Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/19/san-francisco-painted-lady-gets-pixelated-makeover.html
…
12 Likes
This is so beautiful!
I live in a moderately oversized featureless gray Lego brick (3 floors by 4 apartments each).
It’s nicer (if not larger) on the inside, and I enjoy the sight of more architecturally pleasing and colorful buildings around, but enlivening it with such a makeover is something I could definitely support.
7 Likes
Ugh! It hurts my eyes to look at it, and a blight on the neighborhood! It’s even worse than all the aluminum siding put on the beautiful San Francisco Victorians years ago. It’s double, no triple, UGLY!
it goes with those stairs which look to be a marbled grey? the colors had to end sometime ( at the sidewalk or something ) so i think this way maybe helps it pop more…
stain glass for the windows maybe? 
4 Likes
What makes these Victorian’s handle bright and unconventional colors, is that they have a very narrow profile, and almost none of the sides show… so so nothing overwhelms, not the main color, highlights or accents…
This is my orange victorian… If it was a standalone home, it would look like a pumpkin…
…but on a victorian it looks fab.
I wish canal houses in Amsterdam we’re more ambitious with colors.
19 Likes
I’m guessing this isn’t actually one of the officially designated SF “painted ladies.” I’m pretty sure those are certified historical landmarks, and the house colors, while unusual, are still restricted to historical norms.
2 Likes
No matter how much I squint it still looks pixellated.
3 Likes
… dunno why they’re officially recognized — in terms of architecture in The City there’s really nothing special about them, they’re more like a meme being reposted by different photographers
Anyway the OP does not seem to be about one of those six houses, it’s some other Victorian in S.F.
4 Likes
Though not one of the seven historic ‘Painted Ladies,’ this is still very cool; I like it.
18 Likes
Of course, it’s my opinion! This is the comment section where we can all express our views. That’s the purpose of allowing comments.
1 Like
3 Likes
I see you joined here over 10 years ago (!), and yet you’ve only spent 4 hours reading here. I imagine the latter is why you don’t realize that when others post variations on the Big Lebowski quote, it’s just a way of saying “I disagree.”
So no harm, no foul, eh?
Have a good one!
16 Likes
Meh, give it a few decades, it will be a classic of 2020’s design and architecture, and people will fight to save it.
1 Like
The location is a big part of it; there are few spots in San Francisco where one can get that “postcard view” of a row of well-maintained houses from that style and period. But Alamo Square allows photographers and tourists to take in the whole block, plus there aren’t any utility poles or other blights blocking the view from that angle. Capping if off you can see the whole S.F. skyline if you frame it right.
Compare that to a typical view of the historic houses in the Lower Haight. The houses are architecturally impressive, yes; but they’re less meticulously maintained and there are all kinds of other factors compromising the view ranging from the difficulty of finding a good angle to the urban clutter of signs and utility poles to the clashing architectural styles of nearby buildings.
9 Likes
I suspect if Victorians had these pigments back then, they would have painted more things these colors. A good, bright, colorfast pigment for outdoor paint was hard to find. Technology is what drove the color selection in paint and clothing, not a repressed culture of muted aesthetics. Especially in burgeoning society with unprecedented economic growth and prosperity.
4 Likes
7 Likes
I really like it. But even if I didn’t, I could still admire the work and care put into that paint job. Those are some clean lines
11 Likes
Thanks for that link. It’s a nice example of the mineral-based colors used in paints of the era. People painted with what they had.
And I love the look of Paris Green. But it was quite dangerous.
1 Like
