Monday, October 7, 2013

The Lewis Kies House, Cleveland, OH

The Lewis Kies House, Cleveland, OH. 1874 Photo: Wikimedia
The Kies house is a particularly fine mansion, a survival in a city that has mostly had its mansions ripped away. The house gives a grand impression with its symmetrical plan, its paired brackets and paneled cornice, and its brick walls, which could have been stuccoed once. The central bay projects and is topped by a fascinating broken triangular pediment, a feature that can be found on some high style Ohio Italianates. Other examples seem to include some kind of doo-dads in the central open part. The windows are spare, with simple stone or iron drip moldings and segmental arched tops. The central bay, as on most of these Italianates, has tombstone windows, and a porch, which looks oddly plain to me. Perhaps a balcony or some extra parts were removed. All in all, a fine survival.

4 comments:

  1. llamasfrombolivia.comOctober 9, 2013 at 4:28 PM

    Hi Josh. Love your blog. I have an1870 Italianate front gable (I learned from you site) house in Richmond IN. It is actually a "farm house" known as the "King Mansion"I am looking to find colors to paint the trims. So viewing your site is really helpful. I love architecture ( but not so much, modern architecture). Jan

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    1. Well, take a look at my entry about paint colors. http://picturesqueitalianatearchitecture.blogspot.com/2013/06/painting-italianate-house.html Sorry I've been a bit out of it lately, been applying for jobs and whatnot. Thank you so much for reading! I hope that helps.

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  2. llamasfrombolivia.comOctober 9, 2013 at 6:24 PM

    A footnote. The picture on the website is the first house we owned in Indiana- an 1847 Greek Revival in Thorntown IN.

    What color trims do you like on red brick/orange brick Italianates? Jan

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    1. On looking at that house, I would say the trim was probably painted some type of beige. You have a couple options with a house that has a brick facade. The most common Victorian treatment would have been to paint the trim the color of some kind of stone, brown, tan, white, or grey. That's probably the most historically accurate way to paint such trim. That said, I've always been fond of forest green and powder blue trim on a brick base house. Those colors are somewhat attested for Victorian trims on such houses.

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