What’s in a color? For some, a tribute

By Mike Trask (contact)

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

In the annals of bizarre homeowner disputes, Cynthia Turner's decision to turn her garage door into a shrine for dead relatives must rank near the top.

Small battles go on across the valley each day between inspectors and homeowners not following their homeowner association rules. But few of those transgressions have the emotional underpinning of Turner's.

She has accented her illegally red garage door with a huge magnetic poster with photos and the words: "Your spirits live for eternity in our hearts, souls, and home."

The memorial is dedicated to Turner's son Jason, 25, and her mother, Lila Arnett. They died more than a year ago. Her mother had battled cancer. Her son's death was ruled a drug overdose.

Last year, before the poster went up, inspector s for the Sun Country Homeowners Association in Henderson's Whitney Ranch cited Turner for the red garage door and matching red front doors.

Jason picked that color in 2004. Forcing her to change it is unfair, she said, given that doors have been painted in improper yellows, browns, greens and blues throughout Sun Country, a community whose cracked roads and fallen fences suggest its best days have come and gone.

The manager of the community, Alexis Baker of Mastermind Management, declined to comment about Turner, citing privacy laws. But Baker noted: "If you want to do anything to your house, you are required to have permission."

There is no record of Turner getting the proper paperwork, for either the color or for the memorial poster, another apparent violation that she added before the holidays.

With a court order, the Sun Country governing board could have the door painted white. The board's three members did not return calls from the Sun.

Turner said she just wants to be left alone. She's still grieving the loss of her only child, and living in the house with his touches.

"Jason picked out white, gray and red," Turner said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "Red was his favorite color. He chose all the colors. He lived here. I'm keeping it in his honor."

The colors work well together, even if the red is verboten.

"It doesn't bother us," said neighbor Cathy Leddy.

Turner says her 1,100-square-foot home and tiny lawn are well-kept. "It's well-maintained," she said. "It's not trashy."