Painted ladies.....

Painted ladies...

November 20th -- As a child growing up in San Francisco I loved the Victorian houses that were so colorful and brightly painted.  The locals would call these magnificent houses, "Painted Ladies."  I would dream of the day when I would live in one of my very own.  Although that particular childhood dream did not turn into reality as I haven't lived in San Francisco since I was 22, my preference for old houses continues.  True to the Victorian style, here is my own version of a Painted Lady.

It will begin snowing later this evening, so today's bright sun provided a good opportunity to show off the newly painted exterior and to compare the newly painted house to images taken at the start of this project in May, as shown in the next few photos.

Note that the south side upper-level dormer now has an overhang, which it did not have when it was originally built.  The architect wanted to correct this feature since the first day he saw it because it was making his eyes twitch!

I love how the painters included the trim and accent colors at the point where the siding meets the brick (see below) and that the doors are all painted in "blue gaspe."

Another really nice touch is that the architect ordered the three wooden brackets shown below since the soffit overhangs at the southwest corner of the house are larger than usual to help control for the summer sun's heat.  We will leave the brackets in natural wood to match the natural wood timbers that frame the covered deck off the master bedroom.  The painter will put a clear coat stain over these wood elements.

These photos show the base, accent and trim colors on the north side of the house.

The colors of the house seem to change depending on the angle of the sun.  For example, here is the morning sun hitting the south side of the house (by the sliding doors to the left), which has made the brick base color appear more yellow than the brown on the front or east side of the house (shown in the photo to the right and below).

I  am very happy that the same painters who did the exterior of the house will be back after the drywall is done to paint the interior.  They are a wonderful group of young guys who are polite, friendly and have made very thoughtful and wonderful suggestions about painting the details of my own painted lady.