Renovations on our 90-year-old craftsman house continue, as it goes from being the brown house to becoming the blue house. The old layers of paint are getting scraped off and slowly, the blue is going up. The trim is going from yellow to creme and accent colors of a creamy orange well soon go on all the old window sashes. It’s all being done by hand with a brush, versus getting sprayed on with painting machines. The garage rebuild is done and the custom oak carriage doors are amazing.
The renovations are more like restorations. And we are fortunate to have our dedicated contractors, Clinch River Custom Builders, who are passionate about historic restoration. I was reminded of this on Thursday when I looked on the front page of our local paper and found a feature story on one of the men who is doing some of the work at our house.
Jacob Burgette, who works for Clinch River Custom Builders, was featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel for restoring the windows at the historic Wartburg Presbyterian Church. He is also helping to restore some of the windows and historic details at our house.
The huge, floor-to-ceiling, 9-foot windows are a major part of our home’s heart and soul. They have the original wavy, single pane glass. They are not energy effient and it’s cold standing next to them in the winter. But I love them and and I wouldn’t dream of changing them. In total our house has 40 windows! This is according the painter who has carefully taken note of the accent painting and restoration work needed on them.
Like the newspaper article points out, in today’s era it is rare to find these old, original custom built windows. As well as the owners who are taking the time and expense to restore them versus replace them with cheaper, factory built ones so easily available today. I’m so glad to say we are one of these rare folks going the extra mile for the love of an old house.
Here’s a few glimpses into the changes happening. As our old house (and our dog living in it) smiles down on us.
Here’s a link to the final post, of the big Blue House Reveal.
I love the color choice…I will take credit for choosing it 🙂 since in my mind it always looked blue to me from the first picture I saw of your house way back when. Looks so fresh. Love the garage doors!
Love the transformation of your house! It looks beautiful and it’s so lucky to have found such a caring owner in you!
We are working up our courage to change the exterior color of our 99 y/o two story vernacular with a hint of Bungalow in historic Springfield in NE Florida – the husband loves blue and I had my heart set on green but I -do- like the blue you chose for your house. Any chance you would share the secret of your paint color scheme with us?
Cheers from Florida!
-Micha
I’ve had a few people within the last year email me about what paint colors we used.
So, for all those interested, here it is.
The colors are Benjamin Moore colors, form the Benjamin Moore paint store. The blue is Hale Navy. The creme trim is Barely Beige and the accent color on the windows and beams is Roxbury Carmel.