When you own a home, usually that means that you are responsible for the home’s upkeep and maintenance. It usually also means that you get to decide what the home looks like when it’s time to do any renovations. That is, unless there are HOA rules preventing you from making certain changes, or, as Miranda Dickson discovered, sometimes you might be violating rules of the historical society in your neighborhood.
Dickson, who is 48 years old and a mother of two, used to live in California, but she relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland, after inheriting her childhood home. She also decided to do some renovations to the home, which her parents bought in 1981.
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Dickson’s house is located in New Town, and she did multiple renovations inside the home, which is a townhouse, before making a major change to the outside appearance.
The new home owner seems to love the color pink because she has added pink carpet on the stairs and pink wallpaper on the walls. It shouldn’t be surprising then that she also decided to paint the front door pink.
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The pink door, which she describes as a shade of light pink, is now causing her unexpected problems. Apparently, someone complained about the door, and now, Edinburgh City Council wants her to repaint it because it is “not in keeping with the historic character” of her neighborhood, which is a conservation area in the World Heritage Site.
Dickson received a letter from the city council telling her to repaint it a “dark or muted” color, and the same letter also suggested that she paint the door white, which, as Dickson points out, “goes against the guidelines of dark and muted.” She called the request “ludicrous.”
Dickson is even more frustrated about the situation because her door is far from the only door in her neighborhood that is a bright color. In fact, there are yellow doors, blue doors and red doors within a five minute walk of her home.
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When Dickson asked why she was being told to repaint her door when there were other brightly colored doors in the neighborhood, the city council told her that they would take action on the other doors if they received a complaint. She was also told that action was taken against her “because I haven’t applied for planning permission.”
If Dickson does not repaint the door, she faces a fine of £20,000, which is more than $24,000. Dickson does not want to repaint the door, and she added that it takes a lot of effort to paint a front door. She explained, “The brass has to be removed and the door sanded first and then you have to leave the door open all day while the paint dries. It’s not a quick job.”
A spokesperson for the City of Edinburgh Council stated, “The owner agreed the door would be repainted but as this work has not been carried out we are taking enforcement action requiring them to repaint the door.”
Do you think it’s “ludicrous” for Dickson to have to pay a large fine if she doesn’t repaint her front door?
