Benjamin Moore Saybrook Sage HC-114 Exterior: 2026 Color Guide

Benjamin Moore^® Saybrook Sage HC-114 is the #1 muted-sage Benjamin Moore exterior pick of 2026. Sitting on the Historical Color (HC) palette at approximate hex #A4AA92 and LRV 36, it is the sage homeowners reach for when "bright sage" reads too minty and "olive" reads too earthy. Saybrook Sage splits the difference, a balanced gray-green muted sage with a soft drab-olive cast, settled enough to read as a true neutral sage and clear enough to hold its color across all four orientations. Of 13,611 facade simulations rendered on FacadeColorizer in 2025-2026, Saybrook Sage ranked the #1 Benjamin Moore sage exterior color at 5% of all BM sage-family tests, ahead of Saratoga Sage HC-119 (3%) and Boxwood Green CC-554 (2%), riding a confirmed +47% Pinterest growth in sage exterior searches year over year per the Pinterest Predicts 2026 report.

This 2026 guide is the practical answer to one question, "Is Saybrook Sage the right sage for my Cottage or Craftsman?" Below you will find the full technical spec, comparisons against Boxwood Green CC-554 (brighter sibling), Saratoga Sage HC-119 (deeper sibling), and Sherwin-Williams Evergreen Fog SW 9130 (closest cross-shop), the Cottage and Craftsman architectural fit, eight frequent questions, and a step-by-step protocol to preview Saybrook Sage on a photo of your own home with our sage green exterior paint guide 2026. For the 2026 Color of the Year companion, see our pillar guide on Benjamin Moore Silhouette AF-655.

1. What is Benjamin Moore Saybrook Sage HC-114?

Saybrook Sage HC-114 is a muted, balanced gray-green sage in the Benjamin Moore^® Historical Color (HC) Collection. The "Saybrook" reference points to the colonial-era town of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and the "Sage" reference is the color family designation. The underlying technical reading is more useful than either piece of naming history, because it explains why HC-114 reads as a "true sage" instead of drifting into mint, olive, or pure gray on different facades.

Source: Benjamin Moore Historical Color Collection technical data sheet, Pinterest Predicts 2026 sage search growth report (+47% YoY), Houzz 2026 Home Design Trends green-family lift (+34%), FacadeColorizer internal facade simulation dataset (13,611 renders, 2025-2026).

The LRV of 36 is what makes Saybrook Sage a confident mid-tone exterior color. At that reflectance value it sits firmly in the "mid-saturated" band, deep enough to read as a real color from the curb (not a washed pastel) and bright enough that even north-facing facades retain the gray-green sage character without dropping to "near-olive" the way HC-119 Saratoga Sage can. That makes HC-114 the most-flexible BM sage across the continental US, from Pacific Northwest Craftsman bungalows to New England Cape Cottages, with minor heat-load caveats only in the deep Southwest. For the wider green exterior paint colors 2026 family map and the best exterior green paint colors 2026 shortlist, see our dedicated guides on the green pillar.

2. Why Saybrook Sage is the #1 BM sage exterior choice

The Benjamin Moore sage exterior category contains roughly fifteen named greens that read as "sage" to the naked eye, but Saybrook Sage HC-114 is the only one that consistently solves three different homeowner briefs at the same time. That triple-fit is what drives the 5% dataset share at #1 in the BM sage family, ahead of every other named sage on the brand.

• The "I want a sage that is not minty" brief. Homeowners who tried Behr Hidden Sage or BM Mountain Laurel found the color drifted too mint or too pastel under direct sun. Saybrook Sage holds its drab-olive cast even on south-facing facades, never crossing into "spa green" territory.
• The "I want a sage that is not olive" brief. Homeowners who tried BM Saratoga Sage HC-119 found the deeper LRV 26 drifted into olive-brown on north walls. Saybrook Sage at LRV 36 stays clearly green-gray rather than reading as drab brown.
• The "I want a sage that is not a gray with a green hint" brief. Homeowners who tried SW Evergreen Fog 9130 found the cooler, grayer cast read as "gray with a green wash" instead of a true sage. Saybrook Sage has enough green saturation that nobody mistakes it for a greige.

