What to do???

What do we do about this side of the house? We want to be able to drive to the backyard if needed...but now we are looking at having to have a 4 foot retaining wall...but why put up a retaining wall when whoever the neighbor is puts dirt up to it? And then what do we do about a fence? We'd like a cement block fence, but...again...retaining wall?

Then this entry...what do you think about these "stairs" in? We are thinking some type of a rounded step, instead of squared...

And then a friend brought up the point of how am I going to "shade" or "drape" these windows? The front of the house will have a lot of direct sunlight in the afternoon/evening. This is room where the pianos/violins will be...I didn't get the UV protective windows in here...so, now what?

Another view of the side of the house...the post that Roger Grey so nicely put up for use, pretty much marks the property line...and see the top of that box leaning against the wall...that's where the dirt needs to go up to...

Any solutions to our dilemmas?