"Painted ladies" is a term used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by writers Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book Painted Ladies - San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians. Since then the term has also been used to describe groups of colorful Victorian houses in other American cities, such as the Charles Village neighborhood in Baltimore, Lafayette Square in St. Louis, Missouri, the greater San Francisco and New Orleans areas, Columbia-Tusculum in Cincinnati and the city of Cape May, New Jersey.
Some preservationists use the term polychrome for the style.
Read more about Painted Ladies: San Francisco's Painted Ladies
Famous quotes containing the words painted and/or ladies:
“‘Tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The ladies here probably exchanged looks which meant, “Men never know when things are dirty or not;” and the gentlemen perhaps thought each to himself, “Women will have their little nonsense and needless cares.””
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)