The result is that Saybrook Sage books roughly 5% of all Benjamin Moore sage-family exterior tests in our dataset, putting it firmly at #1 in the BM sage category. That 5% headline figure compares against a +47% year-over-year growth in sage exterior search interest documented in the Pinterest Predicts 2026 report, and against the 34% green-family lift reported in the Houzz 2026 Home Design Trends study. The composite read is unambiguous, sage is the fastest-growing exterior color family of 2026, and HC-114 is the BM color leading the category. For the SW-side companion, the sage green house with white trim and black door 2026 recipe walks through the textbook composition, and our green house paint colors 2026 roundup ranks the field across all brands.

3. Trend, +47% sage exterior growth in 2026

The growth of sage as an exterior category is not anecdotal. Three independent 2026 reports document the trend with hard figures, and the magnitude of the lift is large enough to reshape how brands position their green offerings for the next two cycles.

Sources: Pinterest Predicts 2026 report (December 2025), Houzz Home Design Trends report (Q1 2026), FacadeColorizer internal facade simulation dataset (13,611 renders, 2025-2026).

The narrative is straightforward, the "warm neutrals" cycle that dominated 2020-2024 (greige, agreeable beige, mushroom) is giving way to a "soft naturals" cycle led by muted sage and warm brown. Benjamin Moore's own 2026 Color of the Year, Silhouette AF-655, is the brown half of that pivot. Saybrook Sage HC-114 is the sage half. Together they define a complete 2026 facade palette, sage body with deep brown door, or deep brown body with sage shutters or sage door, depending on which color carries the elevation weight.

4. Saybrook Sage vs Boxwood Green CC-554, Saratoga Sage HC-119, and SW Evergreen Fog

Saybrook Sage is most often considered alongside three sibling sages, BM Boxwood Green CC-554 (the brighter, more saturated sage sibling), BM Saratoga Sage HC-119 (the deeper olive-leaning sibling), and SW Evergreen Fog 9130 (the closest Sherwin-Williams cross-shop, which 2022 named Color of the Year). Side by side, the four colors look distinct, and picking the wrong one for a Cottage or Craftsman style is the single most common error we see in our render dataset.

The headline distinction is undertone temperature plus saturation depth. Boxwood Green CC-554 is more saturated and reads "brighter sage." Saratoga Sage HC-119 is deeper and reads "near-olive" in shade. SW Evergreen Fog SW 9130 is cooler and reads "greige with a green hint." Saybrook Sage HC-114 sits dead-center on all three axes, balanced temperature, mid saturation, and the lone HC-coded sage that reads unambiguously as "sage" rather than tipping into mint, olive, or gray. Homeowners cross-shopping the Sherwin-Williams side of the catalog should see our Sherwin-Williams vs Benjamin Moore exterior comparison for the full brand matchup and our Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior review 2026 for the product spec recommendation on a sage facade.

5. Cottage and Craftsman style fit

Saybrook Sage HC-114 is the dominant BM sage in our dataset because it lands precisely on the two architectural styles that most often request a sage exterior, the American Cottage and the Craftsman bungalow. Both styles share design language that depends on a muted, nature-leaning body color that does not compete with stone foundations, wood detailing, or planted landscaping. HC-114 holds all three of those material partnerships without forcing a redesign of the rest of the elevation.

Cottage style fit, the textbook composition

On Cottage-style homes (storybook English Cottage, Cape Cod cottage, Carmel-style Cottage, coastal cedar-shake cottage), Saybrook Sage works on lap siding, board-and-batten, or shingles, and pairs with three standard partners, a warm white trim (White Dove OC-17), a soft cream door (Swiss Coffee OC-45) or a true black door (Wrought Iron 2124-10), and natural-wood porch elements. The combination reads as "garden cottage" rather than "spa cottage" because HC-114's drab-olive cast resists the mint shift that would push the facade toward "beach house." For more on the Cottage side specifically, see our roundup of the cottage style exterior paint colors 2026 top 12.

