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If they want to pay my mortgage, they can have a say.

Although it should be neighborly to discuss these things openly, in my experience he only neighbors who do comment and/or intervene are the most annoying people who invariably turn out to be argumentative and difficult.
In Ireland, the niggly neighbor points are usually about trees and bushes, and how much light they are stealing v how much privacy and quiet they provide.

PS: Having lived in SF for a long time, I know this house as I lived not too far away from it. Back in the day, when the neighborhood was more funky, it was sort of fun to see but now Noe Valley has become so gentrified, personally I think it looks quite immature. (Well, I always thought it looked a little immature ...)

Regarding this topic, please watch the Penn & Teller episode on line about neighbourhood rules and assiciations and such. It said it all with a sense of humor.

Eff rules.

I'm happy to have a house whatever color the owner wants when they keep all the great wood original details like this person has! Paint away!!

They're OK, I think, as long as everyone remains civil and friendly. People are more likely to listen that way. But there's a difference between not liking someone's aesthetic and having your enjoyment of your own home directly affected by your neighbors in a more tangible way (e.g. outdoor lights that shine into your bedroom, unraked leaves that blow into your yard, etc.)

It depends. In the case of painting the exterior of the house, bear in mind that you're asking someone to (1) put aside their personal taste and (2) spend further money on paint and labor.

In general though, "neighborly suggestion" aren't appropriate since they are never just a suggestion. Let's be honest here, a neighborly suggestion is at best a request and at worst a demand. I think with anything where you're asking someone to do something for you that they have no obligation to do, one should be gracious, apologetic and direct (not passive-aggressive). One should also accept that the answer may be "no".

If you know your neighbors and are friendly, and you know that they're thinking of painting the house, sure offer an opinion but don't make it a demand.

There are ways of saying things well. You can offer a comment about a similar house which was painted a certain colour that you like. Or something that appeared in a design magazine. You can tell them about a website that lets you test out colour options on a picture of your own house and how that helped you choose a colour. But if they want to paint it turquoise with red trim and yellow shutters, they get to do it.

HOAs are in concept not a bad idea, but in execution often pretty evil. You don't want your neighbor to keep five trucks on blocks in her yard, but you don't want to get fined if you forget to take in the garbage cans one winter morning, or want to plant an exciting garden.

While I would not paint my house that color (although I love yellow houses with red doors), I love it!

In a world where everything is some shade of beige and taupe, I love seeing a little whimsy and color.

also, it would be easy to give directions to my house (I am the first house after rainbow brite).

I think saying anything is not a good idea. Whoever painted that house wasn't confused about paint color and actively chose to paint the house like that. if you want a friendly neighbor I wouldn't comment.

I think the rainbow paint job is beautifully done. I'm definitely a live and let live sort when it comes to home ownership. If I lived somewhere where there was an HOA I'd be in a constant state of worry that someone's going to be offended enough to make a "suggestion" which would devastate the people pleaser in me.

Because we live on acreage out of view of all but one neighbor, we have the freedom to try out home design ideas which take us a LONG time to complete. But since we have the freedom to create - using our house as our canvas - we've already been featured on a home and landscape tour and it has helped spawn businesses for both me and my husband.

Man, that paint job is so well done. How can you really argue when the execution is spot on? If you do, it basically comes down to your personal preference, and to be honest, it then becomes none of your damn business.

I live across the street from an elderly lady whose home had fallen under serious disrepair. She has no money, so an organization approached her to repaint her home for free. She agreed. She decided to paint her house purple. Not a nice eggplant or jewel-toned violet... it was like finger paint purple with crayon blue awnings. Its pretty ugly. Do I care? no. Is it any of my business? no. Should I have a say in my neighbors property? hell no.

When you feel the need to get all up in arms over the color of someone else's property, or the condition of their garden, or of the fact that they left their children's toys on the front lawn, then you need to occupy your time with something that actually matters or that furthers society.

If it hurts someone, or it reasonably affects someone negatively , then that's different, but then you call the police. That's what they are for. I really don't understand HOA's.

