The Painted Ladies

This guide to the Painted Ladies in San Francisco starts with battleship grey, the leftover navy surplus paint that coated these seven Victorian houses for most of the twentieth century. It follows an artist named Butch Kardum, who in 1963 repainted his own house in loud blues and greens and set off what became known as the colorist movement, spreading house by house across the city. You'll also hear how these particular houses, built in the 1890s by a developer who lived next door, survived the 1906 earthquake and fire when their wooden frames flexed instead of cracking. Look at how each house along the row carries its own distinct palette.