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Hamilton Brevard Rice House Lower Garden District
One of the most celebrated houses in New Orleans, it is admired by hundreds of tourists a week from the front gate. Designed by architect James H. Calrow, it was constructed in 1857 for Albert Hamilton Brevard who left it was to his daughter upon his death. The Brevard family in turn sold it in 1869 to Emory Clapp who added the hexagonal wing and galleries on the north side.
Drawn up for the Historic American Building Survey and cataloged at the Library of Congress, the current owners wanted to record the original palette and possibly use that as a base for a new scheme.
Chromacronologies from left - the stucco on the addition, sashes from the front windows, and the porch ceiling showing typical darker colors of the 19th century which changed (usually) about the mid century mark in New Orleans to the green - grey - blue. Original brighter yellow stucco layer was only found on this elevation.
These Greek elements are part of the mid-nineteenth century Romanticism of the Italianate style which usurped the Greek Revival in the ante bellum and post Civil War periods. The form is a typical New Orleans, two story, double gallery townhouse with a servants wing extending from the back - similar to the Creole Cottage townhouse form downtown. The Greek stylistic elements and Garden District location did not necessarily dictate a white color scheme as is commonly suggested.
The prominent Greek Key architraves around the doors play a significant role in the plot of the story of the Mayfair Witches - written in the house - and are indeed, exquisite examples of this architectural detail.
Reading from bottom to top, the door started out a medium / dark tan, got darker, then lighter around 1900 and remained cream / white up to today.
Inspiration included raw rubies, the rose iconography in the ironwork, and original Belgian pink slate.The current owners were leaning towards a pink house as the main color but there are quite a few in the vicinity already.
VOILA.