On Trend: Bold and Black Exterior House Color

Studio178 I think black is one of the colors that the house can be blended well with the surrounding, especially for houses with a lot of trees around.

It is also a elegant color of something luxury.

Rough Linen I wonder about solar gain ~

Hugh Wolfe I'm thinking that a black, or even a dark colored home is much better suited to a northern climate for the simple reason of soaking up the suns heat.. I remember living in Phoenix and you would NEVER see a dark home. Vehicles yes... some people just never learn :)

rumahsaya We recently painted our house dark (almost black) brown after adding a modern style addition to the existing California ranch house. It really pulled the two parts together and this fall when the pistache trees and maples in front turned a range of brilliant reds and oranges it looked fantastic! The rest of the year things like flax, bamboo and lemon trees in colorful/earthy ceramic pots surround the house, softening the intensity of the dark walls.

pariscafe I saw the Seattle house and another painted black on my recent trip to US. Fabulous and so stylish. I stayed in a black or at least very dark grey house in Vancouver and loved it too. Would not work in Aus due to heat.

acharles While black homes may be novel in California, Scandinavians have been doing it for generations. The SF Victorian looks like jewelry with the semi-gloss paint bringing out the texture of its wonderful woodwork, but I doubt you could credit it with being the first of its kind!

renovationbloviatrix acharles is dead on. I spent my summer vacation in Denmark, where black is very popular and traditional for summer houses. Love it, but like so many other "trends", it's not really new.

davidadeb Black looks fashionable but coming from Australia like myself, it heats up buildings like an oven. Glen Murcutt wouldn't design black houses. Ok if you live in a cool climate.

oldquilt I am going to buck the crowd. I think they are ugly.

patricia beharry I think it is wonderful. Especially the second photo with the red door. My neighbour painted her trim black and it looked gorgeous at first, but living twelve degrees north of the equator, it wasted no time turning a dirty gray colour. So location is the indicator.

normpo I remember in 1968 in Pawtucket, RI, the people across the street painted their house black. I liked it! I was in 7th grade and so trendy. I remember telling everybody how fabulous it looked!

Javier Marquez Hi, new guy here. I like black interior design, but not so much exterior.

Evangeline Kho I agree with javier marquez, black is better for the interior, but exterior they are creepy...elegant maybe but scary elegant

Bluetime Collaborative I finally got a client who wanted a black house! I have always loved black houses - they seem so elegant

re_red I love the idea of a black house, but don't think it particularly works on the Spanish style house shown in the article. I can also see where it would not be practical in warmer climates.

wayne555211 They are all too much ...

Berneche2 Architecture Black is certainly elegant but I would recommend only for northern climates due to heat gain. And even so I would further recommend only for buildings using a ventilated rainscreen cladding principle. There is talk about changing the iconic Sears Tower (I refuse to say Willis) from black to a lighter reflective color for energy savings.

Bluetime, interesting house, very commercial looking and not something every client would warm to, no pun intended. The metal will be a nice lower maintenance material. Traditionally I know darker metals were more susceptible to UV fading. My two cents, what makes the black to me here is the very nice contrast with the wood clad wing in the foreground.

DK interiors In both home fashion and high fashion, black is certainly the fast track to a dynamic result. However, in clothing it has also been heralded as having a slenderizing effect, minimizing size. Not having seen the before pictures of these homes, I would question whether a black exterior really does make the home seem larger; it is counter to the conventional wisdom - brights seem larger and darks recede. Think of a painting of a face, the forehead is highlighted, and the hollows under the cheek bones are shaded.

WindowWorks Design I really like the look of these black and grey exteriors, but I am not so sure that they will work in the South Florida sun and heat where I live.

garydean Black is interesting but isn't gray suppose to be easy on the eye?

Allison Howell I would consider doing this to our house (which is a contemporary stucco style house). And I would use white trim. But I would be worried about the fading. Anyone have any thoughts on that factor?

Linda Foss That is a bad trend. Homes should be as lightcolored as possible unless perhaps completely shrouded in trees or other vegetation.

These people are making the home, the urban environmant and the planet hotter. Which means everyone will waste more electricity further polluting the planet. I don't get it. Hundreds to thousands of years ago, people all over the Mediterranean are were smart enough to white wash buildings. What's the matter with people today?

Ingrid I think a lot of those houses look terrible and some look like prisons. A black house with wood AND loads of white trim could be nice but black on black. Yuck!

mcbriec To my surprise, I really liked the black on the modernist designs. And to my greater surprise, I even liked it on the traditional designs which had lots of white trim. However, I thought it was absolutely horrible on the Spanish style house.

