I ran across this postcard on the big auction site yesterday. It is a postcard of the Lutheran church behind my house back in what I am estimating to be the early 1960s. It is a great building with some wonderful mid-century architecture.
However, it isn't the church in the picture that I am most interested in. Do you see that little pink box to the left of the church sign? That's the Cul-de-sac Shack! Yes, I want this postcard because a sliver of my house appears in it. From the time that my house was built, until the vinyl siding was installed, it was known around the neighborhood as "the pink house". Personally, I don't think I would like the pink paint with the sandstone on the front of the house and the grey roof, but that isn't a decision for me to live with. I have found many signs of evidence around the outside of the house of it's pink origins. Pink paint splatters on the foundation, driveway, and a little place on the cement cap on the stone front. I do know that the original siding was of the board and batten style, which I do think would look good on the house. That doesn't matter though - I'm not getting rid of the vinyl. What do you think of the pink house, white trim and brown sandstone and grey asphalt shingle roof combination that was originally on the house? Personally, I feel that the way I have it today is a more attractive color scheme. I love that the roof matches the sandstone, and the yellow brings out some of the lighter color in the stone as well. Green, being my favorite color, was a natural for the shutters. I also found that the yellow and green colors used on the house are very close to the colors I have found on some mid-century exterior house paint chips.
Here's a close-up of the corner of my house in the postcard. You can also see the tree that was once in my front yard. I have found evidence of the tree (the ground is mounded there, and there is a hole where the stump rotted away). From the size of the tree, I am fairly certain that it was there before my house was built.
Also, here's a photo of the church that I took a few years ago. The style hasn't been changed, but an addition was added sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
Have a great week! I hope to post tomorrow with my weekend finds. So nice to have auction season starting back up again!
The church is awesome. I grew up going to what people called The Round Church - it's interesting how much modern architecture was used in churches. The PINK house... it's surprising as I look through my many mid mod era home magazines how many show model homes as pink. I knew it was a big color for interiors but it must have been fashion forward for exteriors too.
ReplyDeleteHow great that you have found a piece of history connected to your house. First off, I will say that I think your paint color choices are more harmonious than what was originally on the house. In my opinion, the color of the sandstone on the foundation needs to be complemented by the roof color, such as your brown roof does, or contrasted, by using something like a dark green shingle (in the way your green shutters adds a bit of contrast). But, the gray roof introduced another neutral that probably was not quite similar enough to the sandstone to complement it, and not quite different enough to give real contrast. As for the pink, while I am not a "pink" person, I have seen pink used effectively on the outside of houses, generally as trim. (A neighbor of mine has a ranch with orange brick, and she has pale pink trim and a purple door. Different, but it works.) But as a siding color, I think it wouldn't have worked so well on your house with the two different neutrals, sandstone and gray. Pink with gray is good, pink with brown is good, but pink with brown and gray probably just looked rather muddy.
ReplyDeleteMy last comment has to do with the siding itself. I love board and batten. I bet it was a good material choice with the sandstone, since both are rather rustic. But board and batten painted pink sounds off-kilter. Board and batten is a rustic look, and pink doesn't tend to be rustic!
My guess is that people sitting in that delightful church on Sunday morning find your house a rather pleasant object to gaze upon as they listen intently to the sermon. The pink siding would have distracted them, causing their minds to wander toward thoughts of strawberry milkshakes and pink bubblgum. So I'm sure the minister thanks you for changing the colors of the house.
So cool that you found a postcard with your house in it! I like your colors much better than pink!
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