On the spectrum

And they're all made out of ticky-tacky

Welcome to September's Photo Challenge. My call-out went something along the lines of 'Wanted - garish green gable ends, resplendent red rendered walls and bright blue bungalows; send me your colourful houses.' And you did. Of course you did. Not just 'regular' houses either - stately homes, public houses (second homes to some!), coach houses, tea houses, even tree houses. Within hours of the aforementioned call-out I was receiving photographs from all over the world. We really have gone global!

Talking of global, the earth would spin off its axis if Rol didn't go first. Rol, what ya got? "Hello, John. Firstly the colourful columns of Wentworth Woodhouse stately home at Christmas. Secondly, a pretty yellow house in Kefalonia, 2008. And finally, a nice row of colourful houses in Portmeirion last summer. Be seeing you! Rol." Cheers, Rol. Take no prisoners!

Matthew, my Dumfries & Galloway correspondent next: "Hi John, these were taken very recently and locally. Scotland has quite a few painted houses, mainly as quite a lot are a rendered finish rather than brick (due, I think, to the high rainfall and lack of suitable clay). Although these shots are not quite Tobermory or Portree, Stranraer and Portpatrick, as you can see here, offer a few colourful alternatives." They most certainly do, Matthew! Thank you.

Another Scottish connection next: my blogger friend, Hawkfall, a Scot now residing in Singapore: "Hi John, Singapore has no shortage of brightly-coloured public housing. Any colour you like, apart from black I think, so perhaps Henry Ford wouldn't have improved. The ones here are for those in a blue mood." Good work, H. And good to see you back blogging again.

I suggest you wear eye protection before looking at Ernie's selection - it's like looking directly at the Sun: "Hi John, inspired by your opening alliteration ('bright blue bungalows') I've selected some beautiful buildings from places beginning with B - Batumi in Georgia, the Bo Kaap district of Cape Town and the Boccadasse district of Genoa. Ernie."  

A couple of days later I then received a P.S. "A late entry from Sarajevo - the Papapagajka (Parrot Building). Business premises on the ground floor but I am assured by a local that the rest is residential, so hopefully it meets your rigorously enforced criteria, Ern." Thank you so much, Ernesto. Who needs filters?!

Khayem from the Kotswolds has gone back to nature: "Hello John, half a dozen offerings for you this month, and none of the colourfully painted houses in Clifton, Bristol - one of the #BlogCon25 may already have been there (they might have - JM). 

1. The Bug House Hotel, found by chance in a park in Filton, South Gloucestershire, c.2021.

2.  Filton was also here I discovered a lovely tree house for fairies. I always assumed that they would fly in via a window! 

3. A rather sad-looking end-of-terrace in Coleford, in the heart of the Forest of Dean, enlivened by Tom Cousins’ mural, featuring local writers Dennis Potter, Joyce Latham and F.W. Harvey. 4. Yet another snap from the Clan K vacation in Valencia in 2023 - brightly coloured apartments showcasing the spectrum ends of street art to stunning effect.

5 & 6. A return trip to Hester’s Way near Cheltenham for another couple of examples of art transforming otherwise drab blocks of flats. Hope all is well with you, looking forward to seeing what else you have in store! Best wishes, K." Excellent stuff, K. Our first fairy house. Good work.

Tim next with a septet showing strong spectrum game: "Hi John, hope you are well. Here are some coloured houses.

1 & 2. Kicking off with a brace from Copenhagen. First, textbook pastels (what are the chances that someone else has snapped this exact view? Find out later! - JM). Secondly a superb burnt umber terrace. There were a few rows of these traditionally painted properties a bit out of the centre of town. Not garish but definitely resplendent. The Danish capital definitely offering up a strong coloured house game.

3. Next up, King of the mountains - the cafe at Langsett. Proper old school inside, the exterior decor a nod to when the Tour de France randomly diverted across the Channel for an opening stage ending in Sheffield.

