March 8, 2019

"[Abstract artist Sean] Scully... fumed over what he called 'Pottery Barn' tastes among the locals who spurned Gold Zinger."

I'm reading a NYT article about conflicts between people who want sedate colors in their neighborhood and people like Scully who want to flaunt their boldness and creativity as they paint the exterior of their house. It bothers me that the NYT didn't allow comments on this article, because a bigger deal needs to be made out of this:
In an oversight, his team did not file for paint color approval permits required by the local government’s Historical Areas Board of Review. At the board’s December meeting, some emotions ran high as the public debated whether Gold Zinger should be allowed to remain on the house.
In an oversight?! How does the NYT know this was an oversight (as opposed to an easier-to-ask-forgiveness-than-permission strategy)? And what "team"? Did Scully have professional painters — is that the "team" — and somehow they didn't know about the required permits? I'm not a professional journalist like the folks at the New York Times, but my sense of journalistic professionalism is that the NYT ought to have written something like, Mr. Scully maintains that he did not understand that the law in his historic district required a permit approving of his house color.

So people in the town had to get upset and devote time and energy to fighting Scully:
Opponents deemed the color “over the top and jarring.” Mr. Scully’s team defended it as “bold, beautiful and uplifting,” suited to a woodsy neighborhood known as “eclectic, unique, artsy and individualistic.”
What "team"?!
The board nonetheless concluded that Gold Zinger had to go. This spring, it will yield to Semolina, a creamier yellow from Benjamin Moore.... [H]e accepted Semolina as a compromise: “I don’t want war.”
He doesn't want war, but he broke the rules, fought his neighbors who had a right under the existing rules, and when he lost, he went to the press and insulted the neighbors for their restrained taste and vaunted himself as "bold... uplifting... artsy and individualistic."

If you want to argue for brighter colored houses, go ahead. Get the rules changed. But don't move into a neighborhood and just start breaking the rules. Talk to people. Try to understand them. Maybe they have good reasons for believing in quiet colors and neutrality. Maybe you'd get your mind changed — you who are supposedly so open-minded.

ADDED: People who live in a "woodsy neighborhood" may like to look out their windows and see woods, not the other houses. They may want the buildings to recede and not pop. This is a perfectly legitimate preference. It's a taste for nature and visual quiet over noisy self-expression.

104 comments:

David Begley said...

Ann is way too talented and smart to be a professional journalist for the NYT.

gilbar said...

.. [H]e accepted Semolina as a compromise: “I don’t want war.”
That's happens to be a word for word quote from emperor Hirohito, Aug 1945

Darrell said...

He should have told them it was called "Russian Hooker Pee."

rehajm said...

NYT fired all of their editors after NYT 'journalists' adopted the easier to ask forgiveness than permission strategy.

David Begley said...

The Left is morally superior and smarter than us deplorables.

Wince said...

Pinkstone, which is now brown, stood out among its Park Slope, Brooklyn, neighbors in 2006.

I have to agree: painting a brownstone that pink color is quite a-bismol.

mccullough said...

Pottery Barn tastes. That’s pretty funny. Especially coming from that Shanty Irish asshole

Known Unknown said...

I went to the article expecting to hate the color. I didn't. Also, it appears as if the houses are not very close together there. He looks as if he has land around him, which lessens the color impact.

Yeah, sure, he broke the rules. Maybe he's pulling off his own ART of the Deal. Maybe he really wanted Semolina all along.

Known Unknown said...

As a side note: I've always wanted a yellow house. Unfortunately, my current domicile just would not look good in yellow.

Ralph L said...

About the only thing our Hysteric Commission doesn't control is the color.

A saleslady at my deceased Sherwin Williams store told me she mixed colors for a historic house in CT, and the HouseHitlers made her redo them in alkyd instead of latex.

Ann Althouse said...

"Maybe he's pulling off his own ART of the Deal. Maybe he really wanted Semolina all along."

