Woman turns mansion into rainbow paradise (but her neighbours aren't fans)

Feel like painting your front door a nice pastel shade would be a bit too out-there?

If you fancy throwing caution entirely to the wind, we’d recommend taking inspiration from artist Jane Gottlieb, 70, who has spent thousands transforming the exterior and interiors of her home in Santa Barbara, California into a rainbow paradise.

Not all of her neighbours approve of the super-bright home, and it costs thousands to repaint the outside each year to maintain the rainbow hues, but Jane absolutely loves living in a giant artwork.

And passersby love peeking at the home, which is known as the rainbow house (for obvious reasons).

Renowned artist Jane, who has showcased her work all over the world, says: ‘When people come that have never visited before they just instantly smile, they are instantly happy because they’ve never seen anything like it.

‘They say “oh my God, this is amazing”.

‘I hear the same thing all the time – “you can’t be unhappy in this house”.

‘I don’t understand this obsession with beige and brown, I just don’t know why that is such a popular colour combination for the world.

‘I’m attracted to colour, when I see anything that is bright or colourful I want it.

‘Nobody in the neighbourhood really likes it because they all have these beige Mediterranean houses and I have this bright fanciful art piece.

‘Some people call it the colour house, the rainbow house or the Easter house and when I tell people where I live so many people have already seen it.

‘The outside has to be repainted every couple of years because it fades.

‘Sometimes a year goes by and I don’t paint but roughly it costs me $5,000 a year.

‘I have very happy decorators. They have a really good time here because they have fun with it and I’m keeping them busy.

‘It’s a never-ending thing.’

Jane who lives with husband and writer David Obst, 73, is constantly coming up with new ideas and admitted her house has got brighter as she changes the colours to be even more vibrant than before.

When the couple moved in 23 years ago they spent two months ripping out extensions and add-ons which had been built to hide the original modern design of the house.

But in doing so, Jane discovered loads of 1970s modernist details, which she decided to highlight with bold and bright colours.

She said: ‘When we first moved in it was beige and brown with the beige carpet and all these truly awful and ugly built-in parts.

‘It was originally built in 1977 and it was a very modern and unusual house for Santa Barbara because they are usually Mediterranean houses around here.

‘The previous owner did not like the modern lines so he got rid of every corner and put in all of these add-ons to hide all of these beautiful lines, but when we got it the bones were still there.

‘When we started ripping out all of these awful add-ons I saw all these beautiful details and I knew that I just had to paint them out.

‘It only took two months, it was easy for me to pick the colours.

‘There isn’t any room that has the original colours that they were when we got here.

‘At first the colours were all more lavender and lime green but over the years they have got brighter and brighter.

‘I don’t think David has realised, it’s just been a progressive change over the years.

‘Each time the decorators are coming I have a new idea and I think “that colour would look great” or “this just needs to be a little bit brighter”.’

After starting her career in the art world 35 years ago, Jane initially won fame for hand-painting on Cibachrome prints and became a Photoshop pioneer when she started using the computerised technology to create magical and vibrant distorted images.

Today her prints have been exhibited all over the world, winning international fame, but Jane thinks of her house as her biggest artwork.

As well as acting as the home to Jane, David, and her dogs, Popcorn, Pepper, Freddie, and Lulu, the rainbow house holds her most prized pieces of work, too, and is home to her studio.

‘Purple and blue are the dominant colours but outside alone there are three pinks, two purples, one blue, one yellow and two lime greens,’ Jane says.

‘Inside my favourite room has got to be either my studio or my purple living room because it looks out onto the pool and the ocean.

‘We’ve decorated it with colourful Italian furniture and my artwork.

‘I don’t even know how many colours there must be on the inside.

‘It’s my 3D art piece filled with my art and I’m really proud of it, I love living here, it’s a great place.’

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