People commission portraits of houses for reasons that have nothing to do with architecture: the first home they bought, the farmhouse they grew up in, the cottage they sold last spring and still think about. A house portrait is one of the quietest, most personal commissions a studio takes — and one of the easiest to get right, provided the reference photograph is chosen properly.
Which photograph makes a good painting
Houses are forgiving subjects in one way and brutal in another. The forgiving part: brick, siding and stone do not blink, and nobody complains about their likeness. The brutal part: almost every photo people own of their home was taken at an angle that flattens it, at an hour that kills it, or with a car parked in the worst possible place.
- Shoot from the corner, not the middle. A three-quarter view shows two sides of the house and reads as architecture. A straight-on photo reads like a real-estate listing.
- Light matters more than for people. Early morning or late afternoon gives the facade shadows and depth; high noon gives you a flat rectangle. If you only own noon photos, that is fixable in paint — tell us and we will set the light.
- Resolution is easy here. A house needs far fewer pixels than a face. Any modern phone photo is enough; the file just needs to be sharp, not enlarged from a screenshot.
- Send the detail shots too. A close photo of the front door, the garden gate, the particular window — painters use these to keep the character in the things you actually love about the house.
The same rules that apply to choosing reference photos for a portrait apply here, minus the eyelash clause. If the house has changed since the photograph — new roof, repainted door, a tree that is no longer there — say so in the notes. We paint the house as you remember it, not as the camera found it.
What to leave out (and what to put in)
This is where house commissions are won. Decide before the mock-up stage what the painting is about.
- Cars, bins and cables go. We remove them by default, but mention it anyway.
- Seasons can be merged. The garden was planted in June but the photo is from February? We routinely merge two photographs — the house from one, the garden from another. There is a small addition for combining references, and it is worth it.
- People and pets can join. A dog on the step, the kids on the path — figures raise the price the same way they do for any portrait, roughly the two-subject arithmetic on the price table. A house alone is charged as a single subject.
- Skip the whole street. A painting of your house plus four neighbours is a street scene, and the emotional centre gets lost. Crop tight to your property with a little garden around it.
What it costs, honestly
A house is charged as a single-subject commission, because that is what it is: one subject, no likenesses to chase. The standard table applies.
| Canvas | Subject | Price | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 × 16 in | House only | $289 | Desk, hallway, part of a gallery wall |
| 16 × 20 in | House only | $389 | The standard house portrait; holds a wall in an entryway |
| 24 × 36 in | House only | $789 | A main-wall statement in a living room or office |
| 16 × 20 in | House + dog or figures | $499 | The commission people end up loving most |
Framing choices mirror every other commission: a gallery-wrapped canvas needs no frame at all; a float frame adds a formal note. The framing and hanging guide covers the hardware, and the sizing guide covers the two-thirds wall rule if the painting is going over furniture.
Who actually orders these
- The goodbye painting. The family home is being sold, and the adult children want the house itself before it belongs to someone else. This is the most common house commission we see, and the one that produces the longest emails.
- The closing gift. Given to the buyers by the sellers, or to the sellers by their real-estate agent. Painted before the move, delivered to the new address.
- The first home. A wedding or housewarming gift from parents: the couple’s new house, sometimes with the two of them walking up the path.
- The studio or shop front. A small business commissioning its own facade for the reception wall.
How the commission runs
It is the same five-step process as a people portrait: you send the photograph, we return a digital mock-up showing the crop, season and light, you approve or adjust, the painting takes three to five weeks, and the canvas ships rolled or stretched with free tracked delivery in three to five business days. Nothing is charged until the mock-up is approved. If you want it for a closing date or a housewarming, the timeline guide shows how to work backwards from a date; for December deliveries, order by mid-November.
The short version
- Photograph from a three-quarter angle in morning or late-afternoon light; any sharp phone photo has enough resolution.
- Send detail shots of the parts you love, and say what has changed since the photo.
- A house-only commission is single-subject pricing: $289, $389 or $789 by canvas size. Adding a dog or figures moves it to $499 and up.
- Seasons and missing trees can be merged from two photos — just say so in the notes.
- Order by mid-November if it needs to be under the tree.
Send the photograph through the quote page and you will get a recommended canvas, a fixed price and a straight opinion on whether your photo will carry the painting — usually within 24 hours.