As for concerns about fading, the darker the color, the more paint fading will show. That's why painters frequently recommend not going too dark because faded dark is like faded black jeans, not good.

Le Chic Maison Black/dark grey is hot in Los Angeles for sure. Here is a house we designed for a real estate investor where we used a near black color for the exterior. It was a huge hit, even featured in Yahoo is the best started home in Southern California.

kellystevens I've seen quite a few black, near black, deep charcoal, gray etc. houses lately in my neighborhood too, and I really love the look when the paint has a warm undertone. Cool gray/black (battleship type of gray) with no brown in the mix looks really off against the landscape. Also people need to consider the roof color - so often ignored when choosing paint color, but it makes a huge difference.

I was told by the paint store pros that dark paints don't last nearly as long as lighter colors. Not only does black have more heat gain for the house interior, but the paint itself gets hotter so it breaks down, chips and wears much faster. In the end I went with Davenport Tan siding, Mink trim and Mulholland Yellow doors. And it cost SO MUCH to paint the house, I hope I don't have to do it again for at least 10 years.

Karol RUTH I think black is suitable for office buildings, and if the house just as surely in the Nordic region. I can not imagine the heat on the terrace of the house on the first photo

A. Peltier Interiors I love black houses! Although i am a little more traditional than the above houses. They just look so cool with a red door and crisp white trim!!

Nancy Dawson I would hate to have to repaint. Can you imagine how many coats it would take?

patscats2 No thank you.

patricia beharry Just thought of something re. the environment. Being of African decent my skin is black, Do you think I am responsible for global warming??????? LOL. I do have a Bold and Black exterior.

Rose Construction, Inc. It looks like the house where Darth Vader lives.

Kimberly Hicks Looks very stylish, but would be completely impractical in smoking hot Dallas. I can't imagine what my electric bill would be in the summer. It's already ghastly enough.

Bluetime Collaborative Black houses are fairly traditional here in New England although you don't see that so much anymore. On a new house, if you are building correctly with siding over a rain screen, the paint should last fine.

Sharon Erickson We painted our house black in 1978. IT'S BACK!!

tryeratryer I love the impact a dark or black colored house can produce. I have built a solar passive house in Australia, painted dark chocolate brown, with a north facing house and with the right design of eves in the summer the sun only touches the wall early morn and late afternoon( the west wall I have painted a lighter colour) and in the winter when the warmth is needed the sun shines directly on it and the windows, perfect.

anitajoyce love the black color on all these houses!

colleendaniel Eye-catching and interesting. What would the black exterior look like in Spokane's dusty, still, late summer air? Or after one of our eastern Washington dust storms?

Real Estate Agent Painting a house in South GA with raise the temperture 20 degrees and utility bill 50%.

ACS Design Build Group It may be stylish, for a moment, but not in California, unless in highlands, on a northern slope or in the shadow of a larger building. The heat of near desert sun will bleach the black and chalk it. The heat a black finish absorbs will expand any ceramic or stone underlayment excessively. Unless well thought through, grout lines and plaster will crack; patterned applications will lose any precision in a geometric design. Notions of luxury seem a waste in this era of Earth appreciation, so much so that even geometric design and color of buildings should involve the textures of a greened urban/suburban future. On the other hand, I'd like to work solar panels into the exterior finish of something conceived of as a black statement. Then, it's almost a permaculture play.

ACS Design Build Group PS: Above, you mention that black fits Spanish or Mediterranean styling... so wrong on so many levels LOL.

CAROLE MEYER I would not have thought that black could look so fabulous on a house....on many houses actually......dramatic....love it!

renochickee The fourth to last house shown, with the wooden screening is very cute but the effect is lessened by the uninspired planting--cookie sheet rows of grasses. How dreary.

tsudhonimh I would worry about fading making my edgy house look like an old heavy metal t-shirt.

akar engneers i don't like black house

lynnjurg I would LOVE to paint my house black but I live in Florida and my neighbors, friends and husband would think I have completely lost it!

kafehausdiva As snappy as this seems, it is NOT a good choice for Florida as black draws in heat.

Tresia Biagi Not shabby at all!

carolkav This modern house does indeed look fantastic all black, and the principle would work equally well using all white. With this contemporary house in particular the eye would still be forced to focus on the design and the contrast with the greenery would be even sharper.

cccinc well that was the worst pictorial i have ever seen

Lauren Actually, I know of a house in Everett, Washington that was painted black even before 2007. I can't take a picture of it and post it because it does not belong to me.

cccinc Not the color I am responding to, its the lack of contrast, no visual stimulation. My company does color consulting for commercial and residential exteriors for the last 35 years and this is the worst example of exterior color I have ever seen, not a good example of creative use of color.

cccinc black with visual stimulation

Bluetime Collaborative I wonder if the like /dislike thing has anything to do with introvert vs extrovert? An introvert would seek to minimize visual stimulation and find the monochromatic approach appealing regardless of the color. I am also starting to notice, over the past few days, that there are a lot of black buildings here in Vermont.

