Purple Houses of Portlandia

(This is a very different kind of post from what I usually write about!)

In the various towns in the Midwest where I spent my first twenty-five years, I can't recall ever seeing a purple house. Like unicorns and no-drama cats, they may exist, but I doubt it. The prevailing home exterior colors are white, cream, brick, and bluh. It's not that people there don't like different colors, it's just that it doesn't occur to them to paint their house one. For the record, the house I live in now is a mixture of brick and beige. Yup, beige. And until I moved to Portland, I sort of just assumed that when a person buys a house, it is their civil duty to maintain its beigeness (sp?) in a neat and orderly fashion, just like everyone else on the block. I just thought that's the color houses are supposed to be.

So imagine my surprise when I start seeing houses of all colors popping up around Portland. Well, I was the one popping up. The houses had been there for a long time. Anyway, I think it's great. 

I'm just not entirely sure about purple as a house color, though. But hey, that's just me. I have photo evidence that at least 15 people disagree with me.

A while back I got the bright idea to chronicle the purple homes of Portland, but with a dash of condescending scoff-ery. Today, as I was driving the baby around so he could sleep (yes, one of those days), I snapped my first photo of a person's purple house. It felt weird and sort of wrong, so I kept doing it. Fifteen purple houses later, I had to stop. Baby was awake, and I had a doctor appointment to catch.

But you know what? You know that part where the Grinch's heart grows three sizes bigger in a matter of seconds, and he finally realizes the value of presents and decorations (or something like that)? Well, that happened to me. I had set out to document how absurd the color purple is on a house, and instead I came to care for these homes. Yes...care for them. As though my zany grandma lived there, with her too many drama cats. I think that when we focus our time, energy, etc. on someone or something, we subconsciously attribute value to it. I can't help it. I have to care. So maybe if I had just driven on the highway instead, I'd still be annoyed by purple houses. As it is, I find them kind of endearing now. 

Granted, some of them do look a little ridiculous (OK a lot), but if I had to choose between selling lemonade on the lawn of a purple house or a brick house, there's a slightly higher chance I'd choose the purple house. Mostly because purple and yellow (lemon) are complimentary colors.

So, without further ado, here are a smattering of the purple homes of Portland - just the tip of the iceberg - what I stumbled upon in just one section of Portland neighborhoods in about 45 minutes of driving around. Hey, I may start taking Midwesterners on guided tours!

Also, I smooshed out house numbers and license plate info because that's the neighborly thing to do. 

Don't let the lighting fool you. 12 and 13 are definitely purp-etrators. 

I made an exception for #15. It has lots of purple trim, but the house itself is plain brick. I enhanced the saturation a bit because I wasn't able to capture the real-life color with my phone camera. That's why the sidewalk looks purple too!

Which purple palace is your favorite? 
Do you have any quirky pet peeves (especially if they won you over in the end)? 
Let me know in the comments below!