>>People generally choose the color of their house. You are blaming a lack of bright or dark colors on the exterior of houses on what? People's choices? :o)
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>Of course. Since people's choices are impossible to influence, fashions do not exist. They are just an illusion, eh?
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>>I wouldn't want a dark or bright color because I live in the south and it absorbs too much heat. Are you upset because people prefer cream, white, beige or gray colored houses? :o) I prefer beige or cream on the outside myself.
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>If you've lived through a number of Novembers in Europe and managed to get through undepressed... good for you. I'd usually have to wait for March to get back into normal. Winter wasn't too nice either - too cold, and the days are too short. And most of the houses were heated by coal, so the snow in the city wouldn't look too nice after just a few days. In most of the literature (and music), gray == monotony == depression. Gray is the color of jails, barracks, old state buildings, mud, dust, dirt, concrete, heavy clouds and formal suits. Also the color of "we aren't able to keep it clean, so let's paint it the way it will be when it's dirty".
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>Most of my impressions of the US originate in '67 and later; not that I didn't know much before that, it's when it became interesting to read about. And it looked so colorful - in message #1151050, deja vu. Then I come here and get disappointed with the overall greyness.
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>All the more reason to buy a house and do it the way you want. And don't listen to what the real estate agent may say about chances of selling a colorful one - you don't care whether it will attract 50 or 500 customers. You need only one.

Your message got me thinking. I do recall that Germany was extremely dull colorwise. Only the flower boxes were colorful. Other places in Europe were much more colorful but then there were sections in Spain where every single building was stark white. I actually liked it. Bright and cheerful to me next to the beautiful flowers :o) I'm not sure when it became standard or common taste to have neutral colors on the exterior of houses. In the south where it gets so hot and expecially in really sunny places (like Arizona) it is common due to the extreme heat and number of sunny days. When it is 115 degrees and sunny every day white is the best color for the exterior of the house :o) Given the number of rainy days in the Pacific Northwest, I'm alittle surprised that there are not more colorful buildings to cheer things up. Now, unless the house is painted in pastels (beach colors), it is considered poor taste to paint a house a bright color. There are many beach areas with bright buildings. There is a difference in tones too. There are a few houses here painted BRIGHT orange with green shutters and the like. They are generally considered ugly and in poor taste. It is more common to have a neutral colored house (although some are venturing into darker shades of beige or taupe) and a bright red door or colorful shutters. Some higher end neighborhoods actually have convenents that specify that houses cannot be painted drastic colors and the lawns have to be maintained, no broken down vehicles in the yards, no inside furniture on the porches, etc. If you don't like the convenents, then don't move in there. :o) I stay away from places with those rules if I can help it :o)