Brick: To Paint to not to Paint; That is the Question.
Every house holds a decision point. A moment where one choice determines how the whole story of a house reads. At Claridge Court, that moment came down to the brick.
A Question We Asked Ourselves
Somewhere in nearly every project, the same question comes up: should the brick be painted? For most, that's the default. Painting brick is fast, it unifies a facade, and on new construction, it's often the easiest way to fake a sense of history. At Claridge Court, we asked the question and landed somewhere completely different. We left it alone.
The Idea
The inspiration traces back to Eddie's stay at the Greenwich Hotel in New York, another new building, where the brick was never covered. It was allowed to be exactly what it was meant to be. That stay shaped two decisions at Claridge Court: the brick itself, and the way it's laid.
The brick is tumbled, chosen for its variation, and selected specifically to complement the window color and the slate roof. No two bricks read quite the same, and that range is what makes a wall feel alive instead of flat. In the courtyard, we took the idea further, using brick detailing to create a play of pattern and texture, a direct nod to the same instinct that shaped the Greenwich Hotel. The brick wasn't a problem to solve. It was a material with its own character, chosen carefully, and our job was to let it be.
Our Decision & Why
Because Claridge Court is a new construction, the brick decision happened before a single wall went up. We sourced brick already carrying the qualities time usually takes years to produce: tonal range, texture, a tumbled, antique quality. So the house would never need a cover-up later.
Lately, it feels like every house is being painted white. We understand the appeal, and we're not opposed to it as a decision. Eddie painted his own home, Villa Cali, white in 2020, leaning into a Palm Springs feel for its New Formalist, mid-century architecture. That was an intentional choice suited to a specific style.
What we've pivoted away from is something different: painting brick as a shortcut. Selecting the cheapest brick available and covering it in white to manufacture an "updated" look. It's a trend, and it's starting to read as one, most visibly in the white house, black window formula showing up on nearly every block. A builder-grade fix standing in for real design intent. At Claridge Court, we wanted the opposite. We wanted a decision that would still feel right in twenty years, not just on move-in day.
"The brick at Claridge Court didn't need our help. It just needed us to choose it well, and let it speak for itself."
When Painting Makes Sense, and When It Doesn't
To be clear, we're not against painting brick. If you inherited a house with brick you don't love, someone else's decision made decades ago, you're not obligated to live with it. Painting is a legitimate fix for a real problem.
The issue is when painting becomes the default instead of exception. Overused, it stops reading as a choice and starts reading as a trend, one that will likely date a house faster than the brick it was meant to hide.
One material is off the table entirely. Stone should never be painted. Full stop.
For anyone weighing an alternative to a full paint job, there's more room to work with than white or nothing. A slurry finish softens brick without erasing its texture. True whitewashing lets the brick still read through. Brick staining changes tone without sealing the surface. Even a climbing vine or ivy can shift a facade's character while leaving the material itself untouched.
Natural Brick Never Left
This decision also puts this home ahead of something we're glad to see catching on more broadly. More homeowners are choosing to leave brick as-is rather than painting it, on new builds and old ones alike. It's lower-maintenance over time, and it lets a house age the way it was actually built to.
At Claridge Court, the brick sets a quiet confidence for the whole house. It grounds everything else. A detail that, once you notice it, you can't imagine the house without.