House Painters of a Different Stripe

The plan called for zebra stripes. But that was before Sept. 11, before the world turned upside-down and America began wrapping its collective wounds in bandages of red, white and blue.

By the Sunday morning after the attack, when Thomas Brenninkmeyer and several fellow pranksters gathered with dropcloths and ladders, American flags dotted the neighborhood.

The group noticed Old Glory flying right next to the row house rented by their buddy David Barron, who was out of town and unaware. While they scraped mottled paint off the front of his house, someone proposed trading the zebra stripes for the Stars and Stripes.

“Everyone latched onto it immediately,” Brenninkmeyer said.

Brenninkmeyer, 25, and half a dozen cohorts worked until 1 a.m. Monday, joined by some neighbors and cheered on by more. They sketched the stripes in chalk and made a stencil for the stars. They collected four ladders and rollers. After dark, they borrowed a spotlight from the guy across the street.

“People were driving by, honking and screaming,” said Ryan Ives, a co-conspirator. One couple strolled past after dinner, then returned with half a gallon of ice cream. John Lever, whose flag inspired the creation, offered several rounds of cold beer.

“When we finished,” added Brenninkmeyer, “There was a hearty round of applause.”

Brenninkmeyer of Arlington, Va., and Barron, 48, have been trading pranks for a while--putting a for-sale sign in Barron’s car window; bribing the cleaning lady to put one in the window of Brenninkmeyer’s house. Brenninkmeyer had delighted in pointing out the smudges left on the exterior of Barron’s house from the ivy that covered it years earlier. For months, he had threatened to paint it fuchsia, orange or worse. When Barron headed to his native South Carolina for a wedding, Brenninkmeyer decided to act.

He says there was no disrespect intended. “Friends getting together, sharing the flag and having fun,” he said. “That’s what this country’s all about.”

Peter Murray sees it a bit differently. He manages Barron’s rented row house for the owner, who lives abroad. Murray works for Chatel Real Estate Inc., a boutique firm that cares for hundreds of Georgetown properties.

“I applaud the patriotism, but at the same time, this is not a responsible act,” said Murray, who was alerted to the paint job Monday by a colleague. “We’re talking about criminal trespass.”

Barron, on the other hand, is tickled. He got home that Tuesday afternoon and saw a woman checking out his house. Then he realized why. Immediately, he thought of Brenninkmeyer.

“It’s just beautiful,” he said later. He grew up in a home where the flag stood sentry, and said he can trace his lineage to Betsy Ross and to Francis Scott Key. He said he tears up when he hears “The Star Spangled Banner.”

“We’re going to have to have a party,” Barron said. “Put up a bandstand and block off the street.”

They’ll have to act quickly. Murray said he will inform the owner as soon as possible and arrange to have the house repainted. Brenninkmeyer and his buddies will be asked to foot the bill.

“They did a very nice job; it’s a very good-looking flag,” said Murray, who has a flag hanging from his own home in Chevy Chase. “It’s just, unfortunately, it’s not supposed to be on our building.”