painted ladies
Ornate multicolored houses
Painted ladies are Victorian or Edwardian houses painted in three or more colors to highlight their ornate architectural details—the trim, moldings, and decorative woodwork typical of the era.
San Francisco's famous row of colorful Victorians exemplifies the style.
The term also refers to a widespread butterfly species with orange, black, and white wing markings.
In older slang, a painted lady was a prostitute—a woman who "painted" her face with cosmetics when respectable women didn't.
- typeCategory sharing traits
- rowhousesAdjacent attached urban homes
- Queen Anne styleBaroque-influenced design period
- VictorianOf a prim era
- facadeDeceptive outward appearance
colorful · pastel colors · chrysalis · historic · urban landmark · life cycles · building · delicate wings · butterfly migration · transformation · species · larvae · hues · curb appeal · real estate · pollinators · flower nectar · urban renewal
- pollinatorsbees, bee, butterflies, butterfly, bumblebee
- colorful housescandy colored, facade
- Bay AreaSan Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Golden Gate Bridge
- butterfly gardenmonarchs, swallowtails, chrysalises, caterpillars, pupae
- Butterfly Groupsmonarchs, swallowtails, admirals, fritillaries, skippers
- colorful buildingspastel buildings, beach huts
painted ladiesminimalist architecture
Buildings stripped to essentials
McMansions · tract housing · tract houses · concrete blocks · cookie-cutter houses
painted, paint, paints, painter, painters, painting, paintings, painterly, repaint