Cubitt Terrace Heritage Painting

The Challenge

Cubitt's terraces feature particularly fine plaster detailing that had been obscured by successive layers of paint over 180 years. Revealing the original moulding profiles required extremely careful paint removal without damaging the underlying plasterwork. The client also wanted to reinstate the original practice of picking out mouldings in contrasting colours, a technique that demands steady hands and considerable patience.

Our Approach

We used a combination of steam stripping and careful scraping to remove built-up paint from the cornicing, ceiling roses, and door architraves, revealing crisp moulding profiles that had been softened by decades of overpainting. Where plaster had suffered minor damage, we repaired it using traditional lime putty. The revealed mouldings were then picked out in contrasting tones using artist's brushes, referencing colour palettes documented in architectural histories of the Cubitt estates. Flat wall surfaces were finished in historically appropriate colours from the Little Greene Regency collection.

The Result

The house has been transformed into a living example of Regency-era interior design, with every moulding and detail now crisp, defined, and beautifully highlighted. The client has opened the property for a local heritage open day, where it received enthusiastic praise from architectural historians.