4 & 5. A brace from Brighton and Glastonbury. Nothing out of the ordinary but splendid colours all the same. 

6 I can't sign off without a nod to Nottingham's own version: the promenade overlooking Victoria Park.

7. Finally, a bonus one: it ticks the ‘garish gable’ box but is also straying into the previous month's street art collection. Port Street, Manchester and a nod to The Hacienda. Looking forward as ever to seeing the full raft of photos in your blog. Cheers, Tim." Thank you for a great selection, Tim. I think the gable end is podium material.

Dave says: "Hi John, my colourful buildings entry - I'm sure you know where this is!" I do indeed, Dave. As you know, I was in there with you & your GLW (pictured) a couple of months back! 

Reassuring news from Coops: "Normal service resumed this month, John with three photos from my travels. Blue - Cobh, Ireland; Yellow - Vilnius, Lithuania; Pink - Laganas, Zakynthos (Zante), David." Cheers, Coops. As you know I was looking for houses/homes, but I've heard on the grapevine that the manager of Frozen Bubbles lives over the shop, so all good! Cobh in Ireland gets you a podium finish btw.

  

George from Portugal was initially unsure about his selection: "Hi John, the vast majority of houses and apartment blocks in our town are white with either a blue or yellow trim; it's one way of knowing you are in the Alentejo (the blue is actually called Alentejo Blue). The house with the yellow trim is our house (newly painted) and the other one is to show the Alentejo Blue trim. Cumprimentos,  George (your Alentejo correspondent)."  Obrigado, George! Good work. I must come out sometime and inspect the paintwork - see how it's holding up...

Swiss Adam's in Europe too: "A pair of lemon coloured houses from the Amalfi region of Italy from my recent holiday. When you live in an area covered with lemon trees it makes perfect sense to paint your house to suit. Prego!" Grazie, Adam - I'd love to live in a lemon house.

Back to earth with a bump, Charity Chic next: "Blairhill Avenue in Shawlands, Glasgow trying to keep up with Tobermory and Portree. Going for £750K a pop if they take your fancy." Paint it lemon and move it to Italy and then we can have a conversation!

Claire's in Copenhagen: "Freetown Christiana, Copenhagen."

"Copenhagen proper." (Did you bump into Tim, Claire? -JM)

"Varenna on Lake Como, Italy 2024." Thank you, Claire. Next month I'm thinking of buddying up all our correspondents!

James has got a terrific trio: "Hi Dad, "Yanaka, Tokyo. A part of town famed for its love of cats. I'm sure I wrote down at the time what this building was, but cannot recall. It's definitely not like the rest of the buildings round there."

"A hotel in Gemmayze, Beirut. The most colourful and well maintained thing on the street where it stands. Most buildings in the surrounding area were badly damaged by the 2020 port explosion."

"Exterior of the Dar Alfarah Riad in the Kasbah, Marrakech. Just around the corner from three Badi palace, featuring its own guard cat." Thank you, James. Loving the Kasbah cat!

It seems Celia's got a picture and a recipe: "Hi John - hope all's good with you. Here are just a couple of the many buildings around here painted in typical historical Suffolk colours. Natural substances were originally added to traditional limewash to produce these shades - anything from elderberries, sloe juice and yellow ochre, to pig's blood mixed wiith buttermilk. Yummy! C x." Thanks, C. Does your local B&Q still sell it, I wonder?

Riggsby's dialling up from California: "I drive past this house in Del Mar often and have wondered about the mixture of colours as well as the doors & windows, each different. I took this pic for this month's challenge expecting to find an interesting story about it. Interestingly the only thing I can find are listings on estate agents' websites (it was on the market at $1.25M). I may have to knock on doors. An enigma." Thanks, Richard. I'd knock on the blue one.

Richard's next two are, he says, poles apart: "Both are in Leucadia, Encinitas in San Diego County:  a new block of flats that just opened and, a few streets away, a couple of trailer park homes - more in keeping with the vibe of beach cities along the Pacific Coast Highway."

