Orange Victorian, source unknown
Victorian Painted Ladies
I had always thought the Victorian Painted Lady originated in San Francisco, and that is partially true. That’s where the term was coined after the second world war. The gingerbread on a Victorian house has always inspired outrageous color schemes, and that goes back to nineteen century England. What wonderful dollhouses they make!
It’s All About The Gingerbread
If new technology drove innovation in Victorian architecture, nostalgia was the inspiration for plundering past designs. By the mid-nineteenth century, handcrafted decorations were not the only choice. Mass production allowed anyone that could afford to build a house to tack on any sort of corbel, bracket or gable they wanted. Painting these appendages a different color helped each to stand out in the crowd of decoration.
The desire to have a Victorian home spread throughout the British Empire and its former colonies. Clusters were built wherever cities were expanding or being rebuilt after disasters, natural and manmade. Think San Francisco after the earthquake or Atlanta after the Civil War.
