By Shai Parkash and Yossi Gabriel 

Research management: Adi Rose, Senior Conservation Architecture. Conservation Department, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality 

Jaffa and Tel Aviv developed from south to north, with their sprawling neighborhoods characterized by unique styles for each period. Among the prominent features of the different construction styles were the multitude of diverse colors on the facades of the buildings and the various textures of the facade components such as plaster, carpentry details, roofs and ironwork details. From 1850 onwards, whole groups of residential neighborhoods were painted in earth tones, pastels, a wide variety of light colors and whites or, alternately, exposed concrete cladding. Over the years, the facades of the buildings were covered with new colors and materials and the information did not always survive. The use of black-and-white photographs also made it impossible to know what was in the original and many unfounded opinions were accumulated over time.