He concludes: "This is what I was really looking for - Hippie Homes. I was asking around and even using AI but I was unable to find these! A mystery. A mystery indeed, Richard.Not for nothing are they called Hidden Homes. Thank you for your great pics and keep me posted if you unearth any new finds.

Johnny Legs is asking me questions: "Hi John, how about this place? Not too shabby. Sintra, Portugal."

"Or this street in Staithes? For some the pub could be considered a second home."

"Or maybe this one. Burgos, Spain?" Cheers, Johnny. I've been in that boozer in Staithes a few times; I've even stopped in rooms above. Having said that, I like the look of Sintra.

Harry Harrington Harris is not so good at the moment. Get well soon, big man. He took this in Belfast. Where else? Do I not like orange.

The lovely Miss Turner next. Recently back from Cuba but has sent me this instead: "Hi John, a green floating house in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam." Green she says. Green! OK, you win, it's green.

Head Prefect Alyson next: "Hi John, I've been in Aberdeen a.k.a. Granite City on holiday with no colourful houses at all! So here's a picture you might recognise: the flats opposite the Bow Bar in Edinburgh - the first in a long line of hostelries that have featured in our BlogCon get togethers." Thank you, Alyson. I remember it well! (see below!)

Walter on a crackly line from Germany: "An old house from my hometown. Renovated a few years ago and painted with oxblood." (Could be worse, I suppose; could be oxblood - JM.)

"An image from some great days back in June this year." (A fabulous public house, Walter! - JM.)

Nine years ago I spent a few days in a beach house on Ana Maria Island, Florida, where the entire facade was painted in different colours." Excellent! Danke, Walt.

And finally, a few of my snappy snaps: Hessle Foreshore just outside Hull. These colourful little cottages sit in the shadow of the Humber Bridge.

Turn left out of Leicester railway station and you'll see these flats.

As Alyson eluded to above, I was one of the posse imbibing a glass or two in Edinburgh's Bow Bar in June 2022. This is the view with your back to it.

Park Hill flats in Sheffield. I'm a huge fan of Sheffield's brutalist architecture.

I think the shutters on this Stranraer cottage are teal. I could be wrong but I think they're teal. Miss Turner would say green, but hey, what ya gonna do? (Riggsby will have a Pantone colour reference, I'm sure.)

I saw this coach house in East Bridgford for the first time only last week.  I absolutely love the art deco sun - c/w date.

More Sheffield brutalism; made even more brutal by the atrocious weather. I took the below photo on the same day I took this.

A year later and I was back; I've got stacks of these.

The first of a couple of Bristol shots taken on the way to view Clifton Suspension Bridge back in June.

And these houses in Clifton were taken from the other side of the water.

Wigtown a.k.a. Booktown. More banana than lemon, I'd say. Time for Riggsby's Pantone colour chart again.

Last one from me - taken on my recent away day to Peterborough; it was a scorcher - the sky was very nearly the same colour as the blue apartment block.

And there you have it. Another amazing collection. Thank you so much, everyone. And although I'm hesitant to pick out individuals I feel I have to name check Charity Chic and Matthew; a Scot and an Englishman living in Scotland respectively. I mention these two fellas only because they both compared their photos (or more importantly, the locations of their photos) to Tobermory and Portree. I now find myself wanting to go to these places! M & CC could be my guides, could they not? Until next time.

Postscript

The eagle eyed among you will have noticed a couple of glaring omissions from September's collection; namely Pete Zab and The Swede. Despite protestations from both that they had emailed their pics, my inbox remained bereft of entries from either of them. I told them both to WhatsApp me. Pete was like a cork out of a bottle: "Hi John, the yellow one's in Llandudno, the butterflies are in Chilwell and the other two are in Cromer. Pete." Thank you, Pete. Apologies for any gremlins.