Hello, We are building a home on a rural hillside and are limited by the county as to which colors to paint it. I'd love to paint it white, or some pale color, but unfortunately it needs to have an LRV of 35 or below. It looks like the trim can be white or cream however. The barn/garage (to the left) will be painted red, and we are looking for an old house kind of look, but still happy and welcoming.

Right now I have considered BM Nantucket Gray (which is actually still a little light for the county, looking for something close but a few degrees darker), Polo Blue (very dark black blue), or a pretty victorian green (Palace Green? or Louisburg Green?). We have to decide way ahead of actually building this home in order to go through the design review process, so we are unable to "test" it on the house itself... I'm painting poster boards right now to test outside. :) I'm open to just about anything as long as the end result is "pretty" and not modern.

Is there anyone here who has old house painting experience that could recommend a good tried and true combination that would look cottagey and cute (but not tract homey) and welcoming? I love those old shingled cottages with a pretty colored door, but I'm not sure how to duplicate that color for fiber cement siding.

Appreciate any ideas you might have GW's!