A feisty mother of two faces a hefty fine after she paints a Georgian-style home’s front door the color pink, which apparently violates council rules that are “thirty years out of date.” The 48-year-old woman living in Edinburgh’s New Town could be fined up to $23,000 for Getting her door professionally painted a color not currently approved by the city..
Dickson lives in New Town, a World Heritage Conservation Site with strict rules about painting front doors. However, Dickson feels that these rules are outdated and should be changed to adapt to the modern world.
In 2019, Dickson inherited her parents’ Scottish home. Recently, she completed a renovation that gave the front door a new paint job by a professional company. However, the City of Edinburgh Council has rejected Dickson’s selected door color and is now requesting that she have it repainted to a more subdued hue. They recommend using white gloss paint to make the door match other homes in the area.
Dickson received pushback from city planners to change the color of her door, despite other homes on Drummond Place having brightly colored doors. She argues that because they exist on other properties in the area, she should be able to have a pink door.
She said her neighborhood was similar to other British cities with colorful homes, like Notting Hill in London. She also mentioned that Bristol had a comparable design to her hometown.
“There are cities in the UK like Bristol, Notting Hill, and Harrogate which are brightly colored. Coming home and seeing my front door gives me joy, I’m proud of it. It’s my house, I own it. It’s not like I wanted to build a glass box. Georgians loved pink – in that era, all the windows were painted grey or black, and people had different-colored front doors. I’ve had overwhelming support from people saying ‘it’s amazing, and ‘it makes me smile.”
Dickson’s pink door has become such a popular tourist destination that it has its attraction. Many people take photos of the new pink door as they snapshot through the town center.
However, if Dickson does not have the paint changed to a white gloss, the city planners are threatening to fine her nearly $2,300. They claim that the pink color is “unauthorized.”
However, if her paint job is found in breach of the conservation rules of the area, she might be fined as much as $23,000.
“I don’t want to paint it white, I’ll paint it dark red. People are saying ‘why don’t you paint it a rainbow of muted colors.”
