Ask a client to picture a white house and they will all picture something different: chalky, glossy, blue-white, cream. The word is almost useless on its own. What matters is the surface, and how it holds light.
For Casa Alba we tested eleven white finishes on site, each on a full-height panel facing the courtyard. We watched them for a month, at dawn, noon and dusk, and in two storms.
“The winner was the oldest technique we tried: five coats of lime wash, brushed by hand.”
Lime wash is slightly translucent, so each coat catches light a little differently. The wall seems to glow rather than reflect. It also breathes, cures harder over time and can be refreshed with a brush and a bucket, which the owners now do every other spring.
