Painted ladies

Painted ladies are Victorian and Edwardian houses, chiefly in the United States, that have been repainted in three or more colors chosen to accentuate their architectural details. The term grew out of a repainting movement in San Francisco during the 1960s and was formally coined in 1978 by Elizabeth Pomada, Michael Larsen and photographer Morley Baer in their book Painted Ladies: San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians. The bright, multi color palettes used on these houses today are a modern invention rather than a historical revival, even though polychrome decoration was itself common on houses during the Victorian era. Since its San Francisco origin the practice has spread to other American cities, including Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Toledo and Springfield, Massachusetts, as well as to Cape May, New Jersey, and Wellington, New Zealand.