Paint and Colors

Paint applied to the exterior of a building serves the dual purposes of protecting underlying building materials, most commonly wood, and helping to define a building’s aesthetic expression. There are some basic guidelines to consider when planning to paint or repaint a building within a local historic district. 

• asonry that has not been painted historically should not be painted. 

• Paint should not be applied in a way that obscures decorative features, such as moldings, trim, or eave brackets/dentils. 

• When removing deteriorated paint from wood surfaces, care should be taken not to damage the material below. The National Park Service’s Preservation Brief 10: Exterior Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork contains additional details on best practices for maintaining, removing, and applying new paint to exterior wood surfaces. 

The Detroit Historic District Commission provides a series of Color Systems that contain guidance on historically appropriate paint colors to apply on buildings within local historic districts. The color systems are organized by architectural style and listed below.  

Color System A - Mid 19th Century Vernacular
Color System B - Italianate, Second Empire, Gothic Revival, Stick, Shingle, Eastlake, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne/Romanesque, French Renaissance, Composite Victorian
Color System C - Colonial Revival, Neo Dutch Colonial,
Neo-Georgian, Post Depression-Colonial
Color System D – English Revival
Color System E – Prairie, Bungalow 
Color System F – Neo-Classical, Mediterranean 
 

It is not required to follow these systems, but they can serve as a project planning tool. If a property owner wishes to repaint their building according to the applicable color system, they may do so without HDC project review. If a property owner seeks to repaint their building in previously approved colors, the project also does not require HDC review. If a color scheme is desired that falls outside of what is recommended by the color systems, or new paint is proposed for a previously unpainted portion of the building, the HDC requires an application be submitted for project review. Please reach out to the HDC ([email protected]) if you are not certain which system is most applicable to your property.