Walkway for old farmhouse

13 years ago

I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on pavers or what material to use for a walkway for our house. It is sided it a creamy yellow with a red, metal roof that at times, has an orangey look to it. It looks terrible right now. My husband wants to use brick, but I am not sure how that will look with the red, metal roof. To me, gray looks the best. We arenÃ¯Â¿Â½t sure we want to go to the expense of flagstoneÃ¯Â¿Â½We tried beige colored sandstone and it just looked washed out. If anyone is willing to help with this (I know without a picture it's hard), I can e-mail you my kodakgallery link. I haven't figured out to include a photo her. :-) Thanks again!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

DavidR
13 years ago
What are the style and age of your house? That might suggest something that's stylistically appropriate.
Carol_from_ny
13 years ago
When we moved into our 1830 Federal style house the walkway was cut stone slabs. I wouldn't call it flagstone because they were inches thick and very large. You could see the chisel marks on the edges. A few of them needed four very big men to move them.
The walkway was laid not more than two feet from the front of the house. in a very straight line. You could see into the rooms on the first floor as you walked the walkway. I didn't like that so we dug them all up, set them aside and when we get to the landscaping on that side of the house we will relay them but farther away from the house.
Related Discussions
Metal roof color for new "old" farmhouse
Q
Comments (28)
oaktown, would you message me your house photo or post it again? For some reason, I can't see it on here. I am in the same dilemma as nchome143. We are building a white farmhouse and I have no idea which silver or grey color to use. I hope to have white windows, weathered brick base, and possible wood front porch beams but will go with white ones if needed. I really need some help in deciding this roof color. I dont want it so bright and light, that is doesnt show up. I really just want a silver that is a shade or two darker than my white house.. I suspect the reason so many of us struggle with choosing the correct grey/silver is because pics can be deceptive since these metal roofs seem to change color with the sunset. I still would appreciate any photos, updates, ect ect thank you
...See More
Just purchased a 150 year old farmhouse
Q
Comments (22)
Depends on the current condition of the house and how willing you are to do any needed work on it. Do you see yourselves as caretakers restoring the house or want to remuddle it? Are you will to wait a year and learn what the house needs? These are all things I've learned over the years of having a nearly 200 year old house.
...See More
Working to Make This Old House More Modern Farmhouse
Q
Comments (42)
Seeing this late, but I particularly like the allocation of wall-take-down assessment to a builder, I'm surprised you didn't go further and say designer instead of architect, haha. Very nice house and still good for a laugh. I'm always so sad when you see cute old houses for sale or on TV that have been reduced to white-washed, wallless shells of their former selves. Some of those people on house hunters and flipping wherever make such horrid suggests for how they could make a cute house theirs.
...See More
What color roof, trim and stucco paint for this old farmhouse?
Q
Comments (5)
And other than a classic red or classic blue, I'd go with a classic yellow with white trim, or yellow with a mix white and sage green trim. :)
...See More
oldhousegal
13 years ago
I had the same concern with my house. Didn't want to put anything in that wouldn't look period appropriate, but that was durable and wouldn't clash with future paint colors (started out blue-grey, now is yellow). I went to a local company and looked at all their products. I've enclosed a link for one here. Most of these paver companies make a paver that looks aged like this. Since we've had a rainy winter, the cracks have moss in them, and look like they've been there as long as the house!

Here is a link that might be useful: Old style pavers
slateberry
13 years ago
I love the look of flagstones: to me it can have a very cottagey feel. I haven't seen your house so not sure if that's best. I also like bluestone and granite. Also, have you considered crushed stone or pea gravel? There is one local company that installs them in an ashpalt bed in a way that you can't really see the asphalt, but the stone is fixed so you don't end up with a yard full of rocks when you shovel your walk. Not sure if there are issues with that type of installation but it might be something to consider.

In defense of brick paths, I consider them to read "neutral" in color even though they are usually reddish. So, if it helps your marriage, it's not the end of the world if you end up taking that path (pun intended!).

Here is a link that might be useful: how to post photos on gardenweb
karinl
13 years ago
I also think the brick could look quite good, stunning even, depending on the shade of red and brick.

I don't like random cut flagstone for old houses. It's a modern look. I also don't like it for front walkways; I prefer something square, rectangular, regular. I think it's because it looks for formal.

I've seen a lot of concrete paver installations at old houses that I like, and bigger square-cut stone is good too, or concrete slabs. The big slabs are hard to handle though, and you have to factor in what you can do.

Concrete pavers often come in a variety of colours including a darker brown.

KarinL
antiquesilver
13 years ago
Whether traditional brick (use old pavers if possible) or natural flagstones, dry laying will soften the look & adding small ground cover type plants between stones will be appropriate for a farmhouse. Nothing screams "new, new, look-at-me" like mortar joints.
lesterd
13 years ago
Our old house is brick and reddish/orangish with specks of black iron throughout. We laid a brick paver walk and it's made of vintage street bricks. We live in an urban area and finding them took some time, because we acquired some at a time, but we felt it was worth the wait. We love our path.