(c) Mark Hertzberg
The package is being gift wrapped, if you will, and we now know what color the restored Thomas P. Hardy House will be. The house, which Gene Szymczak bought last September, is being restored. While some aspects of the house have been updated, Gene wanted to find the original color of the house. The stucco was painted gray when Gene bought it, as seen in this photo taken in the mid 1990s:
The stucco and wood had weathered and deteriorated since that photo was taken. The next photo shows the house last fall, after the bushes had been removed. The crack in the pillar of the entryway, right, was caused by a worker:
The next picture was taken just 10 days ago:
Next, we see the layers of paint uncovered by painter Dennis Bishop, on the back of the house:
And, the final color…drum roll…terra cotta, like Wright’s Gardener’s Cottage at the Darwin D. Martin House. The color is the final coat of the meticulous stucco repair by Paul Lemke of Top Notch Plastering of Racine, and his nephew, Sean Doyle:
Wright in Racine 
Hooray for Gene Szymczak and thank you, Mark for keeping us informed.
Jack Quinan
Excellent job done! The stucco and the paint work has been managed extremely well. Loved the color combination.