Home - House Letters & Numbers

Choosing a font and size for house numbers

House numbers and letters are some of the smallest hardware decisions in a home's exterior, cataloged next to Knobs.co's own cabinet hardware even though they solve a different problem, and they get read from the street more than nearly anything else mounted on the house. Rocky Mountain Hardware produces the numbers carried here in two font styles, Century Gothic and ITC Bookman, at both 4" and 6" heights, alongside a plainer numeral line with no named font at all.

Century Gothic versus ITC Bookman

Century Gothic keeps every stroke the same width, a clean, geometric look that reads well against modern siding or a minimalist entry. ITC Bookman carries traditional serifs and stroke variation, closer to a typeset book page than a sign, and tends to suit a house with more classic trim or an older architectural style. The plainer numeral line, sold without a font name, falls in the middle of the two, useful where a specific typographic statement isn't the point.

4 inches or 6 inches

Six-inch numbers read clearly from a car at normal street speed and are the safer choice for a house set back from the road or on a street with fast traffic. Four-inch numbers suit a shorter walkway approach, a mailbox post, or anywhere the number will be seen from close range rather than from a passing car.

Mixing individual digits

Every number here is sold as a single digit instead of a pre-set address, which means a four-digit house number is ordered as four separate pieces matched in font and size. It's worth confirming against the house's actual address before ordering, since buying digits individually makes it easy to miscount how many are needed.

Keeping every digit the same font and finish

Because each number ships as its own piece instead of part of a matched set, ordering all of a home's digits in one pass, matched in font and size, is the best way to prevent a slight mismatch between two orders placed months apart. That concern runs higher here than with most hardware, since house numbers sit close together on one surface where any inconsistency stands out immediately from the street.