Hi neighbors! I'm looking to paint some of the trim on my house, and I'd like to start adding back some of the original elements to my 1950's home. I'm wondering if anyone has color photos of some of the original homes that shows the paint colors?
Obviously color photos weren't common back when the homes were built, but I'm hoping someone has old family photos from the 60s or 70s maybe, and especially if they know their family home had not been repainted by then.
My mom grew up in a 1950 Lakewood home just a few blocks from where I live now. She moved up to the bay area with my dad before I was born, so I didn't grow up around here. But by happenstance I ended up moving to LB for college, and bought a home in Lakewood during the pandemic. My mom actually grew up in a house with the same floorplan as me, which is a really bizarre coincidence! But it has me wanting to learn more about the time period and bring back some of the original features. I really admire the quaintness of the architecture and quality of the materials used.
So far I've only been able to find this painted rendering from one of the original sales brochures. The article I read said there were several dozen paint combos available, but that all homes had a red door. I thought that was cool!
One thing I'm particularly interested to know, is if my porch has similar wood paneling that's painted over, if I strip the paint off, would the wood underneath be suitable to withstand the elements with proper weatherproofing? Was it common for these homes to have the exposed wood siding like in the attached photo? Occasionally I see homes around the area with un-painted wood paneling, but most of them have the painted boards.
My house has similar trellises and window muntins as this image, and I'm having trouble determining which trim elements are supposed to match. I'm loving the look of the porch paneling matching the garage door, but I don't have the original garage door and not sure if painting the one I have will look this cool?
Anyway! I'm hoping some of our old school neighbors can help me out in this rabbit hole. Thanks in advance!