As someone who has had a fair amount of nutty neighbors (one threw furniture thrown out the window, one has loud parties every weekend til about 6 am and one let his construction crew use our backyard as trash heap, parking lot and toilet.) I'd say getting hung up on the color of someone's house is SO not worth it.

But things that clearly add work for me such as the above mentioned leaves, or things that are true health hazards - say trash heaps that attract critters- yeah complain away.

I love that house

megnez . . . I agree 100%. Well said.

that paint job is awesome and handy.
"where do you live?"
"five down from rainbow house."
"i know exactly where that is! see you in a second."

there is a house in my hometown that is bright, bright red. i use it the same way -- turn left at the red house, two blocks over. yeah, you'll see it.

The thing about exterior paint is: yes, obviously it's your decision and the neighbours have no right as such to make requests. BUT - they'll end up looking at it a lot more than you do from the inside.

Also in San Francisco (21st St, if you're curious), there's a real crotchety bastard who painted his house a horrible shade of purple with clashing yellow trim expressly to piss the neighbours off. He's the same guy who dumps tons of bird feed on the street to attract the pigeons. So, not a shining example of neighbourly behaviour, all in all.

I honestly don't feel this house is that out of context for SF at all. It is one of the most colorful cities I've ever visited (in many ways), and with the architectural detail it can support such vibrant colors. I guess it depends on the context as to whether this would annoy me or not. If I lived across the street from it in SF then the answer would probably be no, but if this were a typical suburban house in a beige Denver neighborhood then yes I would be irritated by the choice of color. Not that I like beige at all, but it would attract enough attention that it would bring down property values.

Still, I don't really agree in an HOA governing anyone's property that someone else is paying the mortgage on. I'd love to see more color in the world of architecture in general. I agree with many of the above posters that neighborly advise should be civil, no demands and be prepared they may say no.

If you are going to do something wild and paint your house neon green, yes your neighbors should have a say. You will be bringing property values down in the entire neighborhood, affecting everyone.

@ChrisGal, but are you, really? What tangible evidence is there? I hear that bull from realtors a lot, but I've never seen proof. Someone looking at your house may think "Ugh, beige, but WOW, that guy across the street must be fun, just look at HIS exterior!" Vivid houses always make me smile, even if they're really atrocious colors. I always think their owners must be pretty fun.

it funny... all of the talk about "live and let live" and very few peeps about consideration for others -- especially in a case where it could have a serious impact on property values (and neighbor relations)... i'd not paint a house (mine) a wild shade -- even if it was my taste -- if i knew it did not fit into the neighborhood (aesthetically or politically). nor would i park a 20foot RV on the street even if it was legal to do so... or any number of the "it's my right" transgressions. part of living in a society, methinks, is putting aside some of your own ego for the good of the community. granted, it's nice to have a bit of avant-garde around... in this case, to the above point, it is well-executed from a craft/balance/composition/harmony standpoint -- the white trim helps to ground it and the details seem to be in very good shape, so i (personally) don't find it too offensive, but if buying the house next door, i would consider offering less because of the resale risk. however, if it's been that way for 15 years, it's time for a new coat anyway, no?

I would LOVE to live next to this place! It would cheer me up every time I looked at it.

NO! absolutely not. Your neighbors should have NO say in what you do with your own house. It drives me CRAZY that this happens so much here in SF. This city is not so precious that we can't change things and paint our houses and put up additions etc...

"I hear that bull from realtors a lot, but I've never seen proof."

imho, trust the experts: doctors. mechanics. waiters. realtors... just because you've personally never seen proof, doesn't mean it's not valid.

I agree with megnez & iheartmini -- your neighbors don't pay your mortgage, they don't get a say. And seriously, that house is amazing.

As for property values -- is there really proof that this lowers them? And what is your obligation to help your neighbors sell their houses? I'm in favor of like, rules about not having grass that's knee-high or not letting your pool turn into a pond, but those things are health risks.

Unsolicited advice is Unwanted advice.

Well...

