Take a look at Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams' historical paint colors? Also, see if you can find out the exterior white paint color of Trinity Church, Newport RI. Do a Google image search for it. It's the most beautiful white I've ever seen on a historical building--not the usual blinding New England white but something creamier, probably special mixed when the renovation was done, but maybe a starting point. You've certainly got your work cut out for yourself. Thank you for trying to keep the color in character with your antique house.

What's that bump-out where the wrap around porch used to be?

Have you checked Wimborne from F&B

Thanks so much for the suggestions-- my potential color list seems to be expanding:) I guess the good news is, if you mess up a light color, its easy enough to paint over it! It's just so hard for me to envision what the final color will look like on the entire house, and hard to find exterior photos online as well.

The bump-out is an uninsulated (as of now) mudroom-type relic from when my mother grew up in the house and it was still a working farm. I don't know when or why the wrap-around porch disappeared, but my hope is to eventually expand the porch back around the other side and connect it onto the bump-out with a side door. It will probably be more of an open deck than a porch because a roof the whole way around (like the old wrap around porch) would make the dining room fairly dark with no natural light

Is that the southern exposure side? The porch probably rotted away and was demoed.

Have you looked into Dunn Edwards Whisper DEW340

dunn edwards whisper color - Google Search · More Info

Here it is on a house below

Deer Creek House · More Info

Whites can read much lighter/brighter on the exterior. Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee is one we've used often for the exterior.

It's easier to make a decision when the colors are next to one another & when selecting a color I find it's easier to say 'NO' to a color and arrive at a decision by process of elimination.

The wrap around porch was on the north side of the house-- I think it may have been taken down because it made things just too dark in the living space but I probably will never know at this point. The south side of the house has a glassed-in elevated sunporch and the window sills on that are, in fact, rotting away-- my next project!

I think I have put BM Swiss Coffee, Soft Chamois, and maybe Feather Down on my list to sample. There is also a very interesting shade called Prentis Cream through the BM Williamsburg Collection, which looks like a beautiful cream but can only find photos of exterior trim. Many of the cream colors I love for interior use seem like they would read too white for the exterior I have in mind. I also do think I need to be extra cautious with my choice of cream because my immediate neighbor's house is yellow and my other neighbor is a pure white, so I don't want to end up looking dingy. But I also really don't want a white that just looks.....white.

Thanks so much for the great suggestions!

Strange a wrap around was on the north side...

Cool house :) Creamy is close and you're correct, alabaster will appear almost true white. Most online photo paint references are so off. GL!

I think my final contenders are SW Creamy, BM Acadia and BM Swiss Coffee. I might be leaning towards the Acadia because it seems a bit brighter and not as potentially beige but honestly I’m not sure. When I try to take a photo of swatches to post here, the light isn’t picking up on the color differences. Does anyone have a thought on which of these three might be best option? House is north facing with lots of shaded corners and colors tend to look completely different from one side to the other. Only the back side of the house really gets full sun exposure. Going crazy and have to decide today!

I should say I tried about 15 paint samples and most of them got ruled out immediately... several nice whites and creams from the BM Williamsburg historic line just seemed either way too bright or way too dark tan to actually be “cream” . Thanks!

I like BM White Down oc-131. It’s nostalgic and hip at the same time.

Here it is on the wall where you can see it next to white white of sheets. As mentioned this color will be lighter outside.

If you have already identified where you are located, ignore my comment. Colors don’t read the same in different places. Southern light vs. the light in New England. Southwestern light vs. the Pacific Northwest. While I love Farrow and Ball colors in the Cotswolds, they looked far too muddy in my Ohio home. (I discovered that the hard way!) I’d look at historical color collections that are region specific. LOVE your Greek Revival farmhouse (a TRUE farmhouse!)! Good luck with your color selection!

I like white down too! I’ll have to look up the LRV and all that good stuff to see how it compares with what I’ve been considering. Part of the problem is that the colors I love on the south side of the house seem too muddy and dark on the north side, and colors that look good in the shade are so bright in the sun that they look washed out- hard to envision the whole house as one color and know what it’s glong to look like!

If the colors I have been looking at, BM Acadia whit’s has the highest chroma and also LRV so seems like it would read the brightest but also the yellowest and thus maybe the closest to inspirat photo?

Acadia to left of window, creamy to right... acadia definitely has more yellow while creamy seems more beige. Will the larger surface area of the house tone down the yellow to produce a bright cream? I’m only worried because my neigjbors house is a true yellow. Need to call in order by end of day!

It's hard since computer monitors are iffy. On mine the Creamy looks somewhat dingy. Acadia definitely reads yellow. Based on how those two appear to me, I'd probably go with Acadia. It does seem close to your inspiration pic.

Thanks! I tried to post the pictures that seemed truest— my worry with the creamy also is that it may look dingy. I’m only committing to enough paint for one coat so I’ll live with whichever I choose for a week or two and , if I hate it, I guess I’ll have a better idea of how color will read and can change color for second coat. Thanks for the guidance!

Absolutely love your house. How fortunate you are to share in the living history of this amazing family heirloom. Await follow up pics.

For anyone curious, here she is with one coat of SW Creamy. Please ignore the mess of ladders and scaffolding and weeds-- I am not currently living in the house, so things get a bit messy in between my visits. I alternate between really liking it and not liking it, but I’m not sure if it’s just because I’ve never seen this house not be white white and so my mind is playing tricks on me because it is no longer the white my brain expects.

I am holding off on doing a second coat until I decide whether I’m happy enough with the color. For some reason now I’m feeling like I should have gone with either a darker tan/greige with cream trim...ugh I was so sure I wanted an ivory color, but it just looks so different between sun and shade. I’m a pretty indecisive person, so I knew this was going to happen.

Does anyone have a suggestion for front door color? When I thought I was going to love this body color (and maybe I do, I'm just not sure yet because of the sun vs shade issue), I was considering a front door color somewhere on the spectrum between dusty pink and aged- brick red because I thought it would look nice with the cream and the green roof. It's a little out of my comfort zone-- I'm more of a traditionalist (like the typical New England white house with dark green shutters and matching door), but I thought it might be complimentary. I don't really know enough about colors to be confident in that, however. The front door is technically the door under the porch; would I also paint the door to the mudroom bump out to match? getting confused by too many options....

Looks great! Thanks for the update.

I know this an old posting, but did you end up sticking with SW Creamy and are you happy with it? Painting my exterior this week the same color and I absolutely love it in all the photos. Looks warm and soft without turning greige. My main concern is that it will look yellow in west facing sun, but I'd much rather a yellow undertone thank pink or grey... and it seems it will always be one or the other. Alabaster just seemed too white me.

I did stick with the SW Creamy, and I am happy with it. I have yet to do the second coat, which I imagine will make it a truer color, but i don’t find it “too“ anything. For me, it reads like a fairly neutral cream. My next-door neighbors house is yellow (a real yellow not a creamy yellow) and my cross-the-street neighbors house is white, and the Creamy fits in well without looking dingy or clashing. Attaching a few photos for reference- excuse the mess, still a work in progress….

Thank you for the update and the pics! I really love your house. I think the color is perfect and it complements your green roof really well, too. You've put my mind at ease painting my own house the same color-- it seems to live up to its name, just the shade I'm after. I like it much more than Acadia white and Alabaster, I think it's nice to have a bit more color saturation while it still reads light and airy. Thanks again for posting after all this time!