Help Us Keep the Original Garrison Colonial Character… What Color Polymer Shake?
I own a Garrison Colonial in Westchester County New York. It currently has an asphalt roof that needs replacing. The original design of the house was a Cedar roof with cedar siding going half way down the front and back of the house, while the sides and lower half of the front and back are red brick. My contractor and I have decided to go either with the single-width or multi-width Cedar Shake in an attempt to restore the original look. We are also now debating replacing the original cedar shingle siding with the your product as well. My wife and I were having a hard enough time deciding on a color when it was just the roof, but now that the siding might be replaced as well, we are completely stumped.
Very few of your Gallery pictures included red brick homes, they also tend to only include large homes, which I wish was not the case since your products are very affordable for a house of any size.
We are open to almost anything, although we tend to feel the house should be simple and respect its original look, which I assume was unpainted cedar siding and the cedar roof. The siding is currently varied width, with each shingle of the same length.
We are also planning on bring back the original shutters on the Single windows on the upper stories and the two sides of the house, which were removed because they were in poor condition. Our doors are also about to be replaced, so the choice of roofing and siding color determines these as well.
Thank you for your time.
John Knittel
Hastings On Hudson, NY
Product: Single- or Multi-Width Shake
Hello Mr. Knittel,
It sounds like you are making all of the right changes to restore this home to its original beauty. It is going to be a nice improvement.
I recommend staying with the multi-width shake. You can continue with the even lengths or could go with varied lengths if you prefer that look. Either will work on your home and keep the integrity of the original look.
It looks like your bricks have a warm color cast that will work nicely with Weathered Gray or Tahoe. Weathered Gray is lighter and Tahoe darker so it just depends what you have in mind. Both have a look of natural cedar with the gray being more weathered and thus the name.
Using the same shake on both the roof and siding is the best choice and will give you home a very cohesive look from top to bottom. Either of the two colors I am suggesting will blend nicely with the brick.
When you paint the trim it would be nice to go with an off-white rather than bright white to continue to tie the look together. As for shutters and front door go with whatever color you like best– there are so many choices that would work great once you have the bricks and roof/siding working together. Muted to dark greens, blues, reds, golds and more. Find a color family you like and then hone in on the exact shade you think works best for your overall look.
I hope this advice helps you to make your color decisions.
Sincerely,
Kate Smith
DaVinci Roofscapes Color Expert