Painted Ladies

In American architecture, painted ladies are Victorian and Edwardian houses repainted, starting in the 1960s, in three or more colors that embellish or accentuate their architectural details. The term was first used for San Francisco Victorian houses by Morley Baer, Elizabeth Pomada, and Michael Larsen in their 1978 book, Painted Ladies: San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians. Although polychrome decoration was common in the Victorian era, the colors used on these houses in the modern era are not based on historical precedent.