Pretty in Pink? Impertinent in Print?

W.D. Taylor House, 1969

W.D. Taylor House, 1969

For a week, we’ve been watching the façade of our neighbor Bradley’s house change day-by-day to a subtle pearly pink – not what I would think of as a “traditional” or “historic” color for the exterior of a house in Oysterville. In fact, I’ve been wondering what builder and original owner Will Taylor would think. Will and his wife moved to town and built the house back in 1870. Will was a stagecoach driver and Adelaide was the town midwife.

The house has had many owners since then. In my childhood, Tommy and Irene Nelson lived there and had their oyster cannery out in back. In the 1980s, Rose Espy Glynn, a very distant relative from Pennsylvania, bought the house and more recently Gwen Newton and Nancy Lloyd owned it. I can’t speak for Tommy and Irene but I do know that the more recent owners ‘had work done’ on the house. It’s what you do with structures that are still among us after a hundred years.

The "Shack" Bradley Bought

The “Shack” Bradley Bought

So, when I read Bradley’s Guest Column in today’s Observer, I was a bit surprised to see that he referred to the house as a “shack.” His precise words were “By the time that I overpaid for my historic Oysterville shack in 2009…” Wow! I was ‘sore amazed’ as they say. I have never ever thought of the Taylor House as a “shack.” But, thought I, maybe my thinking is skewed, so I looked up the definition of “shack” in my Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (the hard cover, five-pound version.)

“Shack (back-formation from English dialect shackly rickety, 1878) 1. HUT. SHANTY 2. a room or similar enclosed structure for a particular person or use (a guard shack).”

Real Estate Poster, 2008

Real Estate Poster, 2008

Neither the first nor second definition applies, as far as I can see. Not to this good-sized structure that has stood for almost 150 years. Nope. Hardly a shack. But, I have no professional credentials and, as he clearly points out in his guest column, Bradley does: “I have a five-year professional degree in landscape architecture from UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning.”

That he also uses the column to snipe at his fellow-Oysterville residents (including me) is not very surprising. He’s been doing that in person since the day he moved in and it might be what he does best, even though his carefully stated credentials and experience are in an altogether different line of endeavor. “Oh, that’s just Bradley being Bradley” is the usual response when he lets fly. But what did really annoy me was his characterization of the readers of my Observer column as “potentially pitchfork and torch-bearing grannies storming the Pacific County Courthouse.” Wow! Where did THAT come from?

W.D. Taylor House, September 16, 2015

W.D. Taylor House, September 16, 2015

In today’s column, he also cites his extensive experience with matters such as our Oysterville Design Review Process. Which brings me back to his choice of exterior paint color. “Exterior repainting, if the coloring is different than what currently exists on the structure,” according to Ordinance 162, Section 20, requires “Administrative Approval” through the Oysterville design review process. It is up to the homeowner to apply for that approval. As of yesterday, Bradley had not done so, as far as I’ve been able to ascertain.

Perhaps if Will Taylor and the rest of the pioneers could read Bradley’s flamboyant remarks in today’s paper, they’d understand a bit more about his choice of color for his house. Perhaps the rest of us will, too. Pretty in pink? Or pretty is as pretty does?

25 Responses to “Pretty in Pink? Impertinent in Print?”

  1. Greg Rogers says:

    I can show you that this pink is a historic color. Just google “Historic Victorian American House Colors.”

  2. sydney says:

    But would that color have been used historically in Oysterville, a working class town far removed from the fashion hubs of Victorian America or England? I thought “traditional” and “historic” applied to our own history. And doesn’t a change of exterior color require an administrative review by the ODRB like yours did?

  3. Kathleen Shaw says:

    Would’ve loved to own that “shack” but it was waaaayy out of my price range. And I can gare-on-tee I would have stayed within the guidelines. Greg, I have to side with Sydney on color–for large Victorians, yes, the paint palette was quite gaudy. Those homes are often referred to as “painted ladies.” Despite being built close to the era of Queen Victoria (some sources date the start of that style in the United States as the early 1870s), I’m not sure the homes in Oysterville qualify as what we tend to think of as “Victorians.” Usually that refers to the Queen Anne style, as seen in several homes in Seaview (The Sandcastle, for example) and Long Beach. Sydney’s home is more Carpenter Gothic, as is the red “cuzzin” house down the street. (By the way, is anyone aware that the classic Greek statues were actually, in their day, painted in gaudy colors as well?)

  4. Greg Rogers says:

    Colored paints were probably near the cost of white paint. We could consult the old photos. I know that in upstate New York everything was white with green trim. But remember that everyone read Harpers to stay abreast do fashions for the home and the body so anything could have easily happened.

  5. Doesn’t look like a shack to me. Gentle reader, I know whereof I speak, having lived in a 400 square foot fisherman’s shack from 1994 to 2010. Good job finding the real estate photos.