Fusion Interiors These house remind me of the black house in Chiang Rai in Thailand. Check it out...amazing architecture. I think Black houses work in some places but in hot areas they really create more of the heat island effect due to their very dark color especially if the roofs are dark. In Nordic regions it works, but in warmer regions even in our area where we have cold winters but hot summers, this house could create much more heat i just due to the exterior color.
Check out this link for more interesting info on heat island effect. www.epa.gov/heatisld/resources/pdf/GreenRoofsCompendium.pdf

managn I am actually changing our white brick for a smoothe black brick. I love it when I see homes with black brick and soft lights all around. It adds a lot of luxury to the home.

colleendaniel Fusion Interiors, thank you for giving us the EPA resource site!

Tresia Biagi i totally agree, you have to look beyond the black exterior. being opening minded comes to term.

sarstin We recently painted our dull, battleship gray house black with white trim. It looks fresh, modern and new. We added a bright green front door and lime green flower pots from Crate and Barrell for accent. We've received many positive comments. The colors we used were New Black from Lowe's (mixed at Home Depot in Satin finish) and Caterpillar Green for the door.

Carlos Olivas While vacationing in Iceland, saw Icelandic singer Bjork's house and its black. very cool.

Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel I think black looks great on the minimalist, sculptural buildings, but fairly 'Stephen King', as you put it, on traditional architecture, at least the examples shown. I have seen a very dark ink or indigo blue used on traditionals with white trim, and it's gorgeous.

Mackenzie Austin Design Hey Natalie, do you think you could ask your neighbours what material they used to clad the front of their house in photo #9? LOL
Would love to use it on my own home accented with cedar!

Sonja Dieterichs I think it would be gorgeous if your house were in the Northern region. I loved the last black house amongst all the white snow, all about the contrast.

linderella A few of the examples are very appealing but I too have concerns re the heat effect. A caution about dark paints on stucco is the bleeding issue if the stucco has not been properly cured. In Florida this is a common occurrence. From an aesthetic perspective the dark paint can be off-set with a light colored (and energy compensating) roof and light trim with bright accents (such as a front door). I've also seen beautiful examples of bright colored homes but you must be aware of the surrounding neighborhood before picking certain colors.

Ted Hunt I like Grey but not black

Hel Loader All this talk over solar gain and damage to the planet... does this mean you have ditched the car and now cycle everywhere?

Down here in the southern hemisphere (under the ozone hole where the sun is truly dangerous), dark grey / charcoal seams to be the colour of choice at the moment. But if you are painting a timber weatherboard house make sure you use a reflective undercoat and quality paint otherwise you can have problems with the boards warping.

The old style black houses were often a raw timber painted in a tar based product to protect the house and great for harsh conditions such as salt wind (or indeed snow - not that we see much of that down here).

Colour is a really personal thing and sadly too many of us don't put the time into selecting a hue that suits their house, garden and neighborhood. It's good to remember most of these buildings are someones home and I think it is great that some of us branch out and try to ensure the exterior of our home reflects the property (and our own) character.

bubbs5 Black paint, any brand in the sunlight will look like a poor quality paint job.

Andy Hurvitz Not a great idea to paint your home black in Los Angeles, especially when it's 110 degrees outside. Sort of negates all the "green" and "eco-friendly" BS from Better Shelter.

mnoswad1 The comments about a black house being less than practicable are absolutely correct, yet most roof shingles are by in large a dark color......the roof taking up a majority of the solar exposure, so i would not have a problem painting the siding of a house dark.

In new construction, i would specify a rain screen type of wall sheathing and use high flow vented channels under the roof sheathing. Noticing that the west coat doesn't build with vented roof assembles because of fire prevention, but that could help reduce the solar gain.

renovationbloviatrix I think it goes without saying that you would paint a house black in a geographical area that is cool, such as Denmark, which is not coincidentally a place where the traditional color for a summer house is black. So everyone from LA can just take a break here; no need to post anything about how impractical it would be to use black paint. I wouldn't do it in South Florida, either. Nonetheless, it is a nice choice if your climate is appropriate and you like it.

Bowden Carroll Design Very, very chic in the right setting

sshopa If your house has the right bones, it can look fabulous. Having lived in a dark chocolate house in the woods, can I just say you'll be seeing endless spider webs!