repainting brownstone facade

There should be a photo in the landmarks archives from the designation report. If the designation was in 2007 I’ll bet it’s color. Ask the preservation rep if they can provide it, if not you may have to file form or freedom of information type request, but you should be able to get it.

That said, if it was pink in 2011, it was probably pink in 2007. If it was pink in 2007, tell your preservationist you’re going to be forced to paint it pink unless they can clear you to paint it another color. I think if you kiss up a little and make it clear there’s no budget for a new facade, they will work with you.

hkapstein

in Exteriors 3 years and 11 months ago

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m_holmes925

in Exteriors 3 years and 11 months ago

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Thanks cate, stripping the facade seems like a great idea and I wish we could but the stone is very fragile and pieces of it have fallen off over the years. Of the three masonry contractors we spoke to, nobody said this was an option. Also super interesting that the house was painted pink with approval! Thanks again

m_holmes925

in Exteriors 3 years and 11 months ago

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Thanks cate, stripping the facade seems like a great idea and I wish we could but the stone is very fragile and pieces of it have fallen off over the years. Of the three masonry contractors we spoke to, nobody said this was an option. Also super interesting that the house was painted pink with approval! Thanks again

RobertGMarvin

in Exteriors 3 years and 11 months ago

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The existing pink color might have been there at the time of landmark designation. If so it’s grandfathered in and could have been redone in the same ugly color.

NeoGrec | 3 years and 11 months ago

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Please go to nyc.gov where there’s a huge amount of information about LPC’s rules and procedures. I am 99.9% certain you can repaint in the original color — that is, whatever the color was at the time the house was designated part of a historic district. If that turns out to be the pink you want to change, I would strongly recommend you reach out in person to LPC. They have their issues (shortage of staff being one of the biggest) but it is not like dealing with DOB. They actually want to help homeowners. Logic would suggest they would rather you repainted in a “brownstone” color than re-upped with the pink. You could also try to find a local advocate to help you navigate LPC and support your request. Brownstoners of Bed Stuy, Park Slope Civic Council, Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council etc. can all play this role. Most neighborhoods have a similar group. It’s worth trying.

NeoGrec | 3 years and 11 months ago

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Forgot to mention that the color of your house should be mentioned in the original designation report which has details about every single address in each historic district. Takes some digging on Nyc.gov but it will be there.

m_holmes925

in Exteriors 3 years and 11 months ago

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I did the research before inquiring and reviewed all the available documents on nyc.gov, including the 2007 designation report for our historic district. We selected the contractor, understood from the documents that it is clear we can propose a color that matches the existing brownstone color, and thought we were ready to specify the color until we learned that our neighbor two doors down had issues. We were just curious if anyone on this forum had first hand experience since we believe our neighbor did everything correctly and she did follow LPC’s rules and procedures which we found alarming.

The 2007 designation report only states that the facade was painted but there is no actual color mentioned. The latest 1980’s tax photo appears to be the original brownstone and the earliest google street view from 2011 captures the facade painted pink. There appears to be a black hole in the 00’s when the landmarked district was documented. I was hoping to submit the 198 0’s tax photo as evidence but the stoop is painted fire engine red. Since we plan to restore the stoop entirely we hope this is not an issue.

m_holmes925

in Exteriors 3 years and 11 months ago

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I did the research before inquiring and reviewed all the available documents on nyc.gov, including the 2007 designation report for our historic district. We selected the contractor, understood from the documents that it is clear we can propose a color that matches the existing brownstone color, and thought we were ready to specify the color until we learned that our neighbor two doors down had issues. We were just curious if anyone on this forum had first hand experience since we believe our neighbor did everything correctly and she did follow LPC’s rules and procedures which we found alarming.

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