  6. Bradley Huson says:

    Hi there…..I wanted the paint color to say GAY in every sense of the word…. I think that everyone should be happy that it is not raspberry, acid green or covered with glitter… Any or all of which it could be, and may be some day. As I have pointed out many times, since the county has NO buy in of the administrative review process, I have no intention of participating in it. And quite frankly the reason that I painted the house pink was to prove the point that anyone in the village can paint anything any color that they want without the sky falling. And dear, please let me take the opportunity to remind you how dissapointed you were when I painted my house white because you wanted to have the only white house in Oysterville….. Is there no pleasing you?

  7. Nora Durst says:

    Personally, I think it is quite pretty. A lot nicer to look at than downed “shacks” you see in people’s backyards. I would think that Bradley probably made some phone calls before paining it this lovely shade of pink. I also think he used the term “shack” as his term of endearment.

  8. I personally love colorfully painted houses, especially ones that shout “gay”. I don’t think the yellow one is “horrid”. By the way, your garden up in that superfund neighborhood is mighty fine. I saw it on a Hardy Plant weekend in 2011 (?) or earlier.

  9. Greg Rogers says:

    This whole design review process failed when the county failed to oversee the board in a way that made it function properly as a quasi-judicial board. I for one would have loved to know what would have kept them from fleeing from us in order to cover their asses. Into that vacuum rushed egos that made stuff up and bent the rules to such a degree that the community spirit was lost and nobody cares about cohesion. This is why I joined the board; to remove the abuse of power.

  10. Bradley Huson says:

    Hi there…. I think that I’m really going to love living in a PINK house! I just hope I didn’t err on the side of being too subtle. It looks very washed out, especially in Sydney’s photo. I guess I can always kick it up a notch next summer…Thanks for the garden comment. Everyone seemed to enjoy that tour. You must come to see my garden in Oysterville, it’s where I’m concentrating most of my efforts at this point. In fact, I’m going to rip out the entire front border this fall, get rid of the yellow, and put in a lot more pink and lilac to go with the house. I’m also changing the name of the house from the WD Taylor house to GAY GARDENS. (Look for the new sign on the gate soon!)

  11. Anne de Marcken says:

    “Flamboyant,” Sydney? I much prefer outright – forthright – name-calling than coded slurs, which I cannot help but take as personally offensive.

  12. I surely would love to see your garden. Just say when. The one up north haunts my memory and makes me think of the “Village Green Preservation Society”.

  13. P.S. I have a Facebook page called The Purple House Society, which was a reaction to someone complaining about our purple trim. I am going to be looking for that new sign.

  14. Bradley Huson says:

    The first thing that I’m going to do when I get down there this weekend is take down that wretched WD Taylor sign. I will be down there all week the week of the 21st.I’m going to finish painting the house PINK and work on some garden projects. Please feel free to stop by. I will look forward to meeting you.

  15. sydney says:

    Anne — It never occurred to me that ‘flamboyant’ was a pejorative term! When did that happen? My mother was often referred to as “flamboyant” and we always considered it a complimentary word. And just what is a ‘coded slur’? I think people are reading way more into my words than I intended and I’m certainly sorry if what I said was found to be offensive. One good thing though — that particular blog got lots of ‘hits’ and increased readership was my basic intention when I began “Oysterville Daybook” five years ago! I just never expected it would be because my commentary on Oysterville happenings would become controversial! And now I know.

  16. Bradley Huson says:

    Sydney must have forgotten hat her son is a fag….maybe he’s just less faggy than I am?!?

  17. Anne de Marcken says:

    “Perhaps if Will Taylor and the rest of the pioneers could read Bradley’s flamboyant remarks in today’s paper, they’d understand a bit more about his choice of color for his house.” Are you really saying that you did not intend the quite obvious subtext in this remark? I find it hard to believe and not especially reassuring.

  18. Kathleen Shaw says:

    (Actually, my house in Thurston County is painted a lovely peachy pink color. I love our gray weather, but I like my house to be cheery.)

  19. sydney says:

    Oh my! I was talking about the house. The pink HOUSE! And the fact that Bradley has blatantly ignored the Oysterville Design process (which he freely admits in one of his comments on this very blog). Sexual orientation has nothing to do with my comments. Nor does breast cancer. Nor any other symbolic meaning that people want to attach to my comments. What other people have read into my blog is their viewpoint, not mine. I’m amazed and sorry that I have pushed so many hidden buttons. Perhaps I should remove this blog from my website?

  20. Charlie Howell says:

    (Big sigh) Bradley, Bradley, Bradley. Mom, Mom, Mom… What puzzles me the most about all of this is that you’re both on the same side. None of us wants to see trailer parks or cheap vinyl siding in Oysterville. Bradley, you have done an amazing job restoring and preserving one of Oysterville’s historic structures, as have you Mom with the white house, the church and so much else. You both are great participants in the community — Bradley, I have been entertained beyond belief at one of your incredible dinners, and Mom, your house concerts and Friday nights are central to Oysterville. Forgive me both of you, but the rest of this seems like personal offense that only exists and escalates for reasons that can be surmounted. Let’s all be grannies with pitchforks and flamboyant fags working together. (Derogatory terms used by others in this argument, here used ironically.)

    Whether it’s in families, in communities, the workplace or wherever, the only thing – and I mean this – the ONLY thing that is worthwhile in this life is the time we spend together laughing and talking and sharing with each other. Your goals are the same. Forget the perceived personal slights and move on together. (And please don’t waste time or space justifying past actions or attitudes. Just heal it.)

