ST. JOHN’S – Who would’ve known there’s more to a lick a’ paint than meets the eye in St. John’s? While many cities in Atlantic Canada have brightly coloured houses, in St. John’s, painted houses are a matter of historic importance. For the last few years, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador has had a paint chart in effect that sets the standards and guidelines for house painting along supposedly traditional lines.
Based on the paint chart, Newfoundland’s traditional pallete includes colours like Misky rain (a beige colour), Mussels in the corner (a bluish shade), Christmas syrup (an orange-red) and Lassie buns (a light brown). Other standouts are Harbour Deep, Sea Spray Green, May Bush Blue, Bristol’s Hope (a form of purple!) and my personal favourite, Memories of Brazil Street (a pale-skinned colour, strangely enough). The Globe & Mail has a slideshow of these colours as they look on Newfoundland houses.