Vieux Carré Color

Splendid Doorway in the Vieux Carré

Homes and other buildings in the old French Quarter of New Orleans, are a great mix of architectural styles and famously ornate ironwork balconies and galleries. But what really struck me most was the paint colors, particularly on the Creole cottages.  Bright, saturated, pastel, or faded:  they are displayed in fearless and exciting combinations, and when you line them all up they look great together.

This is no accident, as each house in the Vieux Carré must have its paint scheme approved by the Vieux Carré Commission,  a local government body that supervises all renovation and restoration in the area and provides resources and advice to building owners on the best way to preserve  and restore their treasures.  Their site contains an excellent explanation of the popular color schemes of  four distinct periods of building in the Quarter  from 1820-1920 (and many buildings are actually older than that) as well as other regulations and guidelines.  For example:

"  ... False "graining" was often applied to doors, but, in these cases, the wood imitated was usually figured oak, rosewood or maple. The practice of applying a clear finish to bare wood with the expectation that this will adequately imitate "graining" is prohibited. Graining should be done by skilled craftsmen." 
I, and hundreds of faux bois painters,  could not agree more.

Royal St: a bright coral house with "Paris Green" shutters

Bright yellow creole cottage with cornflower blue shutters

The Society of Gilders held its conference here late in October.  We started our week in the c. 1789 building known as Mme John's Legacy;  the street level doors open to the underside of the covered porch;  a note taped to one of them read merely "Gilders Upstairs" and to my great delight, there they were,  as promised. Gilders.  But I digress... 

Mme John's Legacy sporting its original 1789 color scheme

I had a marvelous week roaming around the city,  soaking up inspiration. What a great color collection this would make.  Of course it's been done.... some years ago, Sherwin-Williams made a collection of paint colors called "Vieux Carré Colors: Reflections of the New Orleans Historic French Quarter."   The palette was based on research done by the paint manufacturer along with the Vieux Carre Commission in the late 1960s.  It was re-issued briefly in 2003 but is, alas, no longer available.   However, my Sherwin Williams dealer tells me you may still get these colors made if you know their names, like Toulouse Street Green or Pontalba Rose.
 

Toulouse Street:  yep, that's green

Chartres Street:  I love this sunwashed gold and sea green palette:  
the upper floor of this house is painted a shade lighter, and all of the french doors are faux bois.

A larger collection of these pictures from "New Orleans in Color" I have  posted at Flickr.

all photos in this post by Lynne Rutter, October 2010

Lynne Rutter Studio

Modern Wallpaper of the 19th Century

The center hall of the Beauregard-Keyes House; reproduction circa 1860s wallpaper on its walls

This week I visited an old (by our standards) house in the Vieux Carré of New Orleans,  built in 1826, which has come to be known as the Beauregard-Keyes House, after its two most famous residents.

PGT Beauregard was the Confederacy's first and most brilliant brigadier general, and lived in this house in his post-bellum days,  from 1866-1868, while he was president of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad.   So years later when the building fell into disrepair, its famous tenant helped save the house by attracting the attention of the Daughters of the Confederacy who lobbied for its preservation. 

In the 1940s,  the famous lady novelist Frances Parkinson Keyes bought the house and restored it to its Beauregard-era glory, researching the original paint colors and having custom reproduction wallpaper made.   Keyes took excellent care of this house, wintered there for over 25 years, and eventually died there in 1970, leaving the property to a foundation.  It's now a museum to both the historic house,  and to the amazing woman who lived there later.
And of course it is now reputed to be haunted, so no doubt it is further protected by the spirits of those who came before.

I like the vivid wallpaper in the hall.   A bit odd, to see Victorian wallpaper imposed on Greek-Revival architecture but the mix does work for me for some reason.  It's scaled perfectly - this is a large print and needs to be, as the hallway is over 800 square foot with 14 foot ceilings. The caramel and teal palette, and bold design seem oddly modern to me.  

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Gilding in New Orleans

a wee cherub awaiting restoration at St Alphonsus Church, New Orleans

This week I am in New Orleans for the Society of Gilders conference, where a crowd of gold enthusiasts and gilding professionals  have gathered to take classes, share resources, and help restore the gilding of a beautiful old old church.

