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What It Sold For

Charleston's Rainbow Row Never Really Finished Its Paint Job

· 1 min read

Rainbow Row, the run of pastel-fronted houses along East Bay Street in Charleston, is one of the city's most recognized addresses. The candy-colored façades visitors know today were not part of the original build — the palette was added later, a deliberate choice rather than a historical given. And that choice was never made once and closed: homeowners along the row continue to pick and repaint their colors, meaning the street's famous look is still, quietly, in progress. What reads as a fixed postcard is, house by house, an ongoing decision.

With reporting from Veranda.

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