I know. He says he's okay with the "compromise." Why does he get a compromise! It's like someone robs you, gets caught, and is allowed to just give half of the money back. Or an army moves in and takes over a country and when the people rise up to fight says it doesn't want war but does want to keep some of the territory, and the people, also not wanting war, accept the compromise.

Don't give the rule-breaker a better deal that a person who accepted the rules and followed the procedure.

Fritz said...

We don't allow outdoor pigs in St. Leonard. A few chickens, maybe.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I clicked on a NYT article!! to see the house. It wasn't horrible. It was actually pretty fine in that rural looking wooded setting. I've seen worse.

What I was expecting was to see colors out of Puerto Rico. Garish bright bubble gum clashing colors that offend the rest of the neighborhood and which do not fit in to the nature of the area and can actually bring down property values of those who already live there.



RMc said...

[Abstract artist Sean] Scully

The only good Scullys are Vin and Dana.

Ralph L said...

I don't care to register with the NYT. Could someone make and post a link to the photo?

It took me 20 years to decide on a siding color (and take off all the old paint and rusty nails and prime). I have gotten several complements from strangers & neighbors when in the front yard, so it was obviously worth waiting for, and the lead dust hasn't diminished my commenting skills, not one bit.

It's Benjamin Moore Paladian Blue with ivory trim, BTW.

Ann Althouse said...

"I went to the article expecting to hate the color. I didn't. Also, it appears as if the houses are not very close together there. He looks as if he has land around him, which lessens the color impact."

The shot was framed to make the argument. Show me all angles on the house. Show me the view of the house from other people's windows.

Is his the one house that pops out in what had previously looked like woods with some inconspicuous buildings?

I think the color looks good too, but I am trying to be fair to the whole set up people who live there and have contributed to the high quality of the neighborhood. Is he taking from them and putting himself above them?

Rob said...

If he were a real artist, he’d not only have painted something that offended the community, he’d have done it with their money.

Ralph L said...

Never mind, used an incognito window.
Is that the second color?
Must cost a fortune to repaint up there.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

THIS proposed building from the NYT article looks like a giant pile of plastic grocery story handheld shopping baskets. The kind that are so ugly that even the homeless people won't steal them

East Harlem apartments

Ignorance is Bliss said...

1) He should have gotten the permit.
2) The neighbors are assholes.
3) What do you expect, you bought a house in New York

This appears to be the house in google streetview.

The next-door neighbor's house is a fairly bright red. There is a good amount of vegetation, so in the spring/summer/early fall the house will barely be visible from the street.

Henry said...

I like the gold zinger. Local boards are either the worst or the best. They're the worst when they meddle with your building plans. They're the best when they stop some developer from building a McMansion in the woodlot next door.

Ralph L said...

Looks like he'd have a problem with snowmelt coming inside--and cold floors.

Bob R said...

Pro tip. Don't move next to a bunch of assholes who want to control the color you paint your house and are willing to use the power of the government to do it.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'm sorry - that yellow is really horrid. Dude - you like that color - paint the INSIDE of your home that color so the rest of us don't have to see it. imho.

That said, dealing with the county or historical agencies within the local government is a nightmare here. But for other reasons.

Derve Swanson said...

Don't give the rule-breaker a better deal that a person who accepted the rules and followed the procedure.
------------

Ann, sweetheart,
You were a law professor, a Boomer who practically gave us these rules...

Open borders, Affirmative action, Reparations...

What are these but sweet deals for those who did not accept the rules, play by the rules, and win under the rules? Those who immigrate legally, who put time into their scholarship and get the top test scores and grades, who overcome hardships without any extra compensation... what do they get but cheated for their effort?

What about single taxpayers, who compensate those who conceive -- again and again -- without the financial resources to support the pregnancy or birth? Why do we penalize those who "play by the rules" and force them to pay via taxes for the natural consequences of others?

