What would you do if you were sparring with your neighbors over their insistence that you not rent your house out as an Airbnb?
You could talk to them, you could ignore them, or you could paint your house hot pink punctuated by two massive emojis.
One homeowner in Manhattan Beach, California, opted for the latter. After neighbors reported her to the city for temporarily renting out her home, Kathryn Kidd had her house painted magenta before an artist spray-painted on two emojis: one with its tongue stuck out, the other with its mouth zipped.
Some are designed to block views, some to block sunlight or a road, some to satisfy more obscure grudges. Some spite is structural, sometimes it’s only skin-deep and sometimes, perhaps, it’s just in the eye of the beholder.
These are spite houses: https://t.co/zMef5NxAV4
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 20, 2019
As if to emphasize this paean to the camp aesthetic, both emojis have eyelash extensions. According to Easy Reader News, which first reported the story, a neighbor who reported Kidd was wearing false eyelashes when the two met.
“I’m trying not to offend anybody,” Kidd told the Los Angeles Times. “I did it for the purpose of being happy, being positive, and I think it’s cute and quirky and kind of funny, and certainly was a time for the emoji.”
Her neighbors, however, don’t think it’s so cute.
“We really feel it is our city’s responsibility to have these regulations in place because people can do anything,” Susan Wieland, alleged false eyelash wearer and neighbor who reported Kidd, said. “I feel like we’re not being protected against bullying.”
Neighbors have petitioned the city council to get Kidd to return her home to a more neutral tone. A city attorney said the planning commission would research options. For now, however, there’s nothing the city can do. Maybe a new owner will help: The home went on the market on Monday for a cool $1.7 million.
The city council may have cost Kidd $4,000 in fines for violating its home rental laws, but her paint job is one thing it can’t control. There’s nothing in the First Amendment about being tacky, or a little bit petty.