FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2023
A “rainbow” house in Omaha, Nebraska, has reportedly gained attention for its bright shades, while also spreading a positive message throughout the neighborhood.
Work on previously light green, five-apartment building began in October, when Jay Axelrod of Everything Axelrod took to perfect strips of black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink and white. Even the gutters match the color scheme.
“It took a lot of extra time and effort and energy to get it to come out that good. And money,” owner Ryan Basye told The Omaha World-Herald. “It probably doubled the cost.”
“It’s been fun,” he added. “My girls think it’s the coolest thing ever.”
Others have agreed, he said, including the people who live in the house near 49th and Davenport Streets. It was converted into apartments decades ago. A tenant reportedly called it “freaking amazing and beautiful.”
The building was painted in rainbow colors because that was the palette chosen by his three daughters, who are all under the age of 10.
A house in Omaha's Dundee neighborhood is getting a lot of attention, and for good reason: the entire home is painted rainbow.@marlolundaktv reports: https://t.co/8Qv7F8rStT
— 6 News WOWT (@WOWT6News) November 14, 2023
“To them it’s not the symbol it is to other people,” he said. “They would want to play Barbies or have Care Bears over.”
However, Basye also reportedly completed the paint job in response to a neighbor’s alleged disparaging comments, of which included homophobic slurs.
“They seem to think that their place was too good for anybody in that realm,” Basye said. “We just decided to give them something to look at.”
Comments were overwhelmingly positive on a post about the house on the Dundee Memorial Park Neighborhood Association Facebook page, ranging from calling it fantastic to saying it reinforces that the Dundee neighborhood is the best in Omaha.
Basye, a real estate broker and landlord, reportedly owns around 15 properties in the Dundee area. He says that it’s important to him that daughters Josephine, Louise and Cecilia know what he does for a living. Josephine, the oldest, often accompanies him on visits to his properties.
Their input also led to the red exterior of an office building he owns near 64th and Pacific Streets, as well as a pink building at the corner of 38th and Dodge Streets.
After the office building was painted, his daughters suggested rainbow colors for the next paint job. They picked out the paint with their father.
“The opportunity came up, and that is what we did,” Basye said. “They loved it. I like to get them involved in Dad’s work.”
Basye said the coolest thing about the rainbow house is that it’s instantly identifiable for guests of the tenants who live there, and it’s just one more thing he’s done to improve the community.
Tagged categories: Aesthetics; Architectural coatings; Coating Application; Color; Color + Design; Color + Design; Color selection; Commercial / Architectural; Design; Projects - Commercial; Residential
