A House Portrait from West Orange, New Jersey

by Jennifer Skopp

A West Orange, NJ man commissioned Jennifer Skopp to create a Watercolor House Portrait to give to his wife for her birthday. Coincidently, her birthday was the same day as Mother's Day this year. He wanted the Home Portrait to include their two pet cats.

This light yellow house has two floors and an attic. There is a gambrel roof which is a symmetrical, two-sided roof with two different slopes on each side. The upper slope is shallow and the lower slope is steeper. This type of roof is also called a “barn roof” or “Dutch'“ roof. This design maximizes the living space of the attic.

There are six steps that lead to the covered porch. The railing is white and the top rail is wood, that is stained medium brown. There are three white columns. Above the porch roof there are three adjoining windows that are centered. Below the porch roof is the main entrance, on the left side, that consists of two dark brown doors. Each door has a large window with six window panes. A single window is located to the right. The doors and window each have a white frame. Below the porch and to the right of the stairs is brown lattice. In front of the lattice are two green shrubs.

The driveway is to the left side of the house. At the end of the driveway is a detached garage, which is the same color as the house. A path that consists of light brown and gray rectangular and square stones, lead to the front steps. There are three stone steps in the middle of the path. On the left side is a lawn and on the right is a flower garden. Daffodils line the path when they are in season.