Check this out...
I made some corrections of my own.
They could have left their feature tree in place, and kept the entire trunk design, and removed 90% of the limbs to encourage new growth and the formation of a smaller crown. In my design, I kept three main limbs, and shortened them to just barely above the gutter line of the roof.
In a few years, the tree would look less chopped up. They could even chop off the central leader in a few years, to get the tree looking more proportional to the house as the other nearby decorative trees in the yard to match the neighborhood. Then you would get nice slender limbs that are less tall, and keep the beefy base of the trunk. Bonsai!
Too bad the tree is gone now. Did they resurface the outside of the house with brick? It looks like it has regular siding on it in the upper photo. I think someone is getting particular about making renovations.
Nice work!