An artist who spent nearly a decade transforming her entire five-bedroom house into a breathtaking, floor-to-ceiling artwork has now put the unique property on the market for £2 million.
A Canvas Without Borders
Emily Powell, 35, has declared her mid-terraced home in Brixham, Devon, finally complete, having run out of surfaces to decorate. Over the last ten years, every inch of the property has been painstakingly hand-painted, creating an immersive living artwork. The project covers approximately 400 square metres across two floors, with murals extending onto walls, ceilings, floorboards, light switches, bathroom tiles, and even furniture.
"It took us so long to be able to buy our first house, which was completely bought with painting money from my pieces over the past 10 years," Powell explained. She lives in the home with her husband, young child, and cat. What began as a simple painted tree on an office door quickly blossomed into a full-scale artistic journey, documenting different chapters of her life.
An Emotional Journey in Colour
The house is a vibrant narrative of Powell's experiences and memories. Birds fly throughout the rooms in memory of her late father, while scenes from the Arctic, the Lake District, and Scotland's Inner Hebrides adorn the walls. The corridor to her bedroom features towering sunflowers, inspired by a summer residency on the Isles of Scilly.
"Each room has colour palettes to support your emotions," she said. The home features a cosy red living room with fireplace tiles containing family mementoes, and a cheerful yellow, circus-themed playroom for her daughter, complete with animals in party hats. Whimsical designs include fishing boats bobbing along hallway skirting boards, a kitchen table painted with crockery, and a cupboard under the stairs transformed into a swimming pool complete with a ladder.
A New Chapter and a Unique Legacy
Powell decided to sell because she feels the work is finished. "I don’t want to paint over what’s already here, I need to start a new chapter," she stated. Motherhood provided her with time at home, particularly in the evenings, to pursue this labour of love using 5-litre tins of house paint and brushes from her local hardware store.
The sale, handled by Riccardo Carrelli of Chestertons, includes the extraordinary house plus 65 additional artworks and 20 pieces of decorated furniture, such as a fridge, freezer, bookcases, and a playhouse. The £2m guide price reflects this combined value. In a remarkable offer, Powell has assured potential buyers she will return every decade for the rest of her life to perform any necessary artistic touch-ups.
Public interest has been immense, with tickets for open-house tours selling out in just 24 hours, leaving over 500 people on a waiting list to see the iconic 'Rainbow House' before it finds a new owner.