As far as I'm concerned, as long as my neigbors keep on stopping the loud music à midnight on saturdays, then can paint their house any color and put as many ugly dwarf as they want in their gardens. I couldn't care less, but I care for noise, hygiene, politness, privacy and such.

We are in the middle of some transformations in the house, and are stopping our work at 6 PM. We even had someone coming over to tell us how pleased they were that we left them eat diner in silence.

We live in the best neighborhood ever. Everyone keeps to himself, but cares about the other too. I'm not selling the house...

We were considering buying a house that needed a lot of work, but it was across the street from some kind of "do it yourself" house that was just ugly. Not bright and garish. Just ugly. And we decided there was no way we were going to look at that house every day for the foreseeable future. I definitely believe that it lowers property values.

I don't see it much different than the fact that a dirty, cluttered house is going to stay on the market much longer and/or sell for a lower price than one that is clean and staged properly. People don't want a hassle. And a neighbor with a tacky, dirty or just plain ugly house is a hassl you have to look at every single day. It's easier just to buy a house somewhere else and either live with an HOA (which I wouldn't want to do) or hope for good neighbors.

I think a house that makes little kids point and smile is a good thing. Read Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater--

That house is beautiful. Reminds me of the bookshelves so popular around here. :P

If you're concerned about your neighbors paint job, move to one of those cookie-cutter developments where all the houses are painted by the developer and match according to a neutral color scheme. Boring!

I had my house painter paint samples of different colors on the fixer upper we had purchased. We then invited our neighbors (a good way to meet them) for dessert and asked them to vote on their favorite color.

People in my neighborhood usually paint their homes with either 1) ugly colors, or 2) white or tan.

No, I would never suggest a color unless I was asked. This is Oklahoma - I'd probably be shot.

It's common with SF Victorian and Edwardian homes to have a "color consultant" determine how to paint the exterior and trim. In the Haight, Castro, Noe Valley, and other neighborhoods where there are a lot of long-term owners you get paint schemes that express questionable taste.

Let's face it, SF isn't known for its visual arts scene. My personal opinion is that life is easy and an easy life makes bad art and enforces bad taste.

That said, the picture here looks pretty good compared with what I've seen in these neighborhoods. And no matter what, it shouldn't cause neighborhood controversy. It's not like it's had thatch glued to the facade.

Neighbors: lay off!

You go, Iheartmini and Megnez. Precisely. If everyone wants to live in the same little box there are nasty little suburbs all over. You know, little boxes on the hillside and they're all made out of ticky tacky, little boxes on the hillside and they all look just the same. The world is so full of glass, steel and tarmac it is a pleasure to find the little gems of individualism, even done poorly. I'd rather see a jarring combination of colors that offends my sense of design than 100 houses painted grey and white. Or yellow and white. Or beige and white. Or blue and white. My mind goes numb.

"This being San Francisco, ostensibly one of the most accepting, least judgmental cities around..."

I've lived here for going on 10 years now, and I'd have to say that, although most people are accepting, they are highly judgmental.

I don't mind suggestions when I ask for them. I would never offer my opinion on someone's decor--inside or outside their house--unless I am asked, and expect the same level of mind-your-own-business from my neighbors. My partner and I have often talked about where we would like to buy our first home (we're also in the Bay area) and the one thing we agree on every time is NO HOA.

If my neighbors came to me with a "suggestion" on what I should do with my home... well, let's just say my blood pressure would go up quite a bit. As others have pointed out, it isn't really a suggestion.

Again, pay my mortgage, then you get a say. It's not my job to help you sell your place or to accomodate your taste. I've spent *years* bending over backwards in rentals to accomodate other people's ridiculousness, no WAY would I care what color other people wanted me to paint or not paint a place I owned.

No HOAs, ever. Boring, judgy, uptight... what's to like?

another 100% for megnez comments.

The old san francisco was not as judgmental the new regime is more than judgmental and not as liberal as most of the new comers appear to be, Noe Valley would be the worst of offenders.

