I am thoroughly interested in seeing what that facade is going to look like. It's really hard to tell with that new "porch" element. Without that, it really resembled the Carey Mansion, except with the main entrance at the base of the tower. It still very much resembles it and there are striking similarities in window size and placement, as well as the length of the wings. I guess we will have to see what the CGI top of the house will look like before we can make any more judgments, and that probably won't happen until after the film is shot. The paint scheme will give us some insight, though. I am anxious to see new developments in this beautiful looking "mansion".
As for the sceenplay, I'd imagine that the backstory, or at least the first part of it, will take place before the full opening credits. [spoiler]The Collinses will be leaving England on their ship and once they arrive in America[/spoiler], we will most likely see the very familiar shot of the waves below the cliffs of Widows Hill. After said shot, we will probably be introduced to Collinwood under the reign of [spoiler]Barnabas Collins[/spoiler], leading up to the curse and entombment. All in all, I imagine it will be VERY short in comparison to the present day story. You may see flashbacks to the present throughout, as was suggested before, but the initial trip to the past shouldn't extend much beyond 10 minutes, imo. Our main characters would appear to be Barnabas and Angelique, and that is who most of the attention in the past will be devoted to (at the beginning). Josette will probably play a part in the initial backstory, but, we will probably hear most of her tale fleshed out when Barnabas meets Victoria.