Build your own house of gold

Houses painted sunny shades of golden yellow can be found all around the globe. Izamal in Mexico, for example, is known as ‘The Golden City’ because almost every single building is painted the same shade of glorious gold. In the Italian city of Parma, the golden façades came about in the 18th century, when architect Alexandre Petitot wanted to emulate the gilded splendour of the French palace of Versailles.

Not only do sunny yellow and gold colours give nearly any home an aura of warmth, yellows are also highly adaptable as they coordinate well with brick and stone. Rich golden yellow shades will shine when paired with browns and plum reds, or if pale, buttery yellows are more your style, choose a crisp white or slate grey for your trim and woodwork.