Don't get me started on the "no pre-conditions uncovered" theory of healthcare, that throws the healthy and the ill into the same financial coverage pool because your health is not something an individual can ever maintain or have under his control, no -- it is just a crapshoot: what you eat, how you exercise, the investment in personal health...


And all you can bitch about is a newspaper erroneously covering a guy who painted his house the color he wanted, over the objections of the historical group that wanted to keep the tax-saving advantages in the group of houses designated. Yup, he broke the rules too. American society has been going that way for a while, ann...

Seriously, you never noticed these issues while you were at work in your Madison classroom? Or such rule-breaking merely didn't disadvantage people you knew then? Can you go buy yourself an expensive little car to cheer yourself perhaps? You're prettier when you're being silly and not so sad...

rehajm said...

Don't move next to a bunch of assholes who want to control the color you paint your house and are willing to use the power of the government to do it.

Isn't the raison for these stunts is you're also an asshole who gets a rise from tweaking the other assholes?

Rick.T. said...

"If you want to argue for brighter colored houses, go ahead. Get the rules changed. But don't move into a neighborhood and just start breaking the rules."

Substitute in immigration for paint color on an house in an historic neighborhood. I wonder what the overlap in the Venn diagrams would be for people who would say that about both.

Fernandinande said...

I was expecting actual gold paint, e.g. metallic, which is different from non-metallic yellow like "Gold Zinger", which is a moderate "Sunny Yellow", so I wasn't sure whether the picture was of the "gold" paint or the "Semolina" paint.

Speaking of poor comprehension, here's a fun headline:

German police: Dead gardener targeted enemies with bombs

A dead guy somehow went after people who had bombs.

Derve Swanson said...

Blogger Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...

I'm sorry - that yellow is really horrid. Dude - you like that color - paint the INSIDE of your home that color so the rest of us don't have to see it. imho.
---------------

Boy the ladies have so little to beech about today...

Hint, hon? Don't look at his house color. He's not YOUR neighbor.
(I think if you like this kind of regulation, some of you would be happy in Florida now with the Condo Homeowner Association rules dictating whether or not you can hang a flag from your balcony or have a metal clothes drying rack in the yard. You can really feel in control that way, and sit in judgement of your neighbors too!)


Mountain... puddle of nothing.
Congrats gals, you made it!

Henry said...

I'm a little dubious of the suasion of the people who "contributed to the high quality of the neighborhood." Who was there before them? My father-in-law moved to a high quality neighborhood. It was high quality because it was on a dirt road, there were hardly any houses, and his neighbors were farmers and the people who owned lumber and gravel businesses. 30 years later the road was paved, there were new houses where the farms used to be, and the new residents were petitioning the town to have the last farmer not park his heavy equipment in sight of the road.

Derve Swanson said...

Blogger rehajm said...

Don't move next to a bunch of assholes who want to control the color you paint your house and are willing to use the power of the government to do it.

Isn't the raison for these stunts is you're also an asshole who gets a rise from tweaking the other assholes?
----------

Naw, then you'd paint it purple. Not yellow.
It could have been so much worse. Really.

rehajm said...

Amongst a certain element of the überclasse battling the local planning board is hobby bordering on blood sport. Some of the fights that go on the Monetery Peninsula- a mix of unlimited money and bored former masters of the universe makes for some battles legendary in both their war chests and their pointlessness.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'm getting ready to leave a neighborhood with fairly strict exterior painting guild-lines.
I don't really mind the strictness, but man oh man does it cause butthurt among those who want bright colors on their exterior. All colors are welcome, just not in a fully saturated or overly bright palette. There's always one or two people who insist on a bright color - purple, yellow, or neon sea-foam. or a combination.

One lady wanted a purple house with black trim. Adam's family. She tried to by-pass design review and suck up to the board, which at the time consisted of mostly men. She thought if she batted her eyelashes and layered the victim boohoo poor damsel in distress act, she could by-pass the rules everyone else must adhere, but she was shot down.

Rules.
Read the covenants before you move in. If you don't like da rules, don't move in.

