Victorian & Historic Home Restoration in San Francisco
San Francisco's Victorians, Edwardians, and Painted Ladies are some of the most beautiful — and most demanding — houses to paint correctly. Lead-painted substrates, rotted trim, ornate gingerbread, and color schemes that have to honor a 130-year tradition all need specialists. That's the work we built this company around. A Victorian repaint is half painting and half conservation. We document existing finishes, repair or replicate missing trim, work historic-accurate color palettes, and contain lead per federal RRP standards throughout. The result holds up for a decade and looks the way the architect intended.
Why it matters
What changes a victorian restoration job in SF
Pre-1978 means lead
Every Victorian and Edwardian in SF was painted with lead-based products at some point. RRP-certified containment is non-negotiable — for your family's health and ours.
Trim is everything
What makes a Victorian a Victorian is the trim: brackets, dentils, fish-scale shingles, window hoods. Repairing and painting it is slow, careful work.
Color isn't decoration, it's history
The Painted Lady tradition uses three or more colors to articulate architectural features. We work historic palettes and consult on every scheme.
Process
Our process for victorian restoration
- 1
Historic assessment
Document existing colors, identify architectural style (Italianate, Stick, Queen Anne, Edwardian), flag substrate issues.
- 2
Color consultation
Three or more colors typical: field, trim, and accent. Pull from Benjamin Moore Historical, Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern, period palettes. Review large drawdowns in your home's actual light.
- 3
Lead-safe stripping
Where lead paint has failed, strip with chemical agents or infrared rather than heat guns (which vaporize lead). All debris contained and disposed per EPA RRP.
- 4
Carpentry restoration
Rotted sills, missing dentils, cracked brackets — repair or replicate using Dutchman patches and matching profiles before paint.
- 5
Prime & paint
Oil primer on bare wood, two coats of 100% acrylic finish. Cut-ins by brush. Three- and four-color schemes laid out for crisp transitions.
- 6
Final walkthrough
Documented finish list, touch-up kit handed to you, multi-year written warranty.
The Painted Ladies tradition
When Butch Kardum painted his Italianate Victorian in the late 1960s with unconventional bold colors, he sparked a movement. By the 1970s, hundreds of SF Victorians had been repainted in three-to-six-color schemes that highlighted brackets, dentils, and trim that decades of single-color paint jobs had hidden. Today, painting a Victorian in SF is part craft, part conservation — and the right color scheme can be transformational.
EPA RRP certification — what it actually means
The EPA's Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule requires firms working on pre-1978 housing to be certified, to use lead-safe work practices (containment, wet sanding, HEPA vacuuming), and to dispose of debris properly. Cutting corners on lead is illegal, but more importantly it puts your family, your neighbors, and our crews at risk. We're certified and we work to that standard on every Victorian.
Wood repair: where most jobs go wrong
The most common mistake on a Victorian repaint is painting over compromised wood. Rotted window sills, split trim, and failed caulking will telegraph through any paint job within a year. We do Dutchman patches, epoxy consolidation on rotted-but-savable wood, and full replacement with matching profiles where needed — all before primer goes on.
Materials
What we put on your home
- Benjamin Moore Historical Color Collection
- Sherwin-Williams Historic Color collections
- Fine Paints of Europe for high-end accents
- Oil-based primers for raw wood
- Lead-safe stripping agents (no open-flame heat)
Pricing
What it typically costs
Full Victorian restorations typically run $25,000–$120,000 depending on size, ornamentation, substrate repair scope, and color-scheme complexity. Free in-person assessment.
From the gallery
Victorian Restoration projects
FAQ
Common victorian restoration questions
Most Victorian and Edwardian restorations run $25,000–$120,000. The biggest variables are substrate condition, ornamentation, and color-scheme complexity.
Typical timeline is 4–8 weeks for a single-family Victorian with normal prep. Full restorations with carpentry and multi-color schemes can run 10–14 weeks.
Yes. We work with Benjamin Moore Historical, Sherwin-Williams Historic, and period-correct palettes. For homes in designated historic districts we coordinate with Planning Department guidelines.
Yes. We have a network of millworkers who can match historic profiles — dentils, brackets, window hoods, gingerbread, fish-scale shingles. If a fragment exists, it can usually be replicated.
Often. We frequently take direction from interior designers and preservation architects and spec a system that delivers what they've drawn.
On larger restorations we typically structure 3 progress payments tied to milestones. We don't take more than 10% upfront, per California CSLB rules.
Ready for victorian restoration?
Free on-site estimate within a week. Fixed written quote within 2 business days.