I used to work as a designer for a real estate development company and one of my favorite neutrals for exterior is Tony Taupe by Sherwin Williams (SW #7038) - it's dark enough to see in direct sunshine but won't compete with the other colors.

Because of the retro feel, I'd go for a colorful front door in a semi-gloss... blue, green or orange? Parakeet (SW 6711) or Blue Chip (SW 6959) would both look great!

I second a colorful front door. Consider the Sherwin-Williams site's historic collection exterior suburban modern palette. Have fun!

I think going with a dark neutral works well with MCM stone and brick. We have a modest-looking, brick 1962 high ranch, and we've started giving all the trim a steel grey that matches some of the darkest brick and it looks like the house is growing up! I could see you pulling off a fun, bright color for the door too. Maybe a rich green or blue? If you are in CA, I could even see a matching bright color for around the windows (for some reason warm weather locales seem more appropriate for this treatment.) But I think overall you want the tone to be darker than the stone to give the windows and soffits some visual weight.

I just noticed in the **tiny** (AT!! come on - bigger photos please?!) photos that you do indeed have shutters. Are they removable? Your house will look much sleeker without them. Your windows are awesome, but the addition of shutters is just a silly colonial reference. If they are part of the stone facade, I would not stain them dark. I would keep them as much like the stone color to help them disappear.

Nick Olsen had a very good article about ranch style houses, colors, shutters, etc, recently:

http://nickolsenstyle.blogspot.com/2010/07/ranch-undressing.html

I agree with him that you should remove the shutters. He also has great advice about landscaping.

Could we have pictures viewable without a magnifying glass, AT?

In theory, though, I second home body's call for a dark neutral and everyone's for the front door. (I'd pass on the window brightness, though.) I love Permastone or whatever that variation is called - it's so low maintenance and perfectly period. It's going to look great!

I would go for grays and whites - somewhat of a nuetral color scheme. We are about to do one in central Austin and these are the colors I am choosing.

How fun would a dark taupe or brown tone be for the part above the windows, painting the window sills to match, and then throw in a great rusty orange door? I wouldn't play it safe with something like this. It's just paint. It's not THAT must space (like painting an entire house) where you fear making a mistake. We repaint our shutters and front door practically every 2 years because it's a short time commmitment for a huge change in appearance. I say have fun and you can always go neutral if you don't like it.

I THINK I would do pale gray on the exterior with a bright green door, not a deep serious-business bottle green, something in the '50s mint or a bright popping lime.

But I'm not sure because good lord, those are some tiny pictures and my eyes actually hurt a lot now and I still didn't see enough detail.

I know I'm legit vision impaired and that's not AT's fault but C'MON.

Thanks to all! Yes, I am working on getting up-dated HUGE pix. I promise not to make you feel like you can't see a perfectly tiny picture!hehe:)>

Bigger photos would help, but as a stager who picks exterior paint colors, one of my favorites is Stone House by Sherwin Williams. It can look very different in every light, and next to obviously, whatever colors you try, make sure you paint a part of your house and look at it at different times of the day, and paint next to the brick to see the contrast.

I think teal green woud look great. It will make the house stand out, go with the stone and have a mid century vibe.

Don't touch the stone just clean it. The other parts of the house would look good a darker gray and paint your door a nice yellow. Don't paint the stone.

I know everyone thinks neutral, but my heart tells me that this house needs the trim/soffet to be a mid century pink and the door wants to be a yellow chartreuse.

See chartreuse and apple blossom from the Sherwin Williams suburban modern collection.

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/paint_colors/explore/paint_color_palettes/interior/int_suburban/index.jsp

it needs some contrast. just clean the stone (don't paint it). i think dark slate gray or taupe would look nice on the larger painted surfaces, maybe with black as a highlight color on the trim and shutters. and a brick red door. to me, yellow with the stone makes the house looked yellowing & aged and doesn't provide enough contrast & dimension.

Yes, bigger pictures please AT!!! Until somebody pointed out that there were shutters, I didn't notice them, they are so tiny!

