The Watermelon House

The Watermelon House

When the owners of the 19th century brick end row house located at 1112 Q Street in the Logan Circle neighborhood of northwest D.C. (MAP) hired painters to paint their house, it did not turn out the way they had intended.  They had wanted the house to be painted a solid, nice shade of fire-engine red.  And although the front of the house turned out as originally intended, the side of the house ended up being more like to color of “Pepto-Bismol.”  But that mistake turned out to be a good thing, because without it the public might not otherwise be able to enjoy what has come to be known as “The Watermelon House.”

Instead of becoming upset with the way the painting job turned out and filing a lawsuit or a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, the owners made the most out of it.  They got some black and pink and green paint, and painted a watermelon on the side of the house instead. When asked, the owners of the house will say that they don’t consider themselves to be artists, they “just can’t stand bland colors.”  Since then, the “Watermelon House” has become an unofficial neighborhood landmark.

Since watermelon is one of those foods that screams summertime, I thought The Watermelon House would be an appropriate destination for a bike ride during this first week of summer.  And I enjoyed seeing the house, although it seemed to be a little “seedy.”