South Randolph Painters — South Randolph, down South Main Street

We found no historic district or survey area that covers South Randolph by that name, so we built this picture from two sources. The first is the Census. Addresses at the southern end of South Main Street fall in Block Group 4 of Tract 4203.02, which has 924 housing units and a median build year of 1965. Close to a third of those units (31.7%) went up in the 1960s and another 25.2% in the 1950s. Only 31 units, 3.4%, date from 1939 or earlier, while 20.6% were built in the 1980s. In all, 77.6% predate 1980. Detached single-family houses account for 92.2% of units, and 87.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied. Block-group margins are wide, so read these as rough shares.

The second source is Randolph's 2013 preservation plan, which points to a small cluster of early houses in what it calls "this village on the Randolph-Avon line." One is 483 South Main Street, an 1825 Federal-period house the plan calls a comparatively well preserved full-Cape for its time. Another is the Linfield-Cooke House at 721 South Main, a Greek Revival cottage from around 1851, tied to the Linfields, who were farmers and shoemakers. A survey consultant recommended both for National Register consideration. Farther north, toward the town center, the Knight House at 350 South Main (1850) is singled out as one of Randolph's better-detailed Italianate houses, with a connected barn that shares its ornament.

Postwar houses sixty-plus years on

With more than half the block group's homes from the 1950s and 1960s, many of these houses have likely been repainted or re-sided at least once since they were new. Checking what is actually on the walls, and how well the last coat bonded, decides how much scraping and priming the job needs.

Lead is still part of the conversation

Paint in homes built before 1978 may contain lead, and 77.6% of units in this block group were built before 1980. Testing before any sanding is the safe first step; our lead-safe painting page describes how dust is contained inside and out.

One house, one decision-maker

Because over nine in ten units are detached single-family houses, color and scope decisions here rarely involve a condo board or a neighbor's half of the building. That makes it simpler to phase work, such as doing trim and doors one year and full siding later.

Nineteenth-century houses need a gentler hand

On a Federal Cape or a Greek Revival cottage, the clapboards, corner boards and window trim are part of what makes the house worth recommending for the National Register. Hand scraping, wood repair and a primer suited to old wood protect that fabric better than aggressive stripping. Our exterior painting page for Randolph goes into prep for older siding.