We live in a small neighborhood where all the houses are very similar (some 2-story, some 1, but basically the same architecture). They all have Spanish tile roofs in varying shades of red (most in dark red, a few in lighter), and most of the houses are painted tan though a few are other colors (blue, peach, etc.).
We’re going to need a new roof next year, and could use a coat of paint as well. What we’d like to do is replace the red Spanish tile with tile in another color (we’re thinking mostly darkish slate gray with a few lighter-gray tiles sprinkled throughout for interest) and paint the house either a nice medium-light gray with slate gray trim. Both the spouse and I think this would look great. Right now it’s peach with this ugly dark red-brown trim that neither of us like.
However…I’m just wondering, since every other house in the neighborhood has red tile–is that likely to cause us any problems? Will we be a more likely target for thieves because our house stands out? Will it affect the property values? (We don’t have an HOA and as far as I know there are no legal restrictions on what we can do–we could probably have a purple roof and green paint if we wanted to, so that’s not a problem). I don’t really think the paint will be an issue, but I’m a little concerned about the roof. I don’t much like red Spanish tile, but if it’s going to draw too much attention to us not to conform, I guess we’ll have to conform.
I’ll take a stab, since no one else has. And I’m going to go out on a limb here and say: it depends.
I think if you go for gray paint and gray roof tiles, you risk looking like a battleship. You don’t say where you are (I’m guessing California, Florida, or the Southwest), but it sounds to me like the other houses in your neihgborhood are a little bit more lively in terms of appearance. So in that sense, you would stick out a little. On the other hand, if your house is very similar architecturally to the others, that would reduce the sticking-out factor considerably. In any case, I wouldn’t worry that sticking out a little will reduce your property values or make you a target for theft. I even doubt you’d get complaints from the neighbors.
I would perhaps look for a way to get a brighter contrast color in there somewhere – either on the trim, or perhaps some other color of roof tile. Reddish gray, maybe?
You might want to make sure there isn’t a city ordinance requiring that (or something near that). In my city, all houses (at least new houses) must have a certain percentage of the front of the house be brick. Usually just a brick facade, but it still looks like brick. There’s also rules for where you can put a fence (can’t extend past the front of the house) and all kinds of other things. I doubt it’s the case for you, but it might be worth looking into. More then likely a devolper just bought up the land, had someone draw a house, built a whole bunch, then got a good deal on slate roofing and paint by keeping it all pretty much the same and just adjusting the dye for each house. As for social problems, I have no idea.
While you may not have a POA, there may be proffered conditions associated with the property that restrict the colors that can be used. I’d check with your local zoning office to find out.
Yeah, when we’re ready to get the work done next year, we’ll do that. I’m pretty sure that there’s no problem with the paint color, though, as long as it’s reasonable (I was kidding about purple and green). Gray should be fine. It’s mostly the roof I’m concerned about.
If nothing from the municipality or any home owners asso holds you back, I say go for it. You obviously want to change things up. So do it.
I like your roof tile idea. For the house, are you talking siding, stucco, brick with wood trim, painted brick, or something else altogether? Instead of going all grey, consider using white or black (or a dark color) on the trim…
Nope, no restrictions as far as I know. (Definitely no covenant restrictions–the city might care if we painted it some bizarre color, but other than that I don’t think they give a damn).
We really like the roof tile idea too–I’m just hesitant to have our house stick out that much among its nearby neighbors. The house up the street is painted kind of a dark periwinkle/slate blue that I think is very pretty, but it really sticks out in the sea of tan.
You may want to keep resale value in mind. Potential buyers (should it ever come to that) may not want anything too out of the ordinary. You don’t want to limit the future pool of buyers.
Didn’t see this part before. It’s stucco, with a few decorative shingle things up front that the spouse wants to get rid of and I don’t care about as long as they get painted. So mostly stucco. And I do want to use a lighter or darker color on the trim–dark gray or a much lighter (almost white) gray.
Yeah, this is a good point–although we live in the SF Bay Area (Silicon Valley) and our house is one of the more “affordable” ones in a decent neighborhood (stop laughing! Something in the $675-715K range is considered “affordable” around here…) so I’m nottoo worried about resale value. What we’re planning will definitely be tasteful–just slightly different than most of the rest of the neighborhood.