Though Victorian and Edwardian houses were traditionally colorful in American architecture, the term “Painted Ladies” was first introduced in the 1970s after a “colorist” initiative from San Francisco artist Butch Kardum. In fact, most of the houses built after the First and Second World Wars were painted Battleship gray with war-surplus Navy paint. Since then, the “colorist” movement keeps repainting these old houses in brighter colors, with the “Postcard Row” of Victorian houses at 710-720 Steiner Street as their flagship representative.