I love a yellow house! I used to live in a yellow Federal era home when I lived in Newburyport, MA and I was just in love with it! On Monday I posted images of The White Houses of Cape Cod and as promised, our next group of classic antique New England homes are all yellow!
The house above is a classic center entrance colonial home in Sandwich, MA. This home is attached to the Dunbar Tea Room – a great spot to pick up custom teas or stay a while for a classic afternoon tea party!
The house below is a “Salt Box” colonial, which is an architectural style that originated in New England in the 17th Century. It’s distinctive flat front and steep pitched rear roof line resembles the lidded box that salt was once stored in. The “salt box” style was a response to the high taxation the British government levied on two story homes . These homes had two stories in the front, but only one in the rear, thus exempting them from tax. Hah!
This gorgeous Federal home below is nestled in a behind some very old growth trees – so it was hard to get a good shot! But I love the prospect looking up the front walk. The planters and topiary are an elegant welcome to this gracious home, which is dated to 1797 according to the sign on the side of the house.
Of particular note are the round rooms along the right side of the building. I’d so love to get inside!
The Greek Revival house below showcases one of my favorite design styles. The elegant proportions and luxurious trim are just to die! And I love to deeper mustard color of this house.
A quiet little house behind a fence…
The last of the yellow houses is actually a restaurant called The Lyric. Through the magic of megapixels and photo software, I’m able to determine that the little black plaque on the right dates the house to 1755.
The most notable feature is the ancient tree that grows at the foundation. The owners are clearly trying to preserve what they can by training it up the side of the building. Pretty spectacular! The house color is a classic Colonial ochre color – made from yellow ochre, white lead and calcium carbonate. This mixture resulted in an orange/yellow color that ranged from light yellow to this medium hue. Colonial colors were often very vibrant, but faded quickly.
I hope you enjoyed our little tour of Cape Cod Yellow houses. I still have more to come – including some beautiful repurposed churches, shingle homes, and more!
You may also enjoy:
The Shingled Houses of Cape Cod
love the photography! amazing!
Fantastic! Simply can’t wait for the shingles.
What a great idea for a post on your blog. I loved looking at the homes as well as the different shades of yellow.
Thanks for the comment… isn’t it great to learn new things.
Love this tour. The last home is quite special with that tree.
So pretty! And I am soooo jealous! My father-in-law lived in Osterville for many years but he’s in California now and we haven’t been to Cape Cod since he left it four years ago. It’s definitely on my “must go soon” short-list of vacation spots. Thanks for the mini-tour in the meantime!
Yellow houses make me smile. The Greek Revival house is special in color and detail. Thanks for the pictures.
Linda…love this post! My first two homes were yellow…there’s just something about yellow houses.:-) My favorite of this group was the Greek Revival…you are soooo right about the molding…it’s gorgeous!
Yup…I’ve also had a yellow house and loved it. Just something about it…I don’t quite know what it is.
Thanks for sharing these beauties!
Tricia – Avolli
Ohhhhh New England charm!!!!
I love it:)
Beautiful!!!
Smiles,
kayellen
i love these cape cod tours of yours.
-that crazy vine is great too !
love it.
xx
Nice to meet you!
Just beautiful houses!I love them!
My house is yellow with sidding, is unique in my country. It has country primitive style. not common here in Argentina.
you´re invited to my blog!!
I hope you if you wanna visit me!
T hope so!
xoxo
Hi,
We recently repainted our home yellow. I love these pictures! We are from RI, now residing in PA. Definitely the pictures exhibit New England charm. Do you recommend black or white
shutters? We were going to put white on, but now after seeing these homes, I am thinking the darker shutter may look more charming…?
Thank you,
Bette from PA, but missing New England very much!
Hi Bette – thanks for visiting. I do think yellow with black shutters and white trim is the most traditional look and a little more sophisticated. Here is a link to an image of a yellow house with white shutters and it's a more country, cute look. It really depends on what you are going for:http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/55843165/Photodisc
Good luck!
Hi Linda,
House is finally done(I wrote you about a shutter color dilemma several months back)…not sure if I like the house though. ): Is there a way or e-mail that I could forward a picture to you. I would be interested in your opinion. I have a neighbor who is not happy at all with the outcome, but I really don't think it is that bad…
Thanks, Bette
Bette – you can email me at linda.m.merrill (at) gmail.com