Craftsman style fit, the bungalow recipe

On Craftsman bungalows (1905-1930 originals plus 2010s+ revivals), Saybrook Sage replaces the standard "earth tone tan" of the historical Craftsman palette with the modern "sage neutral" without losing the warm-natural character of the style. Pair HC-114 body with Branchport Brown HC-72 trim and a dark brown or natural-wood front door. The single biggest mistake on a Craftsman is pairing sage with a cool-white trim, the bungalow porch detailing, exposed rafter tails, and natural stonework all need warm trim to hold the period feel. For the full Craftsman editorial, see our ranking of the craftsman house exterior paint colors 2026 top 15.

6. Trim, shutter, and door pairings on Saybrook Sage

Saybrook Sage is forgiving on trim, but the wrong white can still strip out the warmth that gives HC-114 its Cottage and Craftsman character. The default pairings below have been validated against 600+ Saybrook Sage facade renders in our 13,611-image dataset.

The textbook composition on Saybrook Sage is White Dove OC-17 trim with a Wrought Iron 2124-10 black door. It accounts for roughly 31% of all Saybrook Sage exterior renders in our dataset and aligns with the editorial recipe in our sage green house white trim black door 2026 guide. The 2026 update on that classic is to swap Wrought Iron for the new BM Color of the Year, Silhouette AF-655, which keeps the deep-anchor function but adds a warm-brown undertone that ties HC-114 into the broader "soft naturals" palette dominating 2026.

7. How to test Saybrook Sage on your house (step-by-step)

Two methods, the AI photo render and the physical sample board. For a mid-tone sage as forgiving as Saybrook Sage, either method works on its own, but combining the two is the responsible approach before committing to 8-12 gallons of premium exterior paint at $90 a gallon.

Method A, the AI photo render (15 minutes, free)

1. Take one front-elevation photo on an overcast day around 10 AM or 2 PM. Avoid harsh midday sun (blows out the green) and golden hour (warms HC-114 into a fake olive).
2. Upload to FacadeColorizer's free AI exterior visualizer. No signup required for the first render.
3. Enter Saybrook Sage HC-114 as a custom hex value (#A4AA92) or pick from the Benjamin Moore palette.
4. Generate three trim variants, White Dove OC-17, Simply White OC-117, Swiss Coffee OC-45. The free tier includes one HD render plus three watermarked previews.
5. Pull a second photo at a different time of day and re-render to spot the north-vs-south orientation effect described above.

Method B, the physical sample board (3 days, ~$30)

1. Buy a Benjamin Moore Color Sample pint of Saybrook Sage HC-114 (~$10) and a 24" x 36" primed white foamboard (~$10).
2. Roll two coats of HC-114 on the foamboard, 24 hours between coats.
3. Tape the foamboard to the actual elevation at roughly 5 feet up, where most of the wall will sit.
4. Observe at 9 AM, 1 PM, and 6 PM. Photograph each.
5. If the color reads too olive in midday sun, sister-test Boxwood Green CC-554 (brighter, more saturated). If it reads too gray on a north wall, sister-test Boxwood Green or step down to Saratoga Sage HC-119 only on a heavily wooded lot.

8. Frequently asked questions

Bottom line. Saybrook Sage HC-114 is the #1 muted-sage Benjamin Moore exterior pick of 2026 because it solves a real architectural need, a balanced gray-green sage body that flexes between Cottage, Craftsman, Cape, and Modern Farmhouse facades without the mint drift of brighter sages, the olive drift of deeper sages, or the gray-with-a-green-hint drift of SW Evergreen Fog. Pair it with White Dove OC-17 trim and either a Wrought Iron 2124-10 black door or a Silhouette AF-655 warm-brown door for the textbook 2026 composition. Test on a photo of your own facade, in your own light, with at least three trim variants, before you commit to 8-12 gallons of Aura Exterior at $90 a gallon. Authoritative outbound references: the official Benjamin Moore Saybrook Sage HC-114 page, HGTV reveal-episode sage palette archives, and the Better Homes & Gardens 2026 exterior color trend coverage.