Asinner has a really good point. While I think I'd really enjoy living next to a colorful, whimsical house, if a majority of people don't care for your suggestion, then it WILL bring down property values. In looking for a home, I was the same way, I did not want to look out my door and onto someone's pink flamingos and garden gnomes.

Neighbors have a right to be concerned if a big majority of people dislike the choice, but ultimately, they're not paying your mortgage and don't have a say (until it affects their property value). There's sometimes a fine line between whimsical & fun and downright ugly!

I hate the idea of color police.

I don't think the color is as important as keeping the exterior well maintained. But I do think that outside windchimes should be outlawed! I used to live next door to people who had them and as my bedroom was overlooking their garden it would drive me crazy on a windy night.

i painted my house bright blue and my new england neighbor's almost had heart failure, because it wasn't white. i say that any house that does not have peeling paint is a positive addition to the neighborhood. live and let live.

Our next-door neighbor is repainting his small home prison gray and is adding navy blue trim. At least the security bars are off the windows... for now.

I'm sure anyone who said "no" wouldn't mind having THAT next to their home.

I wish I had a house.

HOA's sound like communism to me.

I'd take any color or style house that was well maintained over a house that looks neglected. There are plenty of examples of both in Berkeley, and the well maintained whimsical purple house adds much more to the neighborhood than the white one that has a weed-yard and dirty windows!

it's really is well done but I would not want to live right next to them but then again people would not want to live close to me in Halloween or Christmas :-D

You know, at first glance it may seem overwhelming, but the fact that the trim is perfectly installed and painted white and I would suppose the yard is immaculate, makes it not so startling after you look at it a few minutes. The paint job is perfect! There is a down side to doing something like this; a neighbor may move in who adores a not so subtle display of color and they may not know how to execute this well and then what do you do? Personally, I would ask if I could help just to be sure it turns out well.... This is awesome!

Didn't anyone ever see that X-Files episode about homeowners associations? I don't think I could ever live in a neighborhood with HOA rules. As long as your neighbors aren't driving down your property value with something like a shanty town on the front yard, I say let them express themselves however they choose with their own home.

I love the paint job. Imagine the work, in the paint department of the hardware store, a different shade for every board! Then keeping streaks off of the boards next to the one you're painting!!!

We live in a rural locale, where there is no formal (legal) zoning at all. Our zoning is to have enough room that it doesn't matter what a neighbor does. I tell folks that if a neighbor does something I can't live with, I'll put a hog lot in right next door. Maybe not, I don't really like pigs, but it gets a pretty good laugh.

When we bought property in (rural!) Arizona for winters, the Realtor told us there were covenants, and he made a big deal out of them, so we were a little worried that they would keep us from doing anything.

At first it listed things you couldn't grow (cotton, for example. No seriously!), because they hosted a virus that was bad for many crops. Then it said you couldn't use wasteful methods of irrigation, just drip irrigation.

There was something about only stick-built type homes, trying to keep out trailers, but we saw a house built with one wall of tires filled with sand and painted white! so I wasn't really too worried about that.

Finally, on page 2 (of 10) it said we could only have 2 hogs for family use!! What a relief! We could still put in a small hog lot if a neighbor got my back up. Really, it's Very rural, 3 miles past a closed gate which is to keep the livestock in, not the riffraff out. Over 5500 feet in altitude. No one will care what color we paint it, will they?

I can't fathom city people at all. I like cities to visit, for the culture don't chew know, but any living arrangement where you have to have rules about everything just feels wrong. My parents bought two condos in Florida, loved everything. Then Dad found out that he wasn't allowed to have a motorcycle! He was 70, and had never wanted a motorcycle in his life until they told him he couldn't! No pickup trucks, either.

He was bereft of his personal freedom, and didn't like their new Florida condos any more. Sad.

Totally agree with cliokitty. Yes, the Noe Valley house is "vibrant" but (assuming) for a home that is probably 100 years, it is in impeccable shape. I would LOVE to see this house in my neighborhood. I have historic homes all around me and the few that have bright, vibrant colors really add that special touch to our neighborhood. Although, the ones that are painted those colors are the ones that have been restored to their original colors. But I think that as long as the execution is done well (and you don't destroy the house), you should have a little fun.

tenderleaf, that was hilarious.

