Read through the "red barn" question and decided to ask what I have always wondered: Why are so many old farmhouses white? Also, which is more common for trim, black, red, green, blue or white? When we someday (*sigh*) get our own place I would like to have a white-with-green-trim house and red-with-white-trim barn. And while we're talking paint, what color should the outhouse be? Should it match the house, or just leave it plain to weather gray? Are all the farm building red to match the barn? I've seen some white chicken houses. And then there's the question of what color the animals should be. I prefer brown cows (for the chocolate milk), black sheep (for the renegade in me), red roosters ("oh, we'll kill the old red rooster when she comes..."), pink pigs ("this little piggy went to market..."). Okay, I know I'm getting a little silly here. It's past my bedtime. The question of farmhouse paint was a serious one. I really do want to know.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), August 20, 2001

Answers

Hi Cathy: I like your ideas about the animal colors, especially the ole' red rooster - its been a while since I heard that. I think there was so much white used becuz it was something people could make at home - whitewash or other white homemade paints, but pigmenting them in some way and getting different batches to match would have been hard. In the summer, I'm glad our house is white; but in the winter, it feels like black would be better, to absorb heat and I feel the same about the henhouse - am thinking about some simple solar collectors this year. Ours has black trim and that seems to be pretty popular around here - NW MN. I was gonna go with green trim; but realized if you can't get it all painted at once, your better off to stick with the original colors, and as we paint sheds to match, it is growing on me. As for the outhouse, don't have one, but if you follow the ideas you came up with on the animals. . . ;)

-- Cynthia in MN (farmsteader@gvtel.com), August 20, 2001.

As above, whitewash was first, and easy. When they advanced to lime- based proper paints, maybe also with milk, they were still white. Didn't really matter that much if batches varied a little in shade - wasn't really obtrusive the way it would be with other colours. When they moved to lead-based paints (lead was dense, and hence gave really good coverage) white was another of the lead oxides (along with red) which was readily available.

In many ways, white is a good colour - it neither absorbs nor radiates heat readily, unlike darker colours. Stays cooler in summer, doesn't lose heat as readily in winter (black is not a good colour for winter - the heat flows from warmer to cooler - in this case from your warm house to the cold outdoors - dark colours just speed up the process).

I'd be inclined to go with light colours - maybe white - for an outhouse. Those little buildings can get very hot in summer - little saunas or sweatboxes - and that is not what you want of a toilet.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 20, 2001.

my pig is black and my chickens are like the coat of mnay colors. I decided to be fancy and stenciled pink bows on the wall in my chicken coop. Now we call it the poultry palace - built with all scraps left over from our wood/tool shed. You should have whatever colors you want and have fun with them. Our garage which is attached to the house, has green walls and a blue/grey floor. We get only good comments about it and we love it ! So cheerful ! My sister-in-law is artistic to the max and painted a Mexican scene from a picture she took while on vacation on her dinning room walls. Very unique and also fun. Life is short, we should color it as much as possible.

-- cindy palmer (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), August 21, 2001.

Around here, most houses and farm outbuildings are painted white because it is cooler in the hot months, you really don't want anthing (even your vehicle) in a dark color, just gets too hot! Also, like red, white paint used to be cheaper, and the color is always consistent from brand to brand, and year to year, no fading.

Everything here is painted white, or is white metal barn siding, except the traditional two story bank barn, it's barn red. Go figure, my guess is that it is so the hay stays drier,it is a bit warmer than a white building.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), August 21, 2001.

We just sided ours in the past few years and chose white with brown trim. The bonus is that white never goes out of style, like the avocado green of the 70's and the soon to be lamented taupes of the late 90's.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), August 21, 2001.

Hmmm. This is from memory, but there was a segment on This Old House a few years back that addressed this question. It was said that white was NOT the dominant, most popular color until about 100 years ago. Prior to that, many different colors used. Then white became fashionable, and though fashion always changes, white had become entrenched, and never really went out of popularity.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), August 21, 2001.