Color of roof and gutters for red brick mid century ranch?
Trying to decide on roof shingle / gutter / shutter and trim color for our 1960’s ranch. We are considering limewashing the brick, so want something that could work with both our red brick and a neutral light gray limewash (like Romabio Nube Gray.)
1. Roof/Gutter: We like the Owens Corning Estate Gray shingle and a dark bronze or medium gray gutter and downspout. There is a prominent retaining wall that bisects the house (that we love!) and want to bring some of that gray to the color scheme. (See below for color of retaining wall and gratuitous cute puppy shot that shows the color/texture of the wall a bit better.)
2. Shutters - We will be removing shutters and either leaving them off or replacing with something not white.
3. Trim - we are torn as to whether or not we need to paint the trim white or something darker to make the gray or bronze gutters/downspout work? We will replace windows in a few years but want everything to look cohesive while we save up for the windows.
4. Doors (Front, Storm and Garage) - we are considering a deep royal blue front door, dark bronze storm door and deeper color on garage door as well (SW Urbane Bronze or something a little lighter to go with mortar.)
I keep trying to visualize but it’s hard to do with so many changes at once!
Here‘s a pic with the two gutter material choices we like. In this picture the estate gray reads very blue/green - does not look like that in real life!
And one with the roof shingle samples in front of the house:
Any thoughts or feedback? Especially concerned with roof, trim and gutter/downspout colors right now but open to any suggestions on the overall theme!
Comments (14)
tob123
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoAlthea Kearney
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Wonderful mid-century ranch
Comments (22)Well, I'll respectfully quibble, bev27. It's mid-century contemporary, but with a Prairie influence (low slung horizontal lines, series of casement windows, massive hearth to anchor the room, the materials & colors used) rather than international influence (glass boxes) or the California atomic age contemporary that we think of when we think of MCM. I saw these types of homes in the midwest when I was growing up in the 60s, which is when I first fell in love with them. The wealthier class built similar houses in the posh section in my town. They were considered chic in their day, though even by the 60s they were no longer in vogue (and the wealthier class moved on to newer, more chic developments -- split levels & ranches with board & batten siding). I loved the tawny brick low-slung beauties as a kid, and love them now. Anyway, I'd certainly classify it as a type of mid-century modern house. It's not of the mainstream Early American Fantasy school of design and it's not a massed produced box either. My 1956 MCM in NOLA was similar, but not as large or luxurious. (And yes, the previous owner was a stone & tile dealer!)...See Morecolor help for mid century ranch
Comments (6)You are smart to del with all those issues first I like gutters that disappear so the color of the roof would be my choice. The soffits, since the windows will be white I would do the soffits white . I would wait to decide the other color until the new windows are in those will make a big difference in how that space feels. Great house congratulations I love 50”s ranchers I have one. I use solar shades for my west facing windows for heat and UV control but the overhang on the South on my place keeps out the summer sun and allows the winter sun to heat the house ....See MoreMid Century Ranch Plain Jane Curb Appeal Challenge.
Comments (22)It looks like the landing area needs some work, but I will leave that for other better qualified people to comment on. My first impression was those awful white downspouts on the front of the house. You should consolidate those downspouts so that you end up with one long run of gutter across the front and one downspout the Left End where it is less noticeable. It's an inexpensive job and would make a big Improvement visually. I did this on the back side of my house where four small downspouts were consolidated into one larger one. (This not only looked much better but it made it easier for me to route the water away from the house, since my neighbor's driveway is only a few feet away on that side.) If it were my house I would paint the downspout to blend in better with the house color....See MorePaint or Siding for my mid century ranch?
Comments (9)I can't even imagine siding with your house. I would embrace your roof and the texture on the front and paint it a nice warm creamy white very similar to what you already have. As suggested above, I think if you could find a way to recolor your beautiful brickwork, it would looks fabulous! It seems to be in good shape. Remove those railroad ties and if that is juniper, pull it out too. The purple plant is fabulous and should remain a focal point. Either regrade so the mulch is contained by the edge of the brickwork or add brickwork to match the circular bed in the foreground. Add a nice low rustic bench under the window (maybe something in a metal tone similar to your trim). Make it homey with some pillows and add another tall pot by the front door. For the garage I would check out CHI doors. They are the most realistic I've found. Ours are in walnut and I think would look amazing with your house. https://www.chiohd.com/garage-doors/studio/planks...See MoreAlthea Kearney
3 years ago
PROBeth H. :
3 years agoi like the dark roof choice.
as for the downspout, since all of the windows and trim are bright white, I think it works.
they did bronze here, but notice the bronze windows, some trim and the darker garage doors. also, the white is more of a creamy rather than a bright white.
if you want to redo all of the trim to bring the bronze, that would work too.
Althea Kearney
3 years ago- PRO
Beth H. :
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoIf the only thing on that house in that bronze color is the downspout, then I think it's going to look a little odd. you need something else w/that color to tie it all together.
Could you do all of the rain gutters in the bronze? BTW, I like the darker one.
The putty one is too brown, the gray one is ok, but again, what else on the house is gray?
I think if you did the darker bronze, Painted the shutters that same dark bronze, along with your garage door, then the downspout would work.Look at Iron Ore or Urbane Bronze
this just shows the red brick like yours with the dark trim around the windows and a medium warm gray garage door.
the other option is to do black shutters, black garage door, (but you need some hardware or windows with it) and maybe a black or red front door
here's a shot with a warmer gray colored garage door with glass inserts.
this one shows a greige color (like Revere Pewter). At the very least pick up this carriage hardware and add it to your door. it's cheap and easy. (Amazon, iron hardware)
bright white w/black and black roof.
Althea Kearney thanked Beth H. : Althea Kearney
3 years agoAlthea Kearney
3 years agoAlthea Kearney
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoHello Houzz folks - wanted to give a quick update on our project and maybe ask for a little more advice. We put off our roofing project (yay 2020!) but are about to pick it up again. In the meantime we have made some other changes inspired in part by this very thread, so it only feels right to share!
First, we painted our garage door Urbane Bronze as suggested by one of the commenters here. We LOVE what it does to ground the front facade of our ranch and it really brings up the darker brown and black in our brick. Please pardon the crappy photos (and the overgrowth!) in this picture, which was taken as the first coat of paint was drying. Looked even better after the second coat!
(No idea why this picture keeps coming in sideways!)Next we tackled the front door situation. I'd always wanted a vintage solid wood MCM door to match the age of the house. A friend found a PERFECT fit at a local Restore several years ago, and I finally got around to rehabbing it. After many hours sending, several tubes of wood filler, new glass and some paint, we had a vintage deep blue 3 lite door with black hardware. I'll update with a picture of our finished product later, but the color we used was Salty Dog by Sherwin Williams, which looks absolutely beautiful against the brick and the bronze storm door.
Here's the Salty Dog color:
And our door is similar to this:
So now we will finally get around to the roof to wrap this all up!Althea Kearney
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoSo... Question time! Now that we have brought more deep bronze tones throughout, I think we have decided on an Owens Corning Duration roof in the color Black Sable.
My question is.... Should we keep the gutters and trim white?
Windows are white, soffits are currently white and we will be removing the shutters altogether.
We were thinking that maybe a softer grey or greige might work, but we like the white as well.
Thoughts?
trinity_2010
2 years ago
Althea KearneyOriginal Author