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Homes December 15, 2021
To paint or not to paint? ALEX ROGALS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A house on Linden Avenue in Oak Park had contrasting bands of brick and stucco on the first and second floors (below), but now has a uniform dark palette following a new paint job (above).
Local brick homes not immune to paint trends By LACEY SIKORA
A
Contributing Reporter
ccording to home décor websites such as Houzz and Better Homes and Gardens, hot colors for home exteriors include black, charcoal gray and white. A click of the remote control to any popular home design programming will show you that painting an older brick home white or black is an instant upgrade to a more modern look. While the trend may seem more suitable to contemporary homes rather than our historic housing stock, a slow drive around Oak Park and River Forest reveals that painting brick is catching on here, even on houses in
historic districts. Architect and former chair of Oak Park’s Historic Preservation Commission Christopher Payne says of painting brick, “There are so many issues here. Preservation, aesthetics, technical issues.” He says that the village Historic Preservation Commission has not adopted exterior paint color standards. “Secretary of the Interior Standards call for not painting brick and for using historically appropriate colors, but we didn’t adopt that part of the standards, so Oak Park does not regulate painting or paint color,” Payne said. “The sad part of this is that so much See PAINT on page B4
COURTESY © VHT STUDIOS
December 15, 2021 ■ Wednesday Journal/Forest Park Review
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