I spent an afternoon at the lovely old St Alphonsus Church,  cleaning and prepping parts of an altar, and hope to get back there later in the week to help finish those areas.  In the meantime,  I have been taking a thrilling class on verre eglomisé taught by the glittering Miriam Ellner.  If you don't know Miriam's work, please check out her website and prepare to be stunned. And I should also say that photos simply do not do this work justice.   Other workshops include manuscript illumination, paintmaking, frame restoration, as well as water gilding and other special techniques of the gilding arts.  

Do you like shiny objects?  Interested in learning more about how to make them even shinier? Join the Society of Gilders - a non-profit educational organization devoted to the art and craft of gilding.

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Indescribable Colors

Diamond St.  Victorian, color design by Lynne Rutter

 

The commisison to design a color scheme for this Victorian cottage in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood,  started with a request for something that looked elegant, and "not so cute."   I am hearing this request with some frequency  these days. 

 

before: a faded dusty-rose dollhouse

The Victorian Cottage is kind of like the Polly Anna of architecture. So upright and optimistic, so many opportunities for color - can they help but look a bit like doll houses?  Especially when they are painted dusty rose?  The previous paint job wasn't a bad color scheme at all, but it no longer suited the owners' feeling about their home.

My clients also directed me to a house they like in the area, that had recently been painted charcoal.   And they requested a red door.  I love red for front doors!  You know right away where the door is.  

I started by looking for the perfect charcoal for this location. In full afternoon sun, I wanted it to look like charcoal grey flannel, and not  shift too blue or brown in the bright light.  How apropos that the C2 color I found to use as our base is called "Savile Row."

Wedgwood Jasperware color trials, 1774

 

 

 

I was working on this color scheme about the same time as I was studying up on Wedgwood Jasperware, which had provided an inspiring solution to another facade I was designing.   

I also found this set of  Jasperware glaze trials fascinating. Wedgwood had also struggled with achieving just the right tan, just the right mauve...

Somehow I find myself wanting to use those indescribable colors more and more,   like mauve,   puce, asphaltum, taupe, feldgrau, basalt.

Will these color be getting popular again, or is it just me?

Expert painting by San Francisco Local Color.

All of the paints used on this house are by C2 Color.   

 

Color Consulting by Lynne Rutter 415.282.8820

Lynne Rutter Studio

A House Inspired by a Jasperware Teapot

Portland Blue and Cane  Jasperware Tea Set, by Wedgwood

Recently I had a request to do the colors for a Queen Anne townhouse in San Francisco where my good friends the Von Petrins had just bought the upper flat. Having worked with them on the interior I already knew they prefer a more minimal/contemporary/unusual treatment, and they had even suggested the house be painted entirely black, a growing trend in San Francisco.

The partner owners loved the Victorian style, but also wanted a deep color and directed me to houses painted dark blue with white trim. 

Raised in the 1920s to add a garage, the house is rather high off the sidewalk making the garage door a bit more obvious than the entry. So we discussed using a bright color on the doors to make them more visible.   The upper flat has white vinyl window units and I decided to just ignore them since they may be replaced soon.   The house had previously been painted pale gray and white,  in a way that de-emphasized the  ornament and flatted out the facade.    In fact it is patchwork quilt of different applied ornament, some original, some not.   I admit it, this one was a brain-teaser for me.    

How to make a daring, contemporary splash and still celebrate the Victorian ornament and have it all look cohesive?  The answer came to me while admiring a deep blue and ivory Wedgwood Jasperware teapot:  a lovely object that had 6 distinct  ornaments that look wonderful together, on a highly contrasting surface. Seemed to me a perfect solution! Rather than call out the details in different colors, ALL of the ornament can be the same color. 

So--- here is the result:

The Jasper house

Naturally we added a bit of gold leaf here and there, and we have a few details still  to do. But I am completely thrilled with it.  It's a traffic-stopping house and reflects well the personalities of its owners.

Paint by Sherwin-Williams

Are you a fan of Wedgwood too?  Read on----

•  - Wedgwood celebrating their 250th year!
•  - Wedgwood Prestige Arabesque Tea Set limited edition available here
•  - Tea with Claudia:  Claudia Juestal interviews Lord Wedgwood  
•  - At Home with Wedgwood: The Art of the Table Tricia Foley's new book celebrates Wedgwood design

You may call Lynne Rutter for color consulting:  415.282.8820

Lynne Rutter Studio