I like it as it was before, if you change the house color a would leave the columns in which they were color before.

Thanks Megen! I tend to agree!

So gorgeous - if you want a bright door, since your path is terracotta brick (reads orange) you might not fare well with geranium, but coral spice from ben moore could work. If you have a coral door, then I sort of think that the pale buttercream yellow on the main body of the house is still the best pastel - and I love the white. But you could use something in the green family as an accent piece for some of the gingerbread to call more attention to them - like bm wind chime. http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/coralspice or test coral buff too -
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/windchime

Of the pastels there are for a cottage siding wise, I'm not feeling blue, though some of the muted blue green grays are lovely, it doesn't feel historic except on the door unless you go deeper - something like knoxville gray. Pink is too well . . girly, unless you are in the bahamas or coastal florida and ready to make a statement. Coral can work on the body but it is a bold move. Yellow and Green have the advantage of bringing in elements of nature, sunlight, the garden . .
if you want a change a pale spring / mossy green would be darling but then I think you want to stay with a blue-green or yellow door. SW bees wax / BM Da Vinci's Canvas is a proven historic stronger yellow door color . . . bm soft fern is in the right family if you want to head green . . you could start testing around there, but spanish olive might be the loveliest for its muting and natural resonance . . .
I think staying with the creamy soft yellow and white, but adding your own favorite bright door with a little green highlights on just a few of the gingerbread elements might be your favorite. (the donuts at the top of the posts where the filigree to the right and left starts, just one element on the trim at the peak - like the inside triangle of the filigree so it stands off a bit more / the sides of the cross or the cross bar but not the tip .. . you can see the detail better than i - maybe the fascia has two levels and the thing next to the roof stays white but the thing the filigree comes out of goes green? / / something small just to draw the eye to the detail . .

I feel like I'm looking and stepping into a fairy tale looking at Hansels and Gretel's house :) its just lovely,
keep it light in colour Like ivory for the house and light green trims
The roof can stay brown to mimic chocolate shingles :)
or
]

http://houzz.com/photos/1907053
I think this pale light ice blue/green with a whitish trim would be the charmer on the street!

I agree! I wonder what colors were used on tis example-I couldn't find the colors listed. Any ideas?
Also, the roof is slate but it is almost 200 years old and needs to be replaced with in kind materials or with a manmade slate material that can be laser cut to duplicate the pattern. The colors are gray with a little brown.

Perfect :) please post the after I would love to see it :)

I definitely will! Thanks!

I have a feeling your home already is the star of your street! Love it!

What a pretty house! Is it in Canada? Looks quite similar to some shown here, which is why I asked (it's a great reference site, too): http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/gothicrevival.html

Are you sure you have to replace the slate? Slate lasts a very long time, in fact for ever, until the nail holes wear: maybe you just need to replace a few slates? You can find them online (Kijiji) and at architectural salvage places.

Thanks Summery! The house is actually in Hudson Ohio. I will definitely check out the website and thank you for the slate suggestions!

Hmm - in that case, try Craigslist and Ebay?

libradesigneye- I love the color ideas you suggested. I really like the coral buff for the door and the windchime for accent on the gingerbread. I also love the idea of just highlighting one or 2 details of the architecture to make them pop-I will share these ideas with my painter tomorrow! Thanks for all of you suggestions and for providing links to the colors as well!

Despite requests for the paint colors from others, the site didn't reply to them. Your roof looks like it has a slight sag in the middle...better budget for modern day structural roof supports....and it's a pricey undertaking! I live in CA, not much around here is anything close to as old as your special house. So, glad to see this home being loved and restored. Please keep the pictures coming!

Thanks for the suggestion! When you use the word pricey, how much are you thinking? I noticed that it was sagging as well and I bought in in forclosure so I am not sure how well it was previously maintained. Thanks for the encouragement!

One man's labor of love is another's money pit! Asbestos removal , lead paint removal, updated electrical, and plumbing, insulation and structural shoring including new trusses for the roof. A project house- HGTV is calling you! It will be BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks! I will probably have nightmares tonight! I will need HGTV to pay for it when it is all said and done! Have a great evening!

you have a really, really good looking house. what happened to the pieces that stood up at the peaks? vintage woodworks,com makes replacement gingerbread if they rotted. I hope you keep yellow and white-it is the best. please have sag in roof checked soon.

Thanks! The finials are being fixed. One was rotted on the inside and is being hand turned by a master carpenter to mstch the original. I will be checking the roof next week! Thanks for your suggestions.

Alison, I'm so glad I had even a small part in your encouragement. It is a gem and thank you for rescuing her. Special homes are for special people . . you'll see that it suits you in every way and rewards you for its rescue.

Any picture updates? How is the restoration going for you? I'm thinking of wading in to a similar project.

The original siding color looks like a pale primrose yellow on my computer, and I would keep it. I like the white trim you already have, plus the mint green door as it appears on my computer. The dark brown roof looks fine even with all these colors, and I suggest you add brown shutters. You might paint the porch ceiling a light mint green and the porch floor a medium mint green.

We have houses similar to yours in our neighborhood - they all have bright doors and they look great!

I'm curious what colors you ended up with!

Your gothic style will afford you MORE artistic license than many other styled homes. That being said think back to what color makes you happy every time you see it. Let that be your guiding factor - the rest will simply fall into place. :-)

MY GOODNESS - 2014 - just noticed the date... so what happened??? Please update us all