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Most "painted ladies" from the early years of San Francisco's Victorian renaissance
have been repainted in tones more suitable to the city of Banana Republic and
Smith & Hawkins.
Some owners still defiantly clothe their homes in summer-of-love colors
thus creating the look of an aging, tie-dyed Deadhead who has strayed, uninvited, into a party
of Gap kids. Occasionally, however, guts and a good eye for color can relieve the pastel
conformity. Witness the cozy and welcoming Pineapple House.
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In the symbolism of architectural embellishment, the pineapple welcomes the visitor.
Sea captains
speared a pineapple on their gate posts to signal safe return from the Sandwich Islands.
Aspiring hostesses served the rare and expensive fruit to their most important guests. If the hostess was
strapped for funds or her guests were not so important, she could rent a pineapple for display rather
than consumption.
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