It's a great article by Nick Olsen; thanks for posting. However, I have to disagree with him about painting the exterior off-white; greige is *not* dreary, and a medium-dark grey -- to match the grout -- would look great on this house. Indeed, grey painted brick exteriors are common in the Netherlands and Belgium, and look very elegant and sophisticated. As well, off-white houses don't look as great when buried under snow; something to keep in mind for those of us who live in cold climates.

And as a previous poster wrote, those decorative shutters have got to go! (we had some on our house too)

is 1971 still considered the middle of the century?

Charcoal and turquoise.

Thank you for the bigger picture AT!!!!

Donald, you have beautiful windows!

Is that a trellis hiding the bathroom window? (interesting...)

I'm sorry, but with the dark grout lines and the "fake stone", your cladding needs to be painted. It will look brilliant painted because you will still have the pattern of the "stone" work and grout lines, along with their texture, but not their high-contrast colours.

The only time I've ever seen anyone paint "random stones here and there" was Jack Duckworth on Coronation Street. Even if he hadn't used blue, it would have been hideous.

http://www.80sactual.com/2010/05/coronation-street-21-years-of-stone.html

Please, please remove those "shutters" and do not even contemplate "staining random stones here and there"!!

Oh, and for a front door, I would get a mahogany door -- the wood will be a beautiful contrast to the paint.

No, instead, be inspired by this blog (they also will guide you to what sort of door you should get -- just click on the links and follow their progress). The goal should be to tease out the strong modernist design elements and reduce the effect of builder kitsch.

http://www.atomicindy.com/2010/04/mid-century-modern-exterior-painting.html

Here's inspiration on what else to do to your exterior (besides the landscaping, covered off by Nick Olsen):

http://www.atomicindy.com/2010/04/mid-century-modern-house-numbers.html

Good luck!

Thanks AT for a larger picture - it makes all the difference!

I still recommend going a dark grey or brownish color for the window trim and upper part under the eaves. Probably darker sofits/gutters would look nice too - though the light / dark jumping of layers could be nice too. (i.e dark roof, light gutters, dark soffits/upper, light stone.) My main recommendation now is NOT to paint the trim that goes around the entire house above the windows dark (the 6-8" wide portion) - keep it a light color that matches the stone like it is now. It gives a buffer above the windows so they don't like they're floating off the top of the walls into the roof. You want to maintain some proportions and spacing. And honestly - if the shutters are part of the stone and can't be removed, just keep them as is. They have some humor to them, if nothing else - which in my book is a good thing.

I had a 1971 ranch once. Same stone, but only halfway up the side of the house.

No one would call me a designer, but IMO I just can't picture taupe or beige or tan/brown with the black roof and gray grout lines in the stone. (Why would anyone paint to make the grout lines seem to disappear??? OMG no!) So my vote is for something in the gray family. I also know red doors seem overdone but with black and gray...red seems logical .A deep teal would be nice though, too, but a light turquoise or pink is truly '50's, not 70's.

Your house is a lovely 1971 ranch in a mid-century STYLE. I happen to like those shutters and with the stone as high up on the walls as it is, the shutters serve to set off the windows. My 1971 had shutters, too. Shutters are not just colonial decorations.

I would like to thank all that have answerd my paint concerns. Everyone has their own take and views on what I'm trying to achieve through the eyes of the beholder, which is you. I will be compiling all the suggestions into a list to see what most of you agreed upon.
Right now, my only question to all of you is, most talked about painting the upper section, but was not sure if this meant everything the same color up to the roof? or should there be other colors or shades to compliment the eaves and roof lines? Thanks again!
-ModEmotions

I would go with a charcoal grey similar to the grout in the stone for the spot above the garage (?), and a lighter color above the windows and on the eaves. Then I'd punch up color with the door. You could do just about anything - but I'm not a huge fan of green doors. They just don't stand out well enough against vegetation. Maybe a terra cotta orange (think if a clay pot were glazed so it's deep and bright).