Wakefield Mansion Gets a Facelift!

Tuesday, 28 July 2009 21:44

How do you paint a 200+ year old house that has a dozen or more layers of old, deteriorating paint?  Carefully!  After conducting a thorough paint study and analysis that used a microscope to document the structure's paint history since 1794, the old wooden clapboards were stripped of all the old paint, treated to restore some moisture, and then applied with a new coat of oil primer followed by two coats of finish paint.

The color scheme of the new paint -- light gray and ivory trim - was chosen because it closely matches the color scheme of the mansion during the Colonial Revival period at the beginning of the 20th century. Mason Cook and Ethan Howard of Westmill Preservation, which specializes in painting historic homes and buildings, carried out the project.