I live across the street from this house - LOVE IT. They repainted shortly after I moved in and while it was scaffolded, I was sad thinking that it would be painted over something bland. When the new, freshly painted rainbow was revealed, I was thrilled. I love when friends and family from back east visit and see this gem across the way.

Oh, and the family who own it have exquisite taste a with beautiful, classic contemporary interior design.

I like the house in the photo!

One of the things that makes San Francisco San Francisco is the variety of colors and the individuality of the houses. If you like enforced bland "good" taste, there are plenty of developments where everyone has to choose from the same 4 paint colors and the same drapes.

I know and love this particular house, but even when I see really garish, ill-chosen colors I love them too. I love all the things that make my city bright and different from everywhere else.

This being San Francisco, ostensibly one of the most accepting, least judgmental cities around, you might think neighbors would take a "live and let live" approach.

Ha! I'm glad you haven't fallen for this one, Susie.

Thinking that you deserve a say in your neighbour's colour scheme is a prime example of the sin of Pride. That is, "How dare someone not consider the all-important, all-powerful desires of ME in their plans!" Thus, like every sin, it should be eschewed.

I wouldn't want to live next door or across the street from that rainbow house, but wouldn't mind living a few doors down. I'd rather live in a neighborhood with a house like that (even across the street), than one like we've seen near relatives in Pennsylvania, in which 45 of the exact same house sided with the exact same beige vinyl were built by the same tasteless builder. 22 remain unsold 4 years later.

...I want that house. Or to live next door, or across the road (Paige, you're so lucky!), or on the street - it would make me smile every time I saw it. Gorgeous!

Who cares what the neighbours say? Colour all the way!

When I lived in CT many years ago, there was a large housing development sprawled across a huge hill. It was full of beige and white houses but out in the middle of it was one full on turquoise house. And it made me happy every time we drove by there. Sadly, although maybe it made the neighbors happy, a few years later it stopped being turquoise and blended in with the rest of the ticky-tacky.

In the words of an old Rick Nelson song, "You see, ya can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."

Good to see that the vast majority of posters are on the same page on this one. Some very nicely expressed opinions here. (Of course, it doesn't hurt that I agree with them!) But clampers gets the prize for concise and incisive commentary!

I think it's charming, it wasn't painted haphazardly as if the person was using whatever paint they got for free from a relative. There's a definite pattern to it, you don't think to yourself "what were they thinking"... though you might wonder what sort of person would paint it that way. I think it's great!

I'd rather be dead than to live in a neighborhood with HOA as too much of the time, they go overboard on what you can and can't do. Now if they just stuck with no junky cars out front (fine if in the garage), no RV's and if you have a pool, keeping it clean and free of bugs and mosquitos then fine, but rarely do they stop at the more common sense stuff like that (ie, keeping the place up) and go about telling you what you can and can't do with your own property in so much as what to grow, what color(s) you can paint the house etc and too often too many in the HOA appear to be busy bodies who have more time on their hands and like to dip into other people's lives by policing etc.

That said, there does come a point when people over remodel for a given neighborhood or let the house get run down and never mow the lawn etc and those things DO affect property values but painting a house purple when the rest are some boring color like beige or toupe or whatever I doubt it affects values too much around them but it may make that house harder to sell since so many people seem to be afraid of taking chances and often want a ready to move in house that they don't want to have to repaint right away.

So count me an individualist who likes my freedom (within reason and never to harm others if at all possible) but I am all for common sense guidelines for what is the minimum expectations but let people be who they want to be, after all it's no one's business what goes on behind the door, just as long as no murders or rapes are taking place and that whatever activities do not affect others around them.

As for this house in SF, I think it's way cool, the white trim keeps it from getting out of line so in this case, it's whimsical, but at the same time it's not over done.

My old house was the "color disaster" house in my old neighborhood! :)

When we moved in to our former 1890s Victorian, it was bright yellows with white trim and accents in cranberry and green. People would make comments about the color and ask us about (beg us, really) painting it after major rennovations.

