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Anger over purple house may result in color code for Lauderhill homes
By Susannah Bryan
Staff Writer
November 24, 2003
LAUDERHILL -- The clock may soon run out on a purple and gold house whose summer paint job has upset neighbors, attracted the attention of city commissioners and is the main reason every homeowner may have to conform to a color palette.
City officials heard neighbors' cry over the purple and gold hues, and promptly set about drafting an ordinance that would restrict the colors residents can paint their homes.
Should commissioners approve the new law today at a 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall, homeowners with homes not matching the city's color palette will have three years to repaint. Those who can prove a financial hardship will be given five years to change the colors.
City officials are still refining the color palette with the help of a consultant, but already know they do not want a combination of purple and gold. Violators of the paint ordinance may be fined, though the amount has not been determined.
Homeowner Julius Ellington inadvertently created a stir when he painted his house in the 8500 block of Northwest 49th Street the colors of his college fraternity, Omega Psi Phi.
Ellington, 40, has declined requests for interviews. He has also rejected the city's request over the summer that he find a different combination of shades for the home, Assistant City Manager Desorae Giles-Smith said.
Neighbors have declined to be quoted, but color expert Margaret Walch was not so shy.
"I've been in the color business for 20 years, and I've never known of anyone painting a house athletic royal purple," said Walch, director of the New York-based Color Association of the United States, which forecasts color trends in fashion and interior design. "Doing a house in purple is outrageous."
In the meantime, members of Ellington's fraternity have rallied to his defense.
"Nobody should be able to tell you what color to paint your house," said William Council, 50, a member of the graduate chapter of Omega Psi Phi in Charlotte, N.C. "Government should not be allowed to dictate what color a person can paint their house. My fraternity brother expresses his love for our fraternity loudly, and that's great."
Omega Psi Phi member W. Thomas Stovall, an attorney in Washington, D.C., said he also ran into trouble with his homeowners association after choosing lawn furniture in purple and gold -- even though it was in his back yard.
"Now a purple and gold house is a little extreme, if I do say so myself, but I believe a person has a right to paint his home any color he wishes, as long as it is done neatly," Stovall said. "Who sets the standard as to what is fair and reasonable? Some dingbat who doesn't like a particular color?"
The story also caught the attention of other fraternities whose colors are purple and gold, including Sigma Pi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Delta Tau Delta.
Gary Hayward, administrator for Omega Psi Phi headquarters in Decatur, Ga., heard about the purple and gold house from his sister.
Have other fraternity members gone so far as to paint their homes purple and gold?
Said Hayward: "Not that I know of."
Susannah Bryan can be reached at
sbryan@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2028.
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