Choosing paint is one of those small household decisions that quietly shapes daily life for years afterward, and for families across the region weighing a deep, grounded shade, Benjamin Moore’s Crownsville Gray HC-106 keeps coming up. The manufacturer’s own product page describes it simply as “A deep, dignified greenish brown,” filed in the Historical Colors collection, with free color chips available to pick up at a local store and a digital swatch ready to download.
The one headline number on that page is the light reflectance value: LRV 21.96. In plain terms, that is a dark colour — one that will absorb far more light than it bounces back, which matters for how a room feels at different hours of the day. Benjamin Moore backs its finishes with its proprietary Gennex Color Technology, promising the colour stays vibrant for years, and leans on locally owned stores for hands-on advice — the kind of closer-to-home support that matters when a whole house, not one wall, is at stake.
The page also does the matchmaking. Its expert-picked coordinating palettes pair Crownsville Gray with China White OC-141 and Brookline Beige HC-47 in one grouping, and with White Wisp OC-54 and Gray Owl OC-52 in another. Under similar colors, it suggests Passion Vine 1504 and Sussex Green HC-109, then Pining for You 1512 alongside Majestic Sage 1532, while a shades-to-explore strip runs from Balboa Mist 1549 through Cumulus Cloud 1550 and Herbal Escape 1487 to Gettysburg Gray HC-107, with Sterling Forest 518 and Mediterranean Olive 2142-10 rounding it off.
How close is it to its neighbours? The comparison site plan-home measures Crownsville Gray against Iron Gate 1545, another Benjamin Moore shade, and the two turn out to be near kin. Both read as warm colours. Iron Gate sits at 37 degrees on the hue scale, toward orange, while Crownsville Gray sits at 46 degrees, toward yellow — a difference the site calls quite similar. Saturation sits close too: 9% for Iron Gate against 12% for Crownsville Gray, the darker shade carrying the richer pigment. On simple lightness the numbers are 50% and 47%; on perceptual CIE lightness, 54.778 versus 53.241; and on LRV, 23.10 versus 21.96 — in every measure, Crownsville Gray lands the darker.
Put together, the colour-difference score between them is 4.205 — inside the band the site’s glossary calls a small difference, meaning the two are distinct at a glance yet close enough to swap in adjacent rooms without a clash. That is useful knowledge for what it means for people planning a whole floor on one paint order.
Two cautions are worth carrying into the store. The site warns that an on-screen colour is only a representation, and that monitor, browser and screen angle can all shift it — Benjamin Moore says the same on its page. It also notes the same shade will not read the same on a rough wall as on smooth cabinets, since every surface throws light its own way. The practical escape hatch: peel-and-stick samples, twice painted with real paint, reusable, and, per the site, next-day delivery — so a family can live with the greenish brown for a few days before committing the whole wall to it.
Sources
- Crownsville Gray HC-106 | Benjamin Moore
- Benjamin Moore Iron Gate vs. Benjamin Moore Crownsville Gray comparison
