If you visited the Octagon prior to 1995, touring it today, the most obvious difference you’ll see is the color of the walls and the entry hall, the central stairway, and several of the public rooms. Gone are the twilight hues you would have seen a few decades ago; in their place are sunny peach and yellow, sky blue, and apple green. A similar transformation has altered the look of historic rooms in Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, and Monticello. The change was brought about by the use of a tool not available to the team that conducted an earlier restoration of the house. A stereomicroscope exposed the distortion caused by the oxidation of the paint and revealed the original, brighter colors. Additional research supports this new interpretation. The pigments necessary to create bright colors were expensive; their use instantly identified the homeowner as someone of means, which, of course, was the very impression the Tayloes wanted to make. Other theories suggest that vibrant colors may have done more to maximize the effectiveness of candlelight at brightening a room or that the colors served as a type of stimulation in an otherwise quiet environment.
