A building’s bright new makeover has been a topic of conversation in York recently.
Number 20 Coney Street has turned yellow and it’s got people talking.
A branch of the bookshop Poetry Pharmacy is due to open in the ground floor unit of the building this Friday.
Its shop front is painted in a deep pink-red colour. But the yellow colour on the upper floors has divided opinion.
On social media, one word verdicts ranged from “brilliant” to “horrendous”.
One resident said it’s “a bloody mess that is and not fitting with the rest of the building”, while another wrote: “People seem to forget/are unaware that our ancestors lived in full colour, not black/white/brown drabness!”
Now the Poetry Pharmacy has commented on the debate. On Facebook, the company wrote: “Yes, it’s yellow! We didn’t paint it, and we didn’t choose it.
“As a listed building, its colour was carefully approved to restore the original historic yellow ochre finish.
“Fresh ochre looks bold now, but as traditional limewash it will soften with time and weather.
“You’re not seeing a new shade. You’re seeing an old one return.”
Contractor M Wormersley was asked by Sorrell (York) Ltd on behalf of the owners of the building to identify original paint finishes and restore them.
It explained more on this blog post.
This says: “What is now 20 Coney Street was built as part of a terrace of three timber-framed houses in about 1500, with their gable ends facing onto Coney Street.
“The frontages are three storeys with attics and are jettied on their upper floors. In the 18th century, the windows were altered, and the fronts were rendered over. The whole terrace is Grade II* listed.”
Their detailed paint analysis discovered the use of three layers of yellow ochre limewash, which has now been restored.