A couple of years later when we were touching up the porch stairs and white trim, the sight of painting equipment made people panic: "You're keeping it yellow though, right?" "But we give directions by the big yellow house on the hill!" and "It's been called the Yellow House for decades!"

Sigh. We had no plans to change its main color, just the accents. Amazing that the complaints and snide comments just stopped. . . and thus I realized that commenting on the Yellow House was just as much a neighborhood fixture as the quirky house itself.

We just painted Our Lady of Perpetual Maintenance (our newer 1905 house) this summer. Before, I had a neighbor complain that the colors on the house before painting were Craftsman and from the wrong era. Now that it's Vernacular appropriate cool gray with white trim, people complain about the bright blue door (a nod to my beloved London).

There's no winning in a historic district -- no matter where you live (trust me). Someone will always have something to say: too conservative, too wild, too modern, too slavish to the style, not historically perfect, etc.

Your home both reflects and embraces you. Do what makes you happy.

Gimme gnomes, pink flamingos and, my favorite, clotheslines any time. Could not live in those cookie cutter atrocities I see outside of SF, along the freeways... There's something refreshing about seeing signs of life --- pretty or not -- on your neighbor's house.

When I moved to the US 15 years ago I naively thought that those beige boxes looked like that because they were meant to be customized by the homeowners... I felt so sad when my husband explained to me about HOA rules, property value stuff, etc.

Isn't this whole property value concern just a US thing? I think in the rest of the world people buy houses to just live in and not worry about rent :)

Unless there's imminent danger of some kind, in which case it would no doubt be in violation of city/town ordinances, I would mind my own business and hope that others do the same.

To JaxByDefault.
Love your Saint's name! When I worked on the phone all day I prayed to Our Lady of Perpetual Hold frequently.

Love the house. It's SF for creeps sake. If you can't have a Rainbow house here where can you?

One of my favorite houses was in Notting Hill and it was incredibly yellow and loud, but it was great none the less.

http://gallery.me.com/matt.flick#100025/Notting-20Hill-20Door&bgcolor=black

I don't think the house in the photo is the house being mentioned in the post (the picture is a year and a half old photo from a seemingly-unrelated photoblog).

And I don't think the neighbor in question was totally off point in making his comment- you can be pretty live-and-let-live in your philosophy, but imagine if your neighbor painted their house a color that truly rubbed you the wrong way and you had to stare at it day in and day out? If a new neighbor moves in and mentions that they are going to repaint anyway- I don't think it's totally rude to say so if you disliked the old color so much you offered to pay the old residents to repaint, it may well have been a hail mary pass to get any other color besides the current one (as opposed to telling them which color they *should* paint.)

I'm as anti-HOA as anyone here- but without them you just have to deal with the fact that neighbors may occasionally be miffed by little stuff you do, or vice versa, and there's bound to be a little stepping on toes when it comes to trying to resolve those differences. I've done little things to appease my neighbors (i.e. the little old lady next door objected to which side of my house I kept our trash cans on- so even though its about 20 feet farther, i moved them to the other side, and she brought over cookies to thank me- go figure, something that could've turned into a passive aggressive fest of arguing over minutia was really a non-issue)

I think it would be rude for a neighbor to comment on the style / color / decor of a home. Seriously, mind your own bees wax!

In the street behind ours (an upscale suburban neighborhood) there is a very very pink home, complete with cotton candy pink mail box. It's not the style of home that one would think would look cute in pink (like melloncamp's "pink houses")... Rather, it's a standard ranch built in the 70's.
That being said, I would never EVER think to contact that family and say "hey, ever consider white or beige?" It's obviously their "thing", and as such, should be appreciated for what it is.

What a world we live in where some of us actually take OFFENSE to colors and decorations! I can't even get my mind around this.

"Consideration of others"? Which others? The ones who complain the loudest? Those in the neighborhood longest? The ones with the most money? How about... the opinion of the actual home owners?!?! I have the vague recollection of this matter being addressed in a Dr. Seuss book!

