Picking Shingle Colors for Western Reserve Colonials in Hudson
Hudson's houses are known for restraint: white walls, dark shutters, plain trim. The roof should follow the house, not compete with it.
What is a Western Reserve colonial?
Hudson was settled in 1799 by people from Connecticut, in the part of Ohio once called the Connecticut Western Reserve. They built what they knew. The early houses around the Green are New England forms carried west: Federal and Greek Revival, symmetrical fronts, clapboard siding, a center or side entry with simple classical trim.
The look never left town. Colonial Revival houses went up on streets like Aurora Street in the 1920s. Then, when the township filled with subdivisions from the 1970s through the 1990s, the two-story center-hall colonial was the default floor plan. So "colonial" in Hudson covers a house from 1830 and a house from 1993, and the color advice overlaps more than you might expect.
What roof colors suit a white clapboard colonial?
Think about what these houses wore first. Early roofs were wood shingles, which weather to a soft, uneven gray-brown. Later came slate, in dark gray. Asphalt colors that echo either one look at home.
- Weathered gray. A mid gray with slight variation. It recalls aged wood, hides dirt and fading, and works with black, dark green or navy shutters.
- Charcoal. Deeper and more formal. It sharpens white trim and suits a house with black shutters and a dark door.
- Black or near black. The most formal choice, close to slate. Handsome on a tall Greek Revival front. It shows pollen and tree litter more than gray does.
- Weathered brown. A muted brown-gray, good with cream or off-white paint and with brown-toned stone foundations.
What these have in common is low contrast within the shingle. From the street the roof reads as one calm plane with a little texture.
Which colors fight with a Hudson colonial?
- High-contrast blends. Shingles that mix light tan, rust and black in one roof look busy above plain clapboard. The eye goes to the roof and stays there.
- Bright reds, greens and blues. They belong to other styles of house.
- Very light grays and whites. A pale roof over white walls leaves the house with no top edge, and it shows every streak.
- Warm tans on a cool white house. If the paint is a crisp white, a yellowish roof will look dingy next to it.
None of these is forbidden outside the Historic District. They are just harder to live with for 25 years.
What about brick and newer colonials?
Many subdivision colonials have a brick front or a full brick first floor. Brick is the one color on the house you will never change, so start there.
- Red or orange-red brick: charcoal or a dark weathered gray. Avoid brown blends with red flecks, which clash with the brick instead of matching it.
- Brown or buff brick: weathered brown or a warm dark gray.
- Painted white brick: treat it like clapboard.
- Stone accents: pull the roof color from the darkest stone, not the lightest.
Newer colonials also tend to have more roof showing, with front gables and a big garage. On a roof that large a darker color makes the house sit lower and calmer.
Does shade change the choice?
It should. A lot of Hudson roofs sit under mature trees, and shaded shingles grow algae, the dark streaks you see running down north slopes. Streaks show most on light roofs. Two things help: choose a mid or dark tone, and ask about shingles made with algae-resistant granules. Both are covered on our architectural shingles page.
Trees also change how color looks. Under a green canopy in summer, grays pick up a cool cast. In winter, with bare branches and snow, the same roof looks darker. Look at any sample outdoors, against your own siding, at more than one time of day. A chip under kitchen lights tells you very little.
When does the city review roof color?
When the house is inside the Hudson Historic District or is a designated landmark. There, the City of Hudson puts roof shingle replacement on its Historic District application, and the Architectural and Historic Board of Review decides it. The board works from preservation standards that favor keeping a building's historic character. A shingle close to what the house has now, in a quiet historic tone, is the natural thing to propose. The process is laid out in our post on reroofing inside the Historic District.
Elsewhere in Hudson the city does not review an asphalt reroof. A homeowners association might, so check your covenants before you fall for a color.
How do you make the final call?
- Stand across the street and name the fixed colors: brick, stone, trim, shutters.
- Decide whether the house should look formal, which leans dark, or soft, which leans weathered.
- Narrow to two or three tones and view them outside.
- Walk your street. A roof that sits comfortably beside its neighbors is rarely a mistake.
- Check the rules that apply: the board near the Green, or your association.
With us, color is settled with the owner before the quote is written, and the shingle line and color are printed on it by name. Read more about what goes on the roof on the shingles page, or see the houses near the Green on the Historic District page.
Pick the color after you know the roof
First find out whether the roof needs replacing. If it does, color is part of the conversation, and it goes on the quote in writing.