Couple Show Their Stripes in Fight Over House Color : Protest: Talk show host and 100 other supporters help them paint home red, white and blue. City says it must be painted sandstone.

Just 18 days ago, the city told Nick and Denise Karagozian that they couldn’t move into their new hillside home because it was painted the wrong shade of white.

So on Friday, egged on by a radio talk show host and about 100 others outraged over the decision, the Karagozians held a house painting party--and splashed the walls of the pristine shell-white home with red, white and blue stripes.

“This is America,” KFI-AM radio talk show host Joe Crummey said. “If it’s wrong to discriminate against someone because of the color of their skin, it’s wrong to discriminate against the color of their house.”

The Karagozians’ house troubles started last summer when, with their dream home nearly complete, a neighbor complained that it was white instead of the sandstone color approved by the city’s Design Review Board, which governs the appearance of all new homes in Laguna Beach. Because of the color change, board officials would not give the final approval for the couple to move in.

The City Council has backed the board but the Karagozians have not backed down.

Nick Karagozian said the idea for Friday’s protest came from a caller to Crummey’s talk show. Karagozian was a guest on the program after news stories were published about the color controversy, and Karagozian said he was surprised at the “overwhelming support” offered by callers.

Still, he said he hesitated about whether to permit the new paint job.

“I agonized over it for a couple of days,” he said. “I don’t feel it’s a publicity stunt because I feel we’re taking a stand against something that’s not right.”

So the painting began Friday afternoon before an audience of reporters, photographers and visitors sipping wine from plastic cups. The event drew supporters of the Karagozians, some carrying signs reading, “We’re Mad as Hell and We Ain’t Gonna Take It Anymore,” and also attracted a Laguna Beach massage shop owner who showed up with his massage table and offered free rubdowns.

“They built a beautiful home and they ought to be able to live in it,” said Laurie Moomjian, who relaxed in a lawn chair while painters brushed splashes of color across the side of the vacant home.

“We support them 100%,” agreed Terry Kling, another neighbor.

Some people, however, were annoyed by the spectacle.

“I wish it wouldn’t come to this because the (design review) process has merit,” said Morris Skenderian, a Laguna Beach architect who drove by the house. “But when you get issues like this, it makes the board look foolish.”

The Karagozians said they negotiated with the board for months over the design of the house, and made several changes to please the board.

They miscalculated, however, when the day came to purchase paint and Nick Karagozian decided shell white would be close enough to the board-approved color of desert sandstone. It wasn’t, the board said.

Unable to obtain utility service without the board’s final approval, the Karagozians appealed to the Laguna Beach City Council, which turned the couple down.

City Manager Kenneth Frank said Friday that the painting party will not help the Karagozians move into their home any sooner.

“When they paint it the original color, they get their occupancy permit,” Frank said. “Whether it’s white or red, white and blue doesn’t make any difference. It’s not the color they agreed to.”

Nick Karagozian said he’s not sure what he will do with the red, white and blue house. The radio station has offered to arrange for the house to be repainted in a few days, and Karagozian said he might agree to that if only to spare his neighbors the sight of the colorful stripes. He’s also considering painting the house sandstone.