The Initial Reveal

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The tower in 1999. The house was painted white in the 1920s, and stayed as such for eighty years.

 

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The tower in March 2014. Sorry for the poor image. The tower was painted a blue-ish gray.

 

The tower in September 2014. The original colors have been recreated. All the window sashes are in the basement in various stages of restoration. The sashes are being painted black, the original color.

The tower in September 2014. The original colors have been resurrected. All the window sashes are in the basement (in various stages of restoration), and I installed plexiglass (temporarily) in the openings. The sashes are being painted black, the original color, and classic! Few people today do black sashes but a century ago black was pretty much the default color.

 

And fully revealed! Whoee!

And fully revealed! Whoee!

 

The west facade, November 2014. Workin' away!

The west facade, November 2014. Workin’ away!

 

 

15 Comments

  1. Kelly D on September 24, 2014 at 1:00 am

    Wow! So glad you went with the original colors, it’s turning out beautifully!

  2. Ross on September 24, 2014 at 2:43 am

    Kelly! Thanks for the kind words. I am glad you like the colors, too! It is a thrill seeing the original colors return after a century hiatus! NOTE TO OTHER READERS: Kelly has INCREDIBLE blog, and all about old houses.

  3. Betsy on September 26, 2014 at 2:32 am

    Gasp !!
    When I open these photos, my heart races. I am so thrilled this is happening, and am enjoying every post !

    • Ross on September 26, 2014 at 2:51 am

      Betsy, you made me laugh! Obviously, you are a kindred spirit!

  4. Meg@sparrowhaunt.com on September 27, 2014 at 2:56 am

    Your scaffolding is a work of art. As are your paint colors and house of course!
    I’m so pleased you started writing about your Cross House, makes me feel a tad less insane (although so jealous that it survived apartmenthood without being gutted).

    • Ross on October 13, 2014 at 1:48 pm

      Hi Meg! Do you have any kind of URL link to your house?

      • Meg@sparrowhaunt.com on October 13, 2014 at 2:46 pm

        yes, yes, I do… http://www.sparrowhaunt.com

        • Ross on October 13, 2014 at 4:01 pm

          Thanks Meg!

          And may I say: WOW!

          You have also just ruined my morning! I just spent an hour (which I do not have) pouring over your blog. Wow! WOW!

  5. Seth Hoffman on September 21, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    Wow, that looks incredible! The colors really do bring things out in the right way. There’s a Victorian in our neighborhood painted similar colors, but with a brick foundation. The limestone foundation on yours really looks great.

    I love the dark window sashes too. I used a very dark gray when I restored ours. It really highlights the depth of historic wood windows.

  6. Gabi on January 19, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    How many gallons of paint to do the whole house? Love the colors!!

    • Ross on January 19, 2017 at 7:29 pm

      I do not know how many gallons it will take. So far, I have used about 3 gallons of the trim color, and 8 of the wall color.

  7. Gena on August 12, 2017 at 11:31 am

    Beautiful! How were you able to determine the original paint colors? Scraping and color matching? I am so enjoying your blog which, like others, I discovered while reading OHD. I feel like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole, as I’m discovering a new and wonderous world of old home restoration. A place where fears and anxiety can be expressed as well as happiness and comradery.

  8. Lorrie Huey on March 24, 2019 at 4:30 pm

    Have you mentioned here anywhere how much it cost to build the house in 1894?

    • Ross on March 24, 2019 at 10:34 pm

      Yes, around $18K, Lorrie.

  9. Diana Lodge on April 8, 2020 at 4:07 pm

    What are those colors? They really just look right!

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