Ralph L said...

It might have been the garden that was dead.

A lot of strong colors look more subdued when not next to white. I discovered that when I painted my interior trim yellow buff.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Mary E G - local controls within communities are one thing. Government control is another.
Covenants are written to protect home values.



Dust Bunny Queen said...

Don't move next to a bunch of assholes who want to control the color you paint your house and are willing to use the power of the government to do it.

Or...Understand the building codes and home owner association rules BEFORE you buy and then try to complain. Example: Don't buy next to a pig farm and then complain about the smell.

While I don't find the color personally objectionable, what I would find objectionable is if his color choice or other alterations to the property were to negatively affect my property values.

It IS all about me :-D

Derve Swanson said...

There's always one or two people who insist on a bright color - purple, yellow, or neon sea-foam. or a combination.
-----------------

Maybe they have cataracts, pre-surgery, and lesser colors seem dull to them?

Why do you care what brightness color some other person chooses for their house anyway?

Would you petition to have your neighbors chop down their trees if it blocked your view of the far landscape, for example? Adjust your eyeballs, people. If there is a house, or many, within your viewership, maybe you could still have peace and quiet, and a nature-loving view, you just have to admit to yourself that other people are part of nature too and not everyone likes to see things the way you do.

If you respect private property, you adjust. Move your desk and chair so you don't see the "eyesore" homes in your view. There are other windows to peer out from, no?

Bob Boyd said...

A good compromise would be to paint every other siding board green.
Then paint a huge G on the wall facing the street.

Derve Swanson said...

Blogger Bob Boyd said...

A good compromise would be to paint every other siding board green.
Then paint a huge G on the wall facing the street.
------------

Lol. Resist!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Mary - You really do not understand covenants, do you?

Your "What if" = don't move into a neighborhood with rules you do not like.

rehajm said...

People who live in a "woodsy neighborhood" may like to look out their windows and see woods, not the other houses

OT: If you want to spot more deer look between the trees not at them.

stevew said...

I'm not a fan of these sorts of zoning laws but they are the law. Rather a lot of hubris and arrogance on display by the 'artist'.

There are regular examples of this sort of thing happening where I live. Recently an attorney couple moved into a newly constructed home adjoining a farm and proceeded to file lawsuits demanding that the farm cease certain farm activities such as having dairy cattle (odor!) and operating a sizable farm stand & store (traffic!). The farm has been operated continuously since the mid 1800's. Some of the things the farm does are contrary to the current laws on land use, but the farm is grandfathered in as those regulations came well after the farm was established.

Water cooler talk around town is that the attorneys don't expect to win, just hope to put the farm out of business by forcing them to spend limited resources on lawsuits. So far the courts have been helpful to the farmer's cause by deciding, in some cases dismissing outright, the attorney's claims in the farm's favor.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

No Mary - none of those things. If you move into a neighborhood with covenants and rules, you should STUDY and read what they say first. If you are unhappy with the restrictions, your adjustment comes in the form of YOU looking for a neighborhood without covenants/rules. They do exist.

Gahrie said...

But don't move into a neighborhood and just start breaking the rules.

Why not? It works for 20 million illegal aliens.

Gahrie said...

Don't give the rule-breaker a better deal that a person who accepted the rules and followed the procedure.

Isn't that the Democratic Party platform?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

@ stevew your 8:03 post
Water cooler talk around town is that the attorneys don't expect to win, just hope to put the farm out of business by forcing them to spend limited resources on lawsuits.


Gee, wouldn't it be a shame if the attorney's house were to catch fire the local fire dept (maybe volunteer dept?) were be unable to arrive in time. They did their best but with the "limited resources" of rural departments you can only do so much, ya know.

