Whereabouts do you live? Soil? Sun? Shade? Drainage?
Boxwoods (many varieties),Skimmia, azaleas, Rhododendron, Camellia (hardy hybrids for your zone), Illicium floridanum, I. henryi, Nandina domestica,Fargesia, and one of my favorites; Rhapidophyllum hystrix on the south or SE side of the house. Indian hawthorne actually does pretty well here, especially with shelter. Varieties of this vary in hardiness.

Questions dealing with this issue are sometimes answered on the Landscaping forum or Garden Design. Do you have photos, dimensions of the foundation planting areas wxl, and as Steve asked, sunny, shady, is there good drainage, etc. Do you want to incorporate flowers with your conifers, evergreen and/or shrubs. There are so many which would look well on your site.

Vicki

Thanks for the responses. The site is in full sun most of the day, part shade only in late afternoon, good soil after amending. We're in the Montclair area. The size of the beds is, as we speak, under construction as we are expanding the entire planting area directly in front of the house and tearing up the front walk. Everything I've read about Indian Hawthornes states that north of Zone 8 they will grow but will not have the same broadleaf evergreen effect they do south of zone 8. I'm glad to hear that they will do well in NJ.

Cherry Laurel "Schipkaensis" or "Otto Luyken" possibly.
As suggested above, Nandina is great...multiseason interest and skimmia has brilliant berries. Dwarf Hinoki Cypress cultivars. Maybe Mahonia if you need some height. Fragrant flowers...interesting berries "oregon grapes" and holly like leaves. Sarcoccoa hookeriana, HImalayan Sweetbox, makes a great low bushy pseudo-groundcover. Fragrant white flowers early in spring...evergreen..slow spreader.

Ilex Glabra, a low evergreen native (or Ilex crenata, japanese, taller) and Oakleaf hydrangea makes a striking combination in the foundation bed of a house of the same period in our neighborhood in South Orange.