On Sun 05 Jun 2005 06:16:42a, Terry wrote in alt.home.repair:

Someone wrote:
This is why I will never own a home in a neighborhood that has a
Homeowner's Association. I don't need someone telling me how to
maintain my house and what color it should be.

Our sympathy: maybe over regulation? In the name of 'Preserving property
values'!

Following is possibly a myth? But;
Story few years ago (in the UK?) that a local authority, or whoever,
'got after' a certain homeowner to paint his somewhat neglected house.
He did. In many varied colours: Purple, yellow, green, orange etc. and
using combinations of stripes, chequered patterns and polka dots.
Very 'colourful' it was said.
Local authority were apparently not impressed; but the homeowner had
complied with the order to paint!

BTW. Good luck down there in "The land of the Free and the Brave".
Because I gather there even are US residential areas where external TV
or radio antenna/aerials are not allowed; but that flagpoles are?
Trusting that in accordance with "Due respect be paid to any/all
national flags" etc. flags are respectfully lowered, folded and stored
at sunset. Also that flags do not flap and cause a 'noise nuisance'
during the evening and night time hours? TV and other antenna being
essentially quiet.

Three stories come to mind. The first, when we lived in a rather upscale
gated community in NE Ohio, we installed a very tasteful solid copper
weathervane on our chimney. Almost immediately we received a notice from
the HOA that we had to remove it. A thorough reading of all the HOA
documents revealed that weathervanes were not covered by any regulation.
We did discover, however, that television and radio antennas were covered
and allowed, up to a size approximately 10 times the size of our
weathervane. The easiest response to the HOA was that we would agreeably
remove the weathervane, and would install in its place a 15 foot tall
television antenna of a rather complex design. We were quickly advised to
leave the weathervane in place.

The second was in the same community, the HOA allowed only one home per
street or cul-de-sac to have an installed flagpole.

The third involves a lovely 1920s vintage two-story frame home with double
front porches in a nearby neighborhood. The homes and streets lined with
huge old trees are picturesque and evoke another era. The house involved
was on a prominent corner lot. At one point it was put up for sale and
purchased fairly soon afterward. A few months later I happened to drive
through the area and discovered that the house had been painted a vivid
lavender with bright yellow trim and shutters. It soom came to be known as
the "Easter Egg House", and has remained that color for over 20 years.
There is no HOA, nor any local code or regulation that could force the
owner to repaint the house in a more suitable color scheme.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
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Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974