The first HOA probably started in the waiting room of a group therapist's office!

To those who judged me above: The reason not to paint your house something wild is mostly because you need to realize how few people are more than likely going to love it as much as you supposedly do. It affects property values because some people don't want to buy a house on a street where they are going to have to stare at a house that is an extremely offensive color to them (ex: neon green). I do know of hoa's that allow only certain colors for this reason.

Before saying it doesn't affect property values, read some articles. I'm not your mom, your spouse, your teacher - I'm not doing your homework for you.

I don't know, ChrisGal. I think most people are generally conservative or timid with color and conformist in nature and wouldn't go for a bold choice anyway. They might pick an ugly neutral to blend in, but I don't know if that's necessarily an improvement over a brighter hue. I'd prefer to see a well-kept rainbow (or orange, or pink, or purple) house when I look out the window than beige stucco or gray siding.

It certainly stands out from the rest in the neighborhood!

Think of it this way. You move into a sunflower-colored house that you don't "love" the sunflower part of it. You vow to paint it someday when you find the money. You live there 2 or 3 years and still haven't found the money. Your neighbor comes up and offers to pay to paint it if you change the color. SCORE.

Who cares what they put up but talk about "look at me ...look at me!"

Having lived in a duplex for the past 10 years, I've watched by attached neighbor's half go from bad to worse. Ill take the most annoying neon combination anyone can come up with over the rotting eaves and chipped gray primer that has been in residence. And the house above is fabulous.

If unusual colors hurt property values so definitively, wouldn't you expect the majority of posters to react with a "Yuck!" rather than a "Yay!"?

Seems pretty obvious that for every person who might be turned off by a wild or bright paintjob, there is another person who will buy the house BECAUSE of the paintjob. At least, in communities like SF that have a tradition of valuing and respecting eccentricities. I am sure the folks who choose to live in controlled developments do so precisely because they want conformity. Different audience.

I am tired of the "it could hurt property values" argument. It is completely unfounded, as far as I can tell. If you are talking about a well-kept and desirable neighborhood where the only potential difference from one block to the next is the presence of a brightly colored house on one, I just cannot imagine any substantiated difference in property values between the block with the colorful house and the one whose houses are more uniform or conservative in appearance. (And note to ChrisGal: if you are going to make a claim like you did, you should be willing to back it up. It's not "doing people's homework for them"--it is validating your own assertions. Big difference.)

My house IS the outlier on my street. Surrounded by '40s and '50s ranches and Cape Cods in neutral, "safe" colors, it is black, with green trim and industrial gutters and a patina'd concrete wall at the top of the driveway. People stare at it when they go by. And when I bought it last summer, I beat out three other offers that came in the first day it was listed. My neighbors say they love looking at it. NO ONE has ever suggested that I "tone it down" to match the other blah-blah beige homes around it.

The property values argument is ultimately contextual, and if you remove context, it's an argument that has no meaning. Right now I live among midcentury-modern ranch homes, where most of the homes are dull shades of white, cream, and yellow, which are also the shades of the indigenous rock used on most of the exteriors. To paint a house bright colors, here, would definitely pop -- good, or bad? Hard to say.

But when I lived in Providence (Rhode Island), a friend who lived in the Armory District -- the amazing neighborhood filled to the brim with painted ladies -- mentioned that when considering repainting his house, his neighbors were all, "please don't repaint it that bland yellow. look at our houses! look at the colors! join us in the madness that is late Victorian, Queen Anne, Edwardian architectural gumbo" and so on. I think he ended up with turquoise, a magenta-crimson, and accents of light purple and lime green. Something... well, it was gorgeous on that house -- because with all that trim and rooflines in every direction, why not go all-out? And besides, it's historically accurate! (Well, mostly.)

If you guys have anyone in the New England neck of the woods, you should definitely send someone over to get a picture of the Crayon House in Providence as perfect illustration of much-loved whimsy at work. It's on Westminster, on the edge of the Armory District. I don't know if it's still there -- can't find any pictures on the net -- but I hope it is. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it. See if you can track it down!