House colors of Italy

Cinque Terre, five villages in the region of Liguria, Italy has the most amazing combination of pastel colors painted onto the facades of their houses. These colors have been delighting tourists, artists and poets for centuries. Why are they colored that way? Many say it was so the fishermen could identify their houses from the sea as they returned. Thankful for a safe return and eager to see their families, the fishermen kept their houses unique and beautiful so they could delight in their homecoming . Others, a little more cynical, claim the colors were added just to attract the tourists. There is probably a unique, rich and charming combination of these facts to be told, but, it is beyond dispute that anyone who has seen them would recall the houses as incredibly stunning because of their wonderful colors. Poetry and art to the eyes of everyone who witnesses them.

I live in the Veneto. 225 miles (362 kms) from Cinque Terre approximately 4 and a half hours by car. Our home is between Vicenza and Padova, house colors are not influenced by either tourists or fishermen. But during the dreary months of winter, I have noticed that painting your home with personality and charm is not unique to the beautiful coastal towns of Liguria. Veneto homes have personality too. Through the omnipresent fog in our village during the winter months, bankers, shop keepers, farmers and teachers find their way home to their uniquely colored houses too, just like the fishermen in Cinque Terre. Individuals and families have made a decision to brighten up their landscape. As they return home from travels or work those Veneto homeowners turn into their driveway and feel the same contentment as the Ligurian Fishermen did as they pulled into the harbor.

Comically, when I revisit the angst and fear I felt as I picked out a 'shade of gray' to paint our home in Colorado two years ago, I marvel in the confidence of these Veneto home owners and wish to thank each and every one of them for the delight I feel in their choices and confidence. My delight just magnifies after the winter months, as the Veneto,  projects a wonderful glow especially in the evening. This glow bounces off the angles and colors and gifts every object with a magical filter. I feel it extends an extra complimentary nod to the proprietor's individuality in choice of color and the architectural angles of each home. Repeated every evening during the summer it must punctuate every worker's reunion home.

The photos below are examples of house colors within 10 miles of my home and mostly taken in winter. I hope to update them with the 'magical filter' as the seasons change.

And lastly here it is - not the Veneto or Liguria but my Colorado driveway. And the much procrastinated and worried over gray.  Without a doubt this driveway means home to me but somewhere inside, I regret my limitations in not owning the full palette of colors available to me, explored in the driveways of the Veneto.