Midland Landmark: What is the Deal with the ‘The Pepto Bismol House’?

This is one landmark in Midland that has not changed in the 50+ years that I have lived in Midland and if you are new to town, you have to go and see it for yourself.

Fact or Fiction?

