New color downtown? There’s a form.
Inside Charleston’s historic districts, exterior changes go through the city’s Board of Architectural Review process. That includes paint colors.
How it works.
- 01
Same color?
Repainting in the existing color usually needs only the standard application, not a color-change review.
- 02
New colors
A color change form goes in with the BAR application, with the colors identified and where each one goes.
- 03
Unpainted masonry
Painting brick, stone or stucco that has never been painted requires review at the Board level. We’ll usually advise against it.
- 04
We prepare it
Photos, color chips, a marked-up elevation, and the forms, filed before the scaffold goes up.
Ask the city first
Requirements depend on your exact address and what’s changing, and the city’s preservation staff are the final word. We’ll check with them before quoting a color change in a district, and we build approval time into the schedule.
Thinking about a new color?
The painting contractor’s site, built in seven days.
Sixteen pages: a Charleston color library, lead-safe practices for pre-1978 houses, the city’s BAR color-change process, and prep written so a homeowner can compare three bids.