‘Infamous’ rainbow-colored house in Ottawa for sale

There’s a new residential listing near downtown Ottawa. You can’t miss it.

It’s a one-story ranch that’s white – and also pink, green, blue, orange and yellow, among other colors. Each row of siding was painted a different color to catch the attention of the city of Ottawa.

The house at 1617 La Salle St. was purchased in 2017 by Mike Carretto, of Carretto & Associates, who works at the building just north of the property, according to a 2018 Times article. He planned to demolish the house to expand his lot. The city informed his contractor that he would be required to dig up La Salle Street to disconnect the water line at the water main in the middle of the street and terminate the sewer line at the property line.

Carretto didn’t want to pay the extra cost to dig up the street, and city officials declined to have him demolish the house first and disconnect the lines on their own the next time La Salle Street was under construction. He thought the city would concede in order to have the vacant building demolished, but when they didn’t, he started to paint the house in an effort to get their attention, as well as the attention of his neighbors. He painted it little by little.

The city of Ottawa said at the time it’s the city’s policy to have the line disconnected before demolishing a home and that homeowners are responsible for their own lines to the water main. Future construction could also lead to water main issues, which is why the city requires termination of lines.

In 2018, Carretto said passersby appreciated the technicolor home. Many people stopped to take photos to share on social media.

Currently, the home’s front window is covered with the phrase, “God is love, have courage & be kind.”

The listing calls the house infamous, as most in Ottawa are familiar with the home. It’s listed for $50,000 by George Shanley of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group.

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