What color is the house going to be?
Since our Facebook group exercise in exterior colorways in March of 2022, I have visualised the exterior walls of the house as a medium-dark brown to contrast with the silver roof. The tonal change creates a visual bridge between the roof and the black window frames and also between the house and landscaping I have in mind.
However, I never clearly decided on what the coating should be. Oil stain seemed an obvious choice since its commonly available and comes in a range of brown shades, but there are other options.
This week, Sasaki-san strongly recommended that we don’t treat the cedar at all. In its natural state cedar is resistant against insects and mold so it doesn’t need protective treatment. But while it starts a pretty red, it will sun bleach into a weathered grey.
Weathered grey is not quite what I want. 555’s roof shape is the showpiece of the exterior, it needs to be the most prominent thing. Grey on grey will visually attach the two, diminishing the impact of both, like in the upper right example above where the greys take a backseat to a fancy display of windows.
So I asked one of my favorite building and renovation groups on Facebook for their opinions and suggestions. In addition to wide support for leaving it natural, there were suggestions for charred yakisugi (shou sugi ban), various oils and waxes, and a persimmon based dye called kakishibu.
It’s made by fermenting unripe persimmons in water for anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of years. We have numerous persimmon trees at 555, so I could make this myself but not in time for construction.
Kakishibu is goes on bright orange, as I have seen it used. That’s not the color I want for the house but I learned that it turns darker both with layering and over time. Someone mentioned it could be tinted. Hmmm. I dove in and looked for examples.
Kakishibu is used as a natural dye for cloth, paper, and is part of the lacquering process. And it’s a historical wood finish providing insect and moisture repellant benefits as well as coloring and general wood protection. Kumamoto Castle was painted black with a mixture of kakishibu and wood ash, called shibu-sumi-nuri, and this was used on other castles, too.
Mixed with iron oxide (bengara in Japanese), kakishibu turns a stunning reddish-purple. Mixing it with India ink tones the orange to a darker brown. Lots of people experiment with proportions and it seems highly variable. There are recipes for different colors and tints as pictured above.
Time also changes the color. What goes on as orange soon enough weathers to a darker grey-brown. Our neighbor, Bernie, painted his well cover with kakishibu a few years ago. I remember how eye-catchingly orange it was at first. I stopped by this week to take a look. It’s been left untouched in full sun and it has faded into a grey-brown.
Kakishibu was definitely looking like a good option. And when I learned that one of my favorite places in Japan, Onomichi, used to be a production hub for kakishibu, that sealed the deal. I found Vingo Onomichi Kakishibu Shouten, a producer in Onomichi that is trying to revive the industry and bought 60 liters of their product. I love making the connection between 555 and another town where I have had many happy memories.
After the cladding goes up next month, I will apply kakishibu to each board. Coat, wipe and dry for an hour. Repeat three times (or four or five). It’s going to take a while! I’ll use the liquid plain to start, but I might choose to add iron oxide and recoat it later. I am excited to experiment with the coloration of such a large structure.
I am convinced that kakishibu is going to be an excellent choice for 555. And when I enthusiastically explained why to Sasaki-san and Teramoto-san, I think they were persuaded that it will be pretty good.
But I’m still not sure what color the house is going to be…
