural, are the most popular roofing material. They're lightweight and fairly durable, though not as durable as costlier clay, concrete or slate.

Picture this Adler splurged on Marvin custom simulated divided-light windows ($82,000, uninstalled). Spacer bars make each pane look like an individual unit. She could have saved by using standard panes in the back of the house but wanted the rear to match the front.

THE NUMBERS

VALUE IN 1986 $365K

RENOVATION COSTS $450K

MARKET VALUE TODAY $1.2 million

In addition to the exterior changes, the interior was completely revamped, with a new kitchen/great room off the deck, a larger living room and dining area, a full master bath and lower-level exercise and laundry rooms.

"Typically, roofing and siding don't do much to the price," says local realtor Mark Faller. "But changing the facade really gave this house a lot more appeal." The new exterior alone could add $100,000 in value to a house that unrenovated might have fetched $800,000.