I absolutely love this look. There are quite a few houses in my town that have gone for a dark and dramatic paint job. The problems are that it will increase heat gain for the house, and most painters will tell you it doesn't last nearly as long before needing to be repainted. So for those reasons I wouldn't try it on my house.

I love dark dramatic exteriors! I painted the front of my converted storefront a dark charcoal gray and it looks so much better than the light beige that was there before. Much more impact. I am now contemplating painting the back stucco exterior of my home in the same dramatic gray.

You can't have a list of black houses without adding the half-buried 'Darth Vader' house (unofficial name) on the corner of Buffalo Speedway and University in Houston. If you're lucky, maybe you can find a pic from the years when they tried to grow grass up the slopes of the roof. That house stuck out like a sore thumb, probably still does.

Beautiful! If I ever own a house, I will definitely go for this look.

These are all stunning! Seriously I can't pick a favourite.

Slate is a traditional siding choice in much of Germany (and other European countries). I wish you'd included some examples of those houses! If done right, it is gorgeous and will last for a very long time.

I like the look, but I've always lived in hot climates so this wouldn't be something I'd ever do.

Very beautiful. If I had a house in a cool/cold climate, this would be my choice.

This is one of my favorite Victorian homes, I love, love, love the color scheme

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spine/1807204355/in/gallery-sarahrazak-72157627459045398/

I've never seen such dark colors on a house like this- it looks great. Currently, we live in an old town-house with purple siding, teal trim & orange doors.... so the monochrome gets a big thumbs up from me.

Agreed, I've adored this look for years. When I used to tell people about it they would look at me like I had two heads. It has to have the right architectural details and lines but I will definitely paint my house black when I decide to buy.

Yay! We just did this with our 1950 ranch - took it from pale pastel yellow to dark gray with a hint of green. White trim and yellow doors. It was the painters that convinced us to give it a try (with a big sample swatch, first). We love it.

Ahh the Darth Vader house... Houstonians either love it or they hate it. Personally, I love it.

There's a photo in the comment thread here:
http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/2912-darth-vaders-house/

Some of these are waaay to big to be private single family residences IMHO. Apparently McMansions come in all sorts of styles (or maybe it's just that people with more style have been coveting their spaciousness)

We also did this with our 60s split level. The dark gray combined with bright white trim really pops. The dark also gives a great backdrop to all the different plants in your yard. Our elderly neighbors were VERY concerned at first but all of them ended up loving it (once they were used to it).
http://atlgarden.blogspot.com/2012/10/first-post.html

I love them all! When we bought our current house it was a yellowish off-white color with bright white trim (shudder). It always looked filthy, and the house stuck out like a big blob against all the trees and shrubs. We had it painted a dark brownish/gray (I kept thinking the color I wanted was "tree trunk") with dark gray trim. Now it blends into the surroundings and doesn't look like a huge white box. Here's one after pic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/julielion/4714586602/

My sister just painted her house the dark steel grey and put on a new roof in white and the trims and doors, gutters etc are all white. Looks great you just have to keep the spiders away from making their cobwebs, they show really bad.

When I mentioned the desire to paint my muted pale yellow foursquare Payne's grey (dark grey/blue) with white trim she looked at me with shock and replied " It would really stick out among all these pale colored homes".

I haven't painted it yet, but she gave me another good reason to do it!