Creepy cool looking.

That is just down the road from me. Unique place, with two nuclear power stations in the back garden......

I love it!

I only like 1 and 5. Maybe they need the yellow.

Archersam - you and I are obviously from the same neck of the woods. Been there more times than I can count . The whole feel of the place of the first picture(Dungeness not just Derek Jarmans cottage) really changes with the weather. In the summer it is truly glorious but in the winter it can feel like the bleakest place on earth.

not for me BUT I love the fence and detail in the 3rd.

Thanks for sharing these. I actually love the idea. But where I live, we'd just bake in the tropical climate.

I have seen it executed really well, but it isn't for the faint of heart. There is a dark chocolate (nearly black) painted-brick cape cod home in my neighborhood that looks fantastic; especially in contrast with the surrounding bright green foliage. Not creepy--chic.

I like these, especially number 1!

number 2 looks too imposing and solid. it could really do with some brighter accents. number 3 is gorgeous, especially with the mossy roof.

@pedleyfig, yes I grew up on the Marsh from 5 and my family still live there. Jarman's cottage and his garden of found items and sculpture is something I have loved for years and is part of my reason for collecting stuff to use..... I adore the writing on the side of the whole house. Shame there are not more pictures of it on here. If someone at AT drops me a line I am pretty sure I have a bunch of nice photos from last year.

The yellow windows remind me of Lego!

Interesting. Here in New Orleans we mostly paint our houses in candy colors, but a black or very dark gray choice might look striking. I'd probably pair it with white trim and a really bright green door.

Love these. My only concern would be in warmer climates, how the house would keep cool. I'm sure it can be worked around there. But I love dark colours and I love these homes!

I really like #1 I think partly for the great photography with the clouds in the back ground. And the happy yellow paint around the windows.

I really like that. My old friend had a dining room painted black and it was stunning and creepy at the same time.

Each to his own. I live in the hills, and one of the neighbors on the top of the hill across from mine painted his house a very dark grey. It looks like the house from Hell to me, and because of that, I can't say that I am glad to see it there.

Hmm, turns out they're much more beautiful (and less somber) than one would think. Mysteriously elegant!

Great post.

Whoa, these are scary.

Here is a link to a few more photos of Prospect Cottage and the surrounding area. It is on FB so if you don't use it sorry for that. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.447046426835.245089.624346835&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=447049126835&set=a.447046426835.245089.624346835&type=3&theater

It would help if they took pictures in the day when it looks nice out. If a house can still look creepy with the sun shining brightly, then...maybe it's time to reconsider your decor - unless, of course, you like scaring away the neighbor kids.

However, I really like 3 the most. You can still see the detail to the house, rather than just a black blob. And I like 5 due to the roof being a lighter color and the openness, and of course the yellow. Gives it more of a normal feel but with a unique color.

Ah ... I've wanted to see Prospect Cottage since I read Jarman's book, "Derek Jarman's Garden."

We can't paint the house black but I'd love to have little black shed with bright, bright trim.

I love now. 2 and 4, and would love to live in them all year round. I'd love no. 1 to be my summer home. I just don't like the doors on no. 5, but that's just me. Otherwise the execution is fine.

I'm with PIXIEDUST03, only 1 and 5 work for me, but they work really, really well.

I love black in decor. It looks good on the outside of a house.

Um, I hope this place is well insulated/reflective or far north or something! My house is light colored brick and a light brown roof and it just BAKES in the summer sun - I cannot imagine how uncomfortable it would be in summer if it was black!

Love 4! The trim, the door! The other Victorian, 2, seems like they're just trying to disguise the Victorian nature of the house.

I'm a huge fan of black, but not sure I could live in a black house. Sounds like bad luck. I do love the first and last houses.

I saw a different black cottage located in Kent on Pinterest this week. It didn't have yellow trim, but nonetheless was quite striking. Love the look, but I couldn't get away with it.

3 and 4 are FANTASTIC! 3 especially - very suburban castle!

No

#3 is gray! You can tell by looking at it. They also say so themselves: "They kept the old-fashioned facade intact and painted it graphite gray using RAL color 7024, made by Brillux, and then covered the “box” next door in plain, light-colored larch." http://www.dwell.com/slideshows/paint-it-black.html?slide=3&c=y&paused=true

First saw a black house in Deerfield, CT as a kid -- from the 1700s, with rusty red window frames (black-brown actually). I associated it with the massacre that took place there -- but at the time I thought it was really cool. Since, I've seen that color scheme on old houses elsewhere in New England, usually under big trees in deep shade. The red windows really pop....

Not a fan. I think colors of architecture should harmonize with nature and the surrounding environment, and black and other really dark colors usually don't do that. The contrast too much. Maybe really dark colors can work in some situations, but these examples don't make it for me.

I just LOVE black houses. But they need to have all the trims either white or a very light/bright color and the windows must be big, if not, they look very very creepy.

Few examples of black houses I love :
- http://www.worldisround.com/articles/77121/photo53.html

- http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xQ0jZXvWTBE/SwJeZzqx1uI/AAAAAAAAApc/BRsDfEts6EU/s800/Peter+Pennoyer+House+%26+Long+Barn,+Adirondacks+Side+Facade.png (seriously! How can you people NOT like this one ?)

-http://blog.makoollovesyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/black-house2.jpg

Creepiest black house : The Witch House in Salem, MA.

The goth in me loves these. I wish I could paint my house this way, but the Texas sun is unforgiving! I tried a dark forest green and the paint was fading and peeling before a year was gone!

@archersam: Thanks for the link to the beautiful photos of Prospect Cottage!

If the house is in a location where black or dark is a natural hue (such as shade under pine trees or very dark rocks) is looks right. In Sedona or Miami, it would just look pretentious. House colors need to echo their location's natural palatte.

If I saw number 2 I would assume the people who lived there were from an either goth or punk scene... Even if they still chose a "darker" color as a trim with the black, it would look more planned and not like it had been spontaneously spray painted

NOT!

I wanted a black house for years but never did it because I worried about resale...dumb, dumb, dumb.

no,no,no.

This is actually really common in New England. I miss it out west.

Love dark houses, but I was told never to paint the exterior of a house dark by 1. real estate agent, 2. an interior decorator and 3. a house painter. The first 2 due to resale, and the house painter because dark colors age must faster than light ones and need to be repainted in roughly half the time. Oh well, mid-value colors can also be striking!

Aww! Our little house that we just downsized from in NY was black when we purchased it. Several years later, bored with the color, we painted it a chocolate brown with creamy white trim, and changed the house numbers and mailbox to an oxidized bronze…..

Miss my dark little house!

Just read the comment above--I think the resale value depends on the neighborhood. In our non-homogeneous neighborhood, our house was one of the few for sale at the time (two years ago), that had multiple bids and sold at close to its asking price.

My fave black painted homes are in Amsterdam. Just beautiful to see those brick buildings painted inky black with cream and red trim.

love love love love love....love! def my cup of tea.

Love love love it! jackied302, great minds think alike! For me #1 is #1! And I really like the pink door in #4. It's funny because pastels are really creepy to me and dark colors are what I'm really drawn to. What a beautiful world this would be if everyone followed the colors in their hearts and didn't worry about the Jones's

I think is too dark, but the owner likes it.

#1 is great, but I think with any other surrounding environment, it wouldn't. #3 looks like a lego fortress!