Historic homes are often viewed through the lens of how many of us first studied them: grainy black-and-white or sepia-toned photos that obscure their true nature. In reality, many of America’s most famous buildings are wonderfully colorful, with interiors that reflect a playfulness not always recognized across the decades. Below, I’m drawing on my extensive paint knowledge and access to historic homes to share some of the paint colors that shaped our country’s early relationship with color.
While many original historic paints were hand-mixed from raw ingredients, today’s paint manufacturers offer remarkably close matches based on preservation research, paint analysis, and documented historic color palettes. Here are 11 modern shades inspired by the colors found in some of America’s most iconic homes.
Small Dining Room Green by Fine Paints of Europe
President George Washington definitely did not fear color. This striking green shade, described as “grateful to the eye,” was painted on the walls of Mount Vernon’s dining room in 1785.
Cameo Azalea by Fine Paints of Europe
The ballroom of West Virginia’s storied Greenbrier resort, which has played host to everyone from Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy to Grace Kelly and Johnny Cash, features this punchy, party-ready hue.
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Sands of Time by Sherwin-Williams
President Abraham Lincoln’s home sports this soft biscuit-brown, sometimes referred to as “Quaker Brown” because of the plain-colored attire of many members of the Quaker community.
Randolph Blue by Benjamin Moore
Historians based this Colonial Williamsburg collection color—similar to a shade found on the museum’s tailor shop—on pigments found in 18th-century wallpaper.
Galapagos Green by Pantone
This verdant, true-green hue can be seen on the shutters of Rowan Oak, William Faulkner’s home in Oxford, Mississippi.
Willow by Fine Paints of Europe
President George Washington enjoyed this mint-green hue on the walls of the New Room in Mount Vernon, his fabled Virginia farmhouse.
Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams
Grab your pitchfork! This off-white mimics the color of the Eldon, Iowa, farmhouse famously depicted in Grant Wood’s painting American Gothic.
Laser Lemon by Behr
President Thomas Jefferson chose an electric yellow for the dining room of Monticello, his neoclassical Virginia home. Officially dubbed “Chrome Yellow,” this custom shade closely matches Behr’s Laser Lemon.
Steeple White by Old Village Paint
This soft cream color flies high on Philadelphia’s Independence Hall bell tower, which was finished in 1753 and originally housed the famous Liberty Bell.
Crabby Apple by Sherwin-Williams
This timeless red appears at multiple locations connected to poet laureate Robert Frost. A deep barn red, the shade can be seen on the exterior of the Stone House, a 90-acre Bennington, Vermont, farmstead where he lived with his family from 1920 to 1929, as well as on the floors of another farmhouse where he lived from 1900 to 1911 in Derry, New Hampshire.
Creole Pink by Pantone
Inspired by Caribbean culture, this peachy pink spans the exteriors of homes in cities across the Deep South. Visitors to both Charleston and New Orleans can spot it throughout the cities’ more historic neighborhoods.
Anna Logan is the Deputy Homes & Style Editor at Country Living, where she has been covering all things home design, including sharing exclusive looks at beautifully designed country kitchens, producing home features, writing everything from timely trend reports on the latest viral aesthetic to expert-driven explainers on must-read topics, and rounding up pretty much everything you’ve ever wanted to know about paint, since 2021. Anna has spent the last seven years covering every aspect of the design industry, previously having written for Traditional Home, One Kings Lane, House Beautiful, and Frederic. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. When she’s not working, Anna can either be found digging around her flower garden or through the dusty shelves of an antique shop. Follow her adventures, or, more importantly, those of her three-year-old Maltese and official Country Living Pet Lab tester, Teddy, on Instagram.
