The Little House- a Love Story

I realize I may be dating myself (just a tad) here, but does anyone remember sitting by their 2 speed record players like I did- perhaps with a nickel taped to the needle arm to dip into the scratches- reading and singing along to story books like this?

I must've listened to this book, The Little House, hundreds of times, daydreaming to the enchanting songs on the 'B' side. I had no idea then that this mini manor was Gothic style with stucco, a mansard roof and finial gables. I just remember wishing I lived there.

I feel the same romantic nostalgia every time I pass this old Italianate style home near my client's house in San Francisco.

Crowded by charmless neighbors, street signs and wires... it's beauty is fading to decrepit disrepair. I wonder who lives there and how it's become so disheveled...

I picture a wrinkled grande dame, like Anne Bancroft in the movie adaptation of Great Expectationsa, sitting upstairs in front of her vanity smoking a long filtered cigarette and wondering what's become of the neighborhood...

I want the old beauty (the house- that is. Stay focused!) to look glamorous again like one of these vibrant flats I remember from a trip to Puerto Rico...

So, every time I'm in this neighborhood, I imagine bringing my painter and running up the steps to ring the doorbell and say, "Hi! I'm Shannon Kaye and we're here to repair and paint your house today!"

Here are the colors I'd bring with me:

[caption id="attachment_6245" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="Body- Pratt and Lambert Raffia"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6246" align="aligncenter" width="494" caption="Brick and garage door- Pratt and Lambert Spanish Leather"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6248" align="aligncenter" width="486" caption="Balconettes and Pediment details on the windows- Pratt and Lambert Gossamer"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6249" align="aligncenter" width="493" caption="Window sashes- Pratt and Lambert Diplomat Gray"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_6247" align="aligncenter" width="493" caption="All other trim- Pratt and Lambert Phantom"][/caption]

Of course, once I did this, the only logical thing to happen would be for the owner (Anne Bancroft, no doubt) to be so moved that she gives me the house...

[caption id="attachment_6273" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="(you shouldn't have but, thank you!)"][/caption]

and I hang cream linen curtains in the windows that flutter through the open sashes; my own enchanting music spilling outside...

Hey, I told you we could dream big with this series of articles! So, imagine with me- what colors would you use to bring this house back to life?

Find this article  on my facebook page and let me know. I'm curious to see what colors would make magical sense to you :-)