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Originally Posted by AviationGuy
We're seeing a lot of that in my Austin neighborhood as well. Probably my favorite is brick painted black or dark gray, highlighted with stained wooden trim and garage doors, with matching front door. My new neighbors have done this, and also have white window trim. They took a bland 60s one-story brick and made it very eye-catching. I've seen many similar color schemes around the city. Not everyone likes it, but I definitely do.
I've resisted painting the brick on my 60s house. The brick is a light yellow that was actually more common in the 40s and 50s. My grandparents home in the Montrose section of Houston had this color brick, which may mean it makes me nostalgic. On Streetview, I've seen bungalows in the older suburbs of Chicago with this color brick.
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In Chicago, I agree with Steely Dan: it’s a horrible mistake. The common colors of brick in Chicago are beautiful and an unmistakable part of the city’s built environment.
In Austin, there’s a very even mix of brick, stone, and wood siding. Some areas are monolithically one type of siding, but throughout central Austin neighborhoods, streets, and even single blocks can be thoroughly mixed. Furthermore, just among each of those types of sidings there’s a huge variety of colors and sizes. You can find unpainted brick in almost every color throughout Austin. The southeast side has lots of deep reds, there’s a lot of pink and off-white in northeast and Pflugerville, creams and light reds in parts of Pflugerville and Round Rock, etc. Same thing with stone and with wooden siding. So, it’s much easier to get away with painting brick when it can blend in to that mix.
I have to echo your feeling on the black, grey, or white brick: it is beautiful when done right. And when done right (e.g. when you use black, white, or grey brick to build infill or to build on a tear-down lot, rather than painting it that color—and this is exactly what a lot of people in Austin are doing) with good architecture, it can be timeless and not a fad (just as with all design choices).