Your 1920s bungalow has survived a century of Florida sun, humidity, and hurricanes. The last thing it deserves is a paint job that treats it like a builder-grade box in a brand-new subdivision. Here's what makes historic exteriors different — and how to get yours done right.
I've spent more than a decade painting homes in Jacksonville's historic neighborhoods — Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, San Marco, Springfield. And I can tell you the difference between painting a historic home and painting a new one isn't a marketing line. It's a completely different job. Different rules, different surfaces, different products, different craft.
If you own one of these homes, this is the guide I wish every owner had before calling a painter.
First: Know Whether Your Home Is in a Regulated Historic District
Jacksonville has locally designated historic districts — including Riverside-Avondale and Springfield — where exterior changes go through the City's Historic Preservation Section. The mechanism is called a Certificate of Appropriateness, or COA. It exists to keep the character that makes these neighborhoods worth living in (and worth what your home is worth).
What does that mean for paint? In general, the city's design guidelines steer historic homes toward period-appropriate colors — palettes tied to your home's architectural era rather than contemporary high-contrast schemes. The exact requirements depend on your district and the scope of work, so before any exterior project, it's worth a call to the Historic Preservation Section or your neighborhood organization — Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP) and SPAR in Springfield are both excellent resources.
The good news: This is not the obstacle people fear. Thousands of homes in these districts get beautifully repainted. It just rewards working with people who know the process — and know what the review boards like to see.
Second: Respect the Colors Your House Was Born With
Every architectural era had its palette, and Jacksonville's historic neighborhoods have all of them:
Never meant to be one color. These houses carried three to seven coordinated colors across body, trim, sash, and accent details — that's where the term "Painted Lady" comes from. Springfield has stunning examples.
Muted, earthy tones: olive, sage, warm browns, deep greens, softened golds. Colors that sit down into the landscape rather than shouting over it. Riverside has one of the largest bungalow collections in the Southeast.
Warm stucco tones — creams, soft ochres, terracottas — with deeper accents on shutters and ironwork. Found throughout Avondale and San Marco.
Classic, restrained schemes: whites and soft neutrals with traditional shutter colors. Timeless and elegant when executed with the right undertones.
Both major paint manufacturers publish historic collections — curated, era-accurate palettes — and they're a great starting point. The real skill is adapting those palettes to Florida light, which washes out weak colors and amplifies undertones you never saw on the swatch. A color that reads "historic sage" on a chip can go gray and lifeless on a north wall and nearly yellow in full afternoon sun.
Test large samples, outside, on multiple sides of the house. Always.
Third: Take Lead Paint Seriously
If your home was built before 1978 — and in these neighborhoods, most were — you should assume older layers of paint contain lead. This isn't a reason to panic, but it is a reason to be careful about who works on your house and how.
Federal EPA rules require contractors disturbing painted surfaces on pre-1978 homes to follow lead-safe work practices. In practical terms, careful work on an old exterior means things like hand-scraping loose paint rather than blasting it off with uncontrolled power-sanding or high heat, containing chips and debris with ground coverings, and cleaning up thoroughly — because lead that gets into soil doesn't leave.
When you're interviewing painters for a pre-1978 home, ask directly: "How do you handle lead-safe practices on older homes?" A professional will have a real answer. If you get a blank look — keep interviewing.
Fourth: Old Wood Is Better Wood — If It's Prepped Right
Here's something most people don't know: the old-growth heart pine and cypress on Jacksonville's historic homes is far better material than almost anything you can buy today. Denser, more rot-resistant, more dimensionally stable. A hundred-year-old clapboard that's been maintained is worth saving nearly every time.
But historic exteriors carry a hundred years of paint history — layers of oil-based paint under layers of latex, failing in different ways on different sides of the house. That's why preparation on a historic home is a discipline of its own:
Every surface, every elevation. Where is paint failing, and why? Moisture from a gutter? Sun exposure? A bad previous prep job? You have to diagnose before you treat.
The goal is a stable, paintable surface — not necessarily bare wood. Stripping an entire historic house to bare wood is rarely needed and can damage surfaces that have held paint for a century.
Rotted sections get replaced; sound old wood gets preserved. When replacement is needed, it should match the original profiles — not generic modern trim from the home center.
Old wood, previously oil-painted surfaces, and patched areas each need the right primer. This is exactly where shortcuts show up as peeling two summers later.
Seal gaps and seams, but never seal a historic house so tight it can't release moisture. Trapped moisture is how paint fails and wood rots from the inside out.
The details matter too. These houses have window casings, porch columns, corbels, dentil molding, and trim profiles that a spray rig and a hurry will ruin. Fine brushwork on those details is the difference between a historic home that looks restored and one that looks repainted.
What This Means When You're Hiring
A few honest questions to ask any painter bidding on a historic exterior:
- What's your process for approvals if my home is in a regulated district?
- How do you handle lead-safe practices on pre-1978 homes?
- What exactly does your prep include — and what will you do when you find rotted wood?
- How will you handle my home's trim details — brush or spray?
- Can you walk me through how you'd choose period-appropriate colors for my home's style and era?
The answers will tell you very quickly who has actually worked on historic homes and who is hoping to learn on yours.