  21. Bradley Huson says:

    Charlie…..please, first let me apologize for referring to you as a fag…..I usually use it as a term of endearment. I would like to think that your mother and I are on the same page in this fight, but it is impossible for me to know that. ( Quite frankly, I really don’t feel the love, and have not for quite some time. Well before this latest series of unfortunate events). And I really don’ t know exactly how much you know about what is going on, but, on August 21st we had a community meeting to discuss what was going on with the county wanting to get rid of the ordinance which provides Oysterville with special protection under the law. The meeting was well attended by a wide representation of residentts, and there was an actual consensus of all of the parties at the meeting, the first time I had ever seen that in Oysterville. Certain persons were tasked with certain things to accomplish within a certain timeline. And, the only person who actually did what they said they were going to do, which involved several hours of my time, and several hours of my attorneys time, which I agreed to pay for, was me. I had a sinking feeling about the whole thing less than 24 hours after said meeting occurred, when I saw your Mother, Nyel and Chris Freshley having a long conference in front of the white house…. Later in the day, I telephoned your mother. I told her that I had just witnessed the meeting in the road, and wanted to make sure, before I went through all of the work and the expense that I had been tasked with, that everything was still moving in a forward direction. Your Mother assured me that everything was A-OK, and that I should move along with my tasks. Which I did. Of course, the wheels fell off of that little red wagon. I did what I was supposed to do, before I was supposed to do it. I sent it to the person who I was supposed to send it to, who sat on it for a week, and by that time, the next informational meeting at which we were supposed to discuss completed tasks and our next steps, had been canceled, and the information pipeline completely shut down….. Then came your mother’s article, then came my article, then came the intensely unpleasant blog, And the rest is history. What should be a time of community and information sharing has been completly destroyed, and not by me. Quite frankly, I have no idea what anyone in Oysterville is doing to remedy the situation. A letter writing campaign, based on sentimentality, and keeping things the way they always have been, does not work in the 21st century, especially since it has been pointed out to the county, on more than one occasion, by one of the best land-use attorneys in the state, that what is going on in Oysterville regarding the ODRB and the Design Review Guidelines, is ILLEGAL. I have continually harped on this for the last 5 years ( your mother refers to this as sniping), occaisionally, in lieu of a pat on the head and a doggie treat, I would get a condescending “thank you for sharing” from the kindly, but clueless head of the Design Review Board. THANKYOU FOR FUCKING SHARING??? I have been living and fighting land-use battles in Washington State for the last 15 years, at a great outlay of personal time, and personal expense and all I get is an occasional…..thank you for sharing???? Dan, my partner who you met at Christmas time, thinks that everyone in Oysterville is completly nuts for continually ignoring the factual, professional information which has been presented to them time and time again by multiple persons. But the person who he considers to be the most nuts, is me, for continuing to beat my head against the wall with this group of people.

  22. For what it is worth, three north end friends have told me that Bradley’s “pink” house color is beautiful. I intend to see the house and the garden on Wednesday and I’m excited. Not sure if Bradley will let me rave on about the garden in my blog though. I know I’ll rave based on what I’ve seen over recent years peeking over the fence!

    I know from sad personal experience how difficult it is to be estranged from a neighbour and excluded from conversations and I know how hard such rifts can be to repair. I like what Sydney’s son wrote about “not wasting time justifying past actions”. I have known a big rift to heal by just moving on. I’m too far removed from this situation to say more about whether that would be possible.

  23. Kathleen Shaw says:

    Well said. Best wishes to all involved.

  24. Bradley Huson says:

    Hi there….I think that the biggest mistake I made with Oysterville Skyler, is assuming that there was a community there to begin with in the first place, and thinking that my contributions: planting daffodils along the streets, putting pumpkins along Terrritory road at Hallowe’en, providing some Christmas decorations, inviting everyone to come over for a 4th of July picnic, and Hallowe’en dinners and maintaining the church grounds would be positive contributions, and would possiby bring everyone together because of the quite obvious rift that has existed between many residents for god knows how long. I actually have made some wonderful friends, & I feel blessed every day that my friend Greg has ended up in Oysterville and had such a positive influence. And, as Dan ( my partner) constantly reminds me, the reason that I moved to Oysterville in the first place, was not because of the people, it was because I wanted to live in a place in rural Washingto State that was architecturally restricted, which of course, as everyone knows, is virtually nonexistent.

  25. Bradley Huson says:

    Sorry, I pushed send before I meant to….so, when I see the sole reason for my moving to Oysterville about to evaporate, naturally, I have concerns. and, once again, since I’ve been harping on this for the last 5 years ( think trying to mke salient points about global warming at a tea party meeting), I’m in a worse mood than usual, and, I have really come to the end of trying to make sense of this mess to people who are either too dumb, or too hard-headed to move forward in an intelligent, cohesive way. I look forward to the end of the year, when the whole thing will be resolved, but it seems highly unlikely that my waning generosity in spirit will be renewed for whatever stands for ” community” in Oysterville.

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