15 houses of very, very different color

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#Decor & Decorating#colorful#house paint#polka dots

Zebra-striped house in Basset, Nebraska

In June I found this all-zebra, all the time house in Bassett, Nebraska and found myself newly-inspired in thinking about house colors.

It’s fascinating! How do people choose the color of their home? How do neighbors react? So many Victorian homes are bright and colorful because that is their tradition, but they sit across the street from rows and rows of more beige houses.

I sorted and sorted through Flickr and found all these houses — SO MANY HOUSES — of a different color. And, surprisingly, so many really mean comments. I had to save these houses and present them to people who would truly appreciate their weirdness: the Homies.

And so, let’s look!

Pinkstone Rainbow house Pink House Ugly Tim Leary, Color Consultant sidehall shotgun Pumpkin House, Fall Day Pink Victorian at Park and Holmead For Karen and Jeff

Sound off in the comments: which of these houses would you LEAST want in your neighborhood? Which one would you emulate on your own house?

About the Author: Cat Rocketship

I was the Managing Editor of Offbeat Home for a year and a half. I have a rich Internet life and also a pretty good real life. Hobbies include D&D, Twitter, and working on making our household more self-reliant. I also draw things.

Comments on 15 houses of very, very different color

  2. LOVIN’ the orange (sedate orange, not Safety cone orange) and the yellows. I so want a yellow house…. I also recently saw on HGTV that yellow houses sell better than any other color. So as a re-sale option it would be a wise move, while satisfying my color cravings. Great post!

    • My home is a bright pastel yellow with white trim: I feel like I’m living in a giant teacake. And you do bring up a good point regarding resale values: the yellow certainly appealed to me!

  3. I want to make love to that orange house and make it’s little orange house!babies. So that there will be more glorious orange houses in the world.

    These are lovely! I like the polka dot one, and the one with the funky garage is a bit outside my comfort zone but lovely anyway.

  4. I would want every single one of those houses in my neighborhood. For me, there is just something about bright bold colors and prints that just oozes happiness and fun. Who doesn’t want to live in a happy neighborhood?

  5. I live in SF, and judging just by the wide sidewalks, I am thinking that black house is probably not in that high-class of a neighborhood. I could be wrong. I did some poking around and couldn’t figure out where it’s located.

    My neighborhood has a ton of eccentric and beautiful homes–some of them traditional Edwardians (deep, soft purples and blues) and some of them just zany. We also have a TON of murals, although most of those are on apartment buildings or businesses.

    This is my favorite.Here’s another shot.

    The Starry Night building is pretty cool too.

    And here’s the latest mural to go up.

  9. Now I feel I should drive over to Grant Park (in Atlanta) and upload some pictures for you! That black house is gorgeous, but being a Georgia girl all I can think about is how impossible it would be to keep cool!

  11. Totally reminds me of The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater. It’s a kids book about non-conformity/self-expression. “My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams.” Seriously great book to read aloud with your kids; it’s probably the one I remember fondest from my mom reading to us.

  12. I have such an attachment to old buildings. I have a hard time with the pink townhouse. The rest I love, particularly the black house.

  14. The striped house looks like it’s made of Legos!

    There was a house in my home town of Williamstown, NJ that was painted a vivid purple. I wonder if it still is.

  15. The leopard print house wins my heart.

    If you want funky colors, the townhouses in Georgetown, DC where I live are FABULOUS. Like, pinks, blues, greens, yellows, and they are honestly one of the best things about the Georgetown district. The pic here is kind of tame
    comparatively but they are cute.

  17. I love all of these houses because the people that live in them express themselves. My neighbors hate my somewhat unkempt all food front yard and that’s too bad. I have kids to feed. Everyone’s space should look how they want it to. I miss the beautiful colors of New Orleans as well…. Thankfully, Bay View offers some individuality.

  20. There’s a housing addition in the Bloomington, IN that was built with each house a very bright, different color. I’m having a hard time finding good pictures that really show off their brightness, makes me want to make a trip just to photograph, but there’s a few examples on these sites :
    http://www.humanedesign.com/fresh-ideas/site-visit-south-dunn-street-bloomington.html

    http://www.neighborhoodsolutions.info/floorplans.html

    These pictures don’t really do it justice though. There’s houses of ever color of the rainbow and they’re super pretty.

  21. There’s a wonderful house on loampit vale- just on the corner of lewisham way in south east london- it’s so beautiful! The guy who sits on the doorstep hurling abuse is something else but google it- I can’t get a direct link to it but all the paint work is different colours!

  23. The pink brownstone is actually located three blocks from my house, and is in WAY worse condition than that photo shows. The paint is peeling, and it is such an eyesore. The house has been painted that color (which in real life is a lot more pepto bismol than hot pink) since the 1980s, and everyone in the neighborhood is pretty dubious that the paint job was a mistake, since the owner has never changed it back. I’m surprised he’s been allowed to keep it that color, as the whole neighborhood is also a registered NYC landmark! I do love a beautifully painted house though. My uncle lives in Woodstock and has a yellow, red, and blue house, which is totally gorgeous, especially on sunny days.

  25. Honestly, I can’t say that I would mind ANY of these houses in my neighborhood! Something nice to look at for once 😉
    But our dream is to get a nice brick house…and paint the bricks all different colors. And have a mural on the largest wall. As for the neighbors, I will make cupcakes to bribe them into liking it haha!

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