Here is a picture of the house...we just need a color scheme....and brick will be around the perimeter of the first half of house

Go with your gut and don't paint the brick. Try Houzz.com and see if you can find some similar houses with brick and it might help you with visualization. I was just doing that last night for roofing color schemes, it can take awhile to find something but there are great images there to pick through.

Why can't you just do the entire house in brick? I think that would look best, rather than mixing materials.

That was my thought nini... brick the whole house.

BTW OP, they are shutters.... and some of the sizes seem to be off.

We will probably end up having to brick the whole house but were just trying to cut costs a little by using the hardi plank siding.

Interesting... brick is cheaper than Hardi-plank siding here!

"Strict" is not the word I would choose to describe the association.

Brick first stories on Colonial Revival houses started popping up on Garrison Colonial houses in the 1950's as the Colonial Revival style was slowly eroding into a subdivision cliche as did the Raised Ranch.

The people who are writing these rules are seeking to maintain mediocrity probably without even knowing it.

This post was edited by Renovator8 on Wed, Jul 17, 13 at 19:11

LOL, renovator 8. a rule in place that defeats its own purpose. hmmmm. a sign of the times!

OP, maybe you can let them know that they are not historically correct

I'm with renovator8 -- it sounds like they're trying to "preserve" a 1950's builder convention that isn't rooted in anything other than a 1950s' builder convention. And then with a suggestion to paint the brick to match! IOW, "we have this ridiculous half-brick house, and we painted it to try to mask it, and we want you to have to do the same thing."

But what it is that they're trying to get at with the brick? Is it really a true desire to have a brick "beltline" around the house? Or is just a wish to have a certain percentage of brick on the house, and not 100% siding? Could you offer to brick the entirety of the main section of the house, and then use siding on the 1-storey part?

"We will probably end up having to brick the whole house but were just trying to cut costs a little by using the hardi plank siding."

Wait a second. So you are saying that bricking HALF the house was YOUR idea to save money? Please correct me if I'm wrong but from that comment I'm gathering that the association wanted ALL brick and they gave in and said that half brick would be okay?

No they never said to do all brick..they suggested it as the majority of the colonials in the sub are half brick and they thought a house with only hardi siding would look out of place.

Hardieplank might look out of place on a Colonial Revival house if the typical 7" exposure is used. Hardie also makes it for 4" exposure which is typically what was used on Colonial Revival houses. And it should be smooth with no embossed wood grain or pattern.

I am curious why the front pediment has cornice returns when there is no cornice. Perhaps the center portion of the house projects forward and I just can't see it in the drawing. You should show a floor plan or even a roof plan so others can better understand the design.

When windows were paired on Colonial revival houses there would be at least a 6" trim board between them. Modern windows can be butted together with no trim but it ruins a very characteristic feature of the style.

To save costs, could you do all brick on the front, and then siding on the rest of the house?

I'd choose all brick in a heartbeat. That house will look good in all brick, and it'll be better quality /lower maintenance than any other option. I'd look into what a builder would charge for each option, but I suspect the difference wouldn't be that much. Your upstairs isn't as big as your downstairs.

If you choose brick, make the best of it with a Georgian Colonial Revival house.