What happens in our area when assholes move in and start acting all 'uppity'. Complaining about everything. Bad mouthing the area. Whining about the people and how deplorable they are. Trying to chisel the workers down and are "slow pay"..... Word goes out to every building contractor, plumber, electrician, water well and pump company, gardening company and handyman. Amazingly....all those people are just toooooo busy or unavailable to work on their property. Or they are unavailable at the 'regular' price due to heavy work load, but could be available at XXX the regular fees. Just for you /wink. Or... I guess they need to get someone from out of the area to come and do the work.

sinz52 said...

I looked up Gold Zinger paint on the internet. It's not a saturated bright yellow at all. I don't see a problem with using it to paint the house. Especially after the paint fades in a few years anyway.

Darrell said...

Some years ago, This Old House was doing an historic home and someone showed them an oil painting of that very home, painted just after it was finished. They were all surprised at the color--sort of a saffron yellow. Very bright and full pigmented. The historic commission had no idea that homes in their area were painted in such bold colors. They had only approved muted tones for years.

Wince said...

Now I remember what Gold Zinger reminded me of...

Screaming Yellow Zonkers! Remember them?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screaming_Yellow_Zonkers

He should have painted his house "Screaming Yellow Zonkers" just to see the townspeople's zonkered reaction.

CWJ said...

"Don't give the rule-breaker a better deal that a person who accepted the rules and followed the procedure."

We did I immediately think of immigration policy?

Derve Swanson said...

Hold on tight, DB.

If you think your neighborhood property values have dropped because someone painted their house a loud yellow, wait until the blacks and Mexicans and other people of color move in to your area...

Then you can really worry about your property values being affected by color! You'll have to learn to accept it though. Newcomers like the freedom here, and they tend to bring their bright vibrant culture with them.

Be Afraid! Be Verrrry Afraid!
Think of the control over others that you are losing! Nevermind the culture of teh country, eh? Diversity of colors is GOOD. Where have you ladies been for the past decades?

Derve Swanson said...

The "covenants" that tended to protect homeowners from deplorables or undesirables of the wrong race, ethnicity or religion moving into an area were declared illegal.

Ladies adjusted as they are wont do do.
Nothing new under the sun, DB.

Henry said...

ADDED: People who live in a "woodsy neighborhood" may like to look out their windows and see woods, not the other houses.

I fall into that camp.

Unfortunately, winter comes. The trees lose their leaves. It gets dark early. People turn on their lights.

And here's an actual thing: When we bought our house, neighbors on both sides kept most of their yards as woodlots. In the last few years, one neighbor has gone the route of the massive lawn. When those trees came down, it unscreened the lights of houses down the street. I would have rather had those neighbors paint their house a garish color than cut down their trees.

But it's their house. It's not like I'm going to go complain somewhere official.

rehajm said...

Now I remember what Gold Zinger reminded me of...

I went to Dolly Madison Vanilla Zingers which were a particular shade of ugly yellow.

alanc709 said...

"Water cooler talk around town is that the attorneys don't expect to win, just hope to put the farm out of business by forcing them to spend limited resources on lawsuits. So far the courts have been helpful to the farmer's cause by deciding, in some cases dismissing outright, the attorney's claims in the farm's favor."

This is why we need Loser Pays in court.

JAORE said...

"If you want to argue for brighter colored houses, go ahead. Get the rules changed. But don't move into a neighborhood and just start breaking the rules."

If you want to argue for more immigration, go ahead. Get the laws changed. Don't just cross the border and start breaking the laws.

CWJ said...

"Recently an attorney couple moved into a newly constructed home adjoining a farm and proceeded to file lawsuits demanding that the farm cease certain farm activities such as having dairy cattle (odor!) and operating a sizable farm stand & store (traffic!)."

Same thing happened near Fort Wayne. Person built and moved into a new home adjacent to a hog farm, and them sued them for being a hog farm. Fortunately, the suit went nowhere.

Big Mike said...

I assume he signed a document saying that’s read the rules, understands them, and will abide by them. There are some HOAs in northern Virginia that would send out a paint crew to repaint the house and sue him in court for the cost of repainting. A well-padded cost of repainting, I am certain. The Reston Association is (in)famous for suing a homeowner who painted his house the wrong shade of beige.

Derve Swanson said...

The Reston Association is (in)famous for suing a homeowner who painted his house the wrong shade of beige.
--------------------

That's the name of the current racial short story I am writing!
"The Wrong Shade of Beige."

(It's a beige thing. You wouldn't understand.)

Known Unknown said...

"It's like someone robs you, gets caught, and is allowed to just give half of the money back. "

Yeah, it's exactly like that. (eye roll)

Consider that our gracious host is equivocating between being robbed and someone painting their house.

Known Unknown said...

Also, remember that your property never really belongs to you.

CWJ said...

"...you just have to admit to yourself that other people are part of nature too and not everyone likes to see things the way you do."

Didn't Sartre have something to say about this?

Known Unknown said...

"One lady wanted a purple house with black trim. Adam's family. She tried to by-pass design review and suck up to the board, which at the time consisted of mostly men. She thought if she batted her eyelashes and layered the victim boohoo poor damsel in distress act, she could by-pass the rules everyone else must adhere, but she was shot down. "

If she looked like Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster, not Morticia Addams played by the less fair Carolyn Jones) I might have let her get away with it.

SeanF said...

Ann Althouse: Don't give the rule-breaker a better deal that a person who accepted the rules and followed the procedure.

Did they do that? The article doesn't outright state that the final agreed-upon color would have otherwise been deemed unacceptable.

It's somewhat implied by the word "compromise", but that's the author's word for the guy's attitude - does the government consider it a "compromise," or do they figure they won?

SeanF said...

Known Unknown: If she looked like Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster, not Morticia Addams played by the less fair Carolyn Jones) I might have let her get away with it.

You're insane. Carolyn Jones was way hotter than Yvonne de Carlo.

Howard said...

Orange Man Bad

Caligula said...

"But don't move into a neighborhood and just start breaking the rules."

Why not? It's very rare that you'll actually be made to correct the breach; mostly you'll have a few hostile neighbors and no significant legal consequences.

Although I don't understand why they call this color "gold zinger," as it's pretty much the color of Gulden's Spicy Brown mustard. When I think "gold" as a color I think of something metallic that just gleams and beams in the sun. Not this sort of brownish yellow.

In any case, in an age when the only quality anyone values in art is "transgressiveness," it's to be expected that will deliver what is valued. And often little else.

Derve Swanson said...

Known Unknown said...

"One lady wanted a purple house with black trim. Adam's family. She tried to by-pass design review and suck up to the board, which at the time consisted of mostly men. She thought if she batted her eyelashes and layered the victim boohoo poor damsel in distress act, she could by-pass the rules everyone else must adhere, but she was shot down. "
-----------------

They shot her because she painted teh house purple and black?
I knew things were rough in some localities, but you like to think the law has powers in all places, even the little backwoods that write their own rules. (but don't print 'em up for outsiders...)

Known Unknown said...

"You're insane. Carolyn Jones was way hotter than Yvonne de Carlo."

Further research is required.

Henry said...

It really hasn't come up in the comments, but Scully's work is really great.

You may not like abstract art, but Scully's work is painterly and beautiful. Aesthetically he's playing off the purity play of high minimalism with very man-made art.

He's almost as good as Agnes Martin, but there's an element of schtick to Scully's output that Martin avoided. Different palette and a more rigorous mind.

Ralph L said...

Carolyn Jones was way hotter than Yvonne de Carlo

But that's French!

Henry said...

Aesthetically he's playing off the purity play of high minimalism with very man-made art.

Well that is a clunky sentence.

Aesthetically, he's playing off the purity regime of high minimalism with an intentionally quirky, brushy revision of the old, grim movement.

Anonymous said...

Bob R: Pro tip. Don't move next to a bunch of assholes who want to control the color you paint your house and are willing to use the power of the government to do it.

Pro tip. Discourage the residence of assholes who feel terribly put upon at the very idea that they should ever have to show any consideration whatsoever to the existing standards of the community that they've freely chosen to move into. Even if the community's standards are clearly posted before they buy.

No one's an asshole for wanting to live in a place where the noise/building/aesthetic standards are to his taste. That's why people work their tails off to be able to afford to live in neighborhoods that suit their tastes and temperaments. (And yeah, you do, as a matter of fact, need "the government" to enforce the contracts written to maintain that.)

No one's an asshole for wanting to living in a completely laissez-faire environment where you can do whatever you damned well please with your own property.(But I wouldn't count on never being miffed with some neighbor's forays into "anything goes" territory.)

You're an asshole when you think that you're the center of the universe to whose desires all should bow, wheresoever you please to plop down and reside.

Kevin said...

First they came for Wal-Mart, but I didn't shop there.

Then they came for Pottery Barn, ...

Sam L. said...

Forget it, Jake; it's the NYT.

Derve Swanson said...

Vaspar (Yellow zinger) is a Minneapolis paint manufacturer.
Benjamin Moore, with the replacement color compromise, is an East Coast paint...

Does that matter in Palisades?

rehajm said...

Orange Man Bad

Nice job, Howard.

Ralph L said...

My brother lives in an old CT town with very strict zoning to restrict signs and keep out franchises because it was an antiquing tourist trap. His neighbor is in the next (farming) town that has no zoning restrictions at all, as my SIL complains mildly. But it's too far from the interstate and rich people to be developed further, which is why she's there.

gerry said...

Historical Areas Board of Review

Such things are merely a way privileged white people keep people of color out of the neighborhood. Bastards.

TestTube said...

I'm going to take a different tack and compliment our Hostess on pointing out the NYT's bias on this - an irresponsible bias, in my opinion.

And yes, the photo that accompanies this article is a big part of that bias. Often newspapers will pick photos that benefit their bias, and this case is not even a particularly egregious example!

Antiantifa said...

Ms Althouse, I agree wholeheartedly with all of your pushback of the "team" likely thinking it easier to ask forgiveness than permission and of the lack of journalistic integrity of the reporter of this story for failing to tell us more about the use of a "team" to paint a house and failing to question its lack of awareness of zoning regulations. Maybe it was the local high school football team? That would certainly explain the lack of awareness. Nevertheless, I detect a distinct note of grumpy old manish get-off-my-lawnism in the blog this morning.

It is international women's day, for goodness sakes. Perhaps you could adopt a more feminine appreciation for art and menopause jokes (he asked, paternalistically)?

Maillard Reactionary said...

When you grew up eating Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Gold Zinger looks sedate.

Known Unknown said...

Sorry, I'm still rolling with Yvonne.

Howard said...

The bias is especially hypocrisy. Imagine if the situation was a stock broker putting up a too high privacy fence.

effinayright said...


Don't give the rule-breaker a better deal that a person who accepted the rules and followed the procedure.
*******************

But that in a nutshell is the Democrat position vis a vis illegal immigrants. They get immediately welfare, food stamps, housing that legals have to wait for, PLUS they are forgiven when they drive w/o licenses or insurance for their unregistered vehicles.

Earnest Prole said...

In San Francisco you can paint your house whatever color you want and it all looks great. But then again there’s more American freedom out West.

TestTube said...

Also, Henry, thank you for the linkto Scully's work.

You and I have different definitions for "really great", but at least looking at his stuff I have more confidence that my own sad efforts might find an audience.

After visiting an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston I realize I will never get Rothko either.

John henry said...

DBQ

I believe that the picture you linked is of old san juan. This as an historic district with very strict controls on what you can do. Those colors are historic based on how the Spaniards painted when they were here.

They are required by state law.

I happen to like them. Much better than a dull beige.

A color code like that would brighten any city. Even Madison.

John Henry

tim in vermont said...

“If it weren’t for that son of a bitch, Trump!” should be a tag.

PM said...

Wonder how they'll respond to the refurbished Weinermobile he parks in the driveway?

John henry said...

The only thing worse than a development with an hoa is one without an hoa.

When I bought my house almost 40 years ago we were one of the first non-condo developments to have one in our title deed covenants. Membership is mandatory as are about 2-3 pages of restrictions on what we can do.

And can't do, like paint any color other than white with white trim. Me, I'd prefer if we all painted in the bubble gum colors like DBQ linked. Give us a bit of Caribbean flavor.

The hoa has been a constant struggle over the years. I've been president a dozen times or so and on the board more. It's always a pain in the ass.

But it does help control the flavor of the neighborhood.

John Henry

John henry said...

For those who don't like hoa's and their enforcement of covenants, i would echo what others have said: buy somewhere else.

HOAs seem lik a pretty pure form of democracy to me. You belong strictly by choice. More than that, you buy into it when you buy your house.

You have a vote in what it does and how it is run. You know the officets and directors and can talk to them at any time.

If you don't like the way it is run, get a bunch of your neighbors to vote you president. (you really don't want the job, though)

People whine about the hoa but then never show up (or vote!) at the general meetings or the board meetings.

To those people I saY STFU.

John Henry

John henry said...

Carolyn, definitely.

In my youth she, tina turner and Mrs Peel were what I aspired to.

John Henry

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Althouse: "Don't give the rule-breaker a better deal that a person who accepted the rules and followed the procedure."

First thought comes to mind is illegal immigration and border crashing.

Ralph L said...

John Henry, you left off the "be."

Ralph L said...

But it does help control the flavor of the neighborhood.

But Diversity!!

buwaya said...

Johnhenry,

I like those "bubble gum" colors too.
They are something in the bright sunshine, and moreover they resist inevitable wet-tropical dinginess better than beige or grey.

Henry said...

You and I have different definitions for "really great", but at least looking at his stuff I have more confidence that my own sad efforts might find an audience.

There's something to be said for the power of "I can do that!"

Actually, looking at Scully's work, I did think, "maybe I should start painting again."

Bob R said...

"Or...Understand the building codes and home owner association rules BEFORE you buy and then try to complain. Example: Don't buy next to a pig farm and then complain about the smell."

Not "or." I agree. That's what he should have done to understand that he was dealing with a bunch of control freaks who wanted to live in Beigetown. He never should have moved there. And the people who do aren't really doing anything that could be considered "living."

Rabel said...

The Times article does have comments. They're mostly in favor of the artist.

And Palisades is a hamlet in the town of "Orangetown." That's cosmic.

TestTube said...

Henry,

Forget "maybe".

You should almost certainly start painting again.

Paul Mac said...

We need Mr Plumbean now more than ever.

The Big Orange Splot

Michael McNeil said...

Re Rothko et al.: I have trouble “getting” highly abstract art like his too. But my partner introduced me to an art series by Simon Schama called The Power of Art (3 DVDs, 8 episodes, available through Netflix) which is really good.

These are the episodes (titles summarized):
1. Caravaggio
2. Bernini
3. Rembrandt
4. David
5. Turner
6. Van Gogh
7. Picasso
8. Rothko

Palisades resident said...

As someone from the neighborhood in question I would like to point out that the rules in our Historical Area officially had previously only applied to old houses built prior to 1930. Scully's house was built in the late 80s which is why his architect had assumed no permission was required. He was caught on a tiny footnote in a previous request for a building permit to replace his roof, which changed the requirements to cover applying to the Historic Board for all future changes, but only in the small print. This was a surprise to many residents. The Board's involvement started when one local resident complained because they did't like the yellow, and brought it to the Board to address. However over 40 signatures of other residents, including the three immediate neighbors, were collected all attesting to their acceptance of the color and Scully's right to have his house the color he wishes. The board's decision was fairly split, 4 votes against and 3 votes for allowing.