Today the house regained more of its dignity! Jim has been rehabilitating two of the beautiful — but very decrepit — porch supports off-site, and they have now recovered fully. It was time to bring them back!
Jim has built one of his infamous impromptu scaffolds to start work on the water-damaged roof rafters. As you can see, there is no trace of the former dip which once marred the roofline of the porch; Jim has straightened it out!
Another important discovery is less happy; the brackets seen above appear to have originally painted the same color as the background they are attached to… a kind of Sage Green. I like the Sage, but wish the brackets had been emphasized more. When I get all of the colors and their locations nailed down, I’ll do a conjectural sketch with colored pencils. I will be interested in your feedback!
you originalists drive me crazy. if you think it would look nicer in green, paint the goddamn thing green. just because the guy that built the place 135 years ago had no taste doesn’t mean you have to continue a run of bad taste. you’re not restoring Biltmore or Laurelton Hall. I don’t think the owners will look at it and say “oh, if those cornice brackets were the same boring color as the wall, it would look so much better”. get real
Have no fear! I’m not as much of a purist as you think… in an earlier post I reserved the right to alter the colors if I didn’t like the palette as it was originally. But we both like the colors we are finding. I might make some subtle adjustments to refine their distribution if needed, but I still want to document what was there originally simply because I find it fascinating. I won’t be replicating anything that I find to be blatantly tasteless!
The contrasting moldings flanking the brackets you refer to might visually crowd the brackets… that could be one reason the brackets were not emphasized. After I do my color rendering on paper I will ask for feedback, but have no problem tweaking the original colors in order to achieve a more refined and attractive look!
I like some variety in color scheme, but have been drifting towards a “less is more” mentality over the years. The temptation to paint every exciting ornate detail can be strong, but it doesn’t always look better. Sometimes letting the geometry speak for itself in a more subtle way is better.
Granted, Italiantes and Victorians don’t look good in monochrome (e.g. white), but a garish painted lady isn’t necessarily better.
In the end, it’s always your place, and paint on a wooden house is temporary and reversible, so do what makes you happy! I’m excited to see how you progress in your journey of decision!
I agree that less often is more… especially on houses of Gothic inspiration (but more is always more on an over-the-top Queen Anne!). Another factor complicating the decision-making process is the fact that the house is not pure stylistically; it’s a vernacular house with some fun Gothic Revival porches and quirky gables. If I get too colorful the Gothic vibe will be diminished; I really want it to be kind of dark and mysterious like this delectable house recently posted for supporters only on Old House Dreams.
There are actually four colors seen on the house, but they are so compatible and used so judiciously that it almost feels monochromatic. My goal is to have the house look more like that than a typical “Painted Lady”.
Fortunately, I have almost a whole year to contemplate colors!
This is thrilling work. Congrats. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Thanks! It’s fun to work on… Jim will be working on the porch soffit today and I will continue scraping and repairing the cornice of the bay window. I’ll be posting about some interior details soon!
I LOVE that you have those paint samples in the built in! Yes, you can do the colors you want in the end, but I too find it fascinating. I love the labels as well. Keep up the good work. It was just the “deep breath sigh” I needed this morning to see those porch columns back!
So happy to know that the porch has already made the world more tolerable for someone this morning! Also glad to know that my obsession with paint chips doesn’t strike everyone as odd!
Am enjoying the updates! And I get how discovering the color scheme is a fascinating historical journey. Wanting to re-create as much as possible what was done 135 years ago also makes sense since the color schemes back then evolved along with the architecture itself to make a cohesive whole. However, it doesn’t preclude making some innovations of your own if it helps to enhance the house’s design! Thanks as always for sharing.
Agreed; there’s no doubt that there is a close relationship between color and specific architectural styles. Since residential examples of Gothic Revival are exceedingly rare in my neck of the woods, I want to play up this aspect of the house — and color can help achieve that goal. From what I’ve seen of the original colors so far, I think that both A. J. Davis and A. J. Downing would approve of them! The only real mystery now is how the siding itself was painted. But that will have to wait until next year. It’s more fun this way… I’d rather have the secrets revealed slowly over time than all at once!