Edwards-Barton-Aquilino House Gets a Facelift

by Elizabeth Wilson, Director of Development & Philanthropy, and Corbet Walser, Preservation & Restoration Manager

The historic Edwards-Barton-Aquilino House is getting a facelift!

Thanks to the Historic House Trust who awarded us a grant to secure paint through a partnership with Benjamin Moore, which is helping us keep the paint as close to the original color as possible. Thanks is due also to the John & Patricia Klingenstein Fund for their support to complete this project with professionalism and expert care.

Along with the painting, HRT’s restoration department is taking this opportunity to do some small repairs to the exterior. These include rebuilding a portion of a window frame and replacing crown molding at the eaves. All of this work is being done in-house, and molding profiles are hand-crafted to match existing pieces.

You may notice that some of the house is a rather odd shade of pink, especially in the early stages of work. This is an oil-based primer that has been tinted. Primer’s main function is to be a bonding layer. It adheres well to the underlying surface, in this case wood, and the correct type of paint will in turn bond to it well. Secondarily, it provides an even first base color, helping to obscure wood grain, the edges of previous layers of paint, etc. While primer (and most house paint) is sold white out of the can, it is not unusual to tint it to match, or at least approximate, the top coat color, which simply helps ensure an even and full final appearance, especially with pale colors. Dark colors tend to cover better, so in the interest of convenience, the painters are using pink on the entire house. Rest assured, the final paint colors will match what was there before; a pale pink on the clapboards and a chocolate brown on the trim.