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And next time you walk out your front door and roll your eyes at your neighbor's disastrous front yard, you can breathe a sigh of relief. At least their house doesn't look like this...
Bizarre Home Exteriors
BY: Brooke Foster
Imagine buying a building, renovating it into your dream property, and then the local city board tells you it's "too colorful" and demands you repaint it. Well, that's what happened to this Bavaria, Germany resident. City officials said that painting the exterior walls like this, even if designed by an artist, was an act of defacement. I wonder if in the U.S. the homeowner could argue that the order somehow violated his freedom of speech -- or expression.
A close-up view of the colors. It is pretty ugly.
There aren't any windows in the front of this Coquitlam, Canada home. Still, it gets plenty of light; the entire back of the home is just windows.
Inspired by the works of Andy Warhol and Vincent Van Gogh, homeowner David Metcalfe has painted murals on the outside of his home in Essex, England.
Architect Peter Kaschnig thought it would be interesting to paint this Austrian house a vibrant royal blue both inside and out. Doesn't it look like a lego? Maybe that's why, despite its color, this home doesn't bring on the blues. It's pure playfulness.
This French-styled house, built by a Chinese collector in November 2008 in Tianjin, China, was constructed using 400 million porcelain fragments, 5,000 ancient vases, 4,000 antique china dishes and bowls, over 20 tons of crystalline rocks and agate and 400 white marble stone carvings. It's open to the public as a museum, and as of November 2008, it was worth over $65 million.
Located in a gentrifying neighborhood of the nation's capital, this homeowner decided to treat his home's exterior like a painting -- and the more color, the better. Considering this is a very diverse part of the city, I wouldn't be surprised if the colors matched the flag of the occupant's home country. See more pics.
Most of the homes in this Sacramento over-55 community are muted shades of stone, beige or brown. But one homeowner wanted to exert his wild streak by painting his house a bright green. Is it an ode to Kermit the Frog, split pea soup or the Jolly Green Giant? It's unclear, but if you don't live next door, it's pretty cool.
Cheers! At the Farm Pub in Bristol, England, sip your beers outside among ducks and cows and lots of flowers -- painted ones, that is. According to the Farm Pub's website, the "building has been beautifully sprayed by Graffiti artists, the garden area has been returfed, and we have a large covered and heated smoking area on the patio."
People who live in the nation's capital may be more patriotic than most, but these homeowners in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. wanted everyone to know just how much they love Uncle Sam. The photograph was taken in October 2001.
Reader comments (Page 4 of 4)
I think they are all cool. The author must live in one of those neighborhoods where the houses and people all look alike. Must be a Republican.
Replyew, ...
ReplyAre you serious? Simple colors are so everybody. I wish I lived next to some of these houses cause some of them are pretty kool (i.e. #1, 3, 8 - 12). #12 is the best because its actually meaningful. PEOPLE please do something about global warming.
ReplyThey are beautiful. All of them. I agree with the other posters that the author is a bore.
ReplyEvery one of these uniquely painted homes are better to behold than the run-of-the-mill boxes made of ticky-tacky plastic siding that the construction industry keeps offering us.
ReplyI liked most of the houses. The I only sort of didn't like the first one, but I could get used to it most likely. I didn't get what the problem was with most of them. I especially liked the one I think it was called the space ship house. It's really cool. I like the purple house a lot too.
ReplyI agree with many of the other comments: Author is stuck in some kind of warp. He'd probably be happy with block after block of white houses! Sheesh. I love the first one. No matter my mood, when I'd drive by it, I'd have to smile. It is bold and it makes a statement. I'd LOVE to meet the people who live it...bet they are fascinating.
ReplyHouse #2: So what's your point. It is in nice conservative 'earth tones' and I think it was brilliant to not put windows in the front..gives some sense of privacy and conserves energy. Author, you just dont get it.
ReplyHouse #3: What can I say...I LOVE it! Owner is obviously very talented and I bet he gets a lot of business. I'd love to talk to this home owner and hear how he selected these murals and why the order they were in and what was his catalyst to just follow his heart?!
ReplyPic #4....this one is not my thing BUT it is fun to think about it and wonder why it means to it's owner. It's just a house and reflects
Replysome thing very interesting about the owners. Maybe one of the 'Bue Man Group' live there but I doubt it Go with it. This author would have put together a much more complete and fair presentation had he gone personally and gotten to know the very cool, creative, people who live in each of them. I agree with comment that the stopping point is nothing immoral, nothing w violence or that demeans women or anyone, and no gross graffiti...other than that...it's your home and you are not in an 'association' (ugh).Go for it!
What on earth is wrong with creativity? The writer of this lame article certainly doesn't know anything about it.
ReplyI'd love to have any of these interesting homes in my neighborhood. It's people like the author who try to get others to conform and be afraid to be themselves, and she should be ashamed.
I nominate the spineless, Stepford-like author for the worst neighbor in the world!!
All these houses look fabulous! I WISH I got to live next to them , as opposed to the junkyard of dangerous debris my so-called neighbors have flung all over the place. These painted places featured in these photos show a LOT of love and care in them. Celebrate the places! Don't Mock them! I would pay to take a tour of these places!
ReplyI painted my house lemon yellow with brown and white accents when I lived in the Bay Area. Colorful houses weren't unusual there. These houses go beyond just being colorful, though. Murals and such are lovely and would make me stop to view. I'd love to paint my house with flowers and plants, trellis rose vines, gazebos and stuff. This sounds like a summer project, huh!
ReplyI love the porcelain house!
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