I was the architectural review chair for a 45-year old community of 118 brick townhouses in northern Virginia, about 10% of which were painted. Most of the painted houses had problems with paint flaking off and mildew forming on often shaded wall surfaces that rarely dried out. Painted brick was often discolored from water spatter at the ground and leaf stains in the fall. Those with fireplace chimneys were in the worse shape due to extreme temperatures and more moisture penetration. Chimney bricks often spalled. Unpainted brick houses were rarely in trouble. Trying to get 118 owners to maintain their houses up to standard was like herding cats. The paint on brick issues only exascerbated those problems.
From the historic district perspective I would try to research the original brick condition of the neighboring historic houses. If they were orginally brick and later painted you could make a good case for using the natural brick and not designing in a long term maintenance problem for your client. My daughter built a house in Harpswell. Coastal Maine has three elements that will cause problems - moisture, cold, and trees.
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Edward Acker AIA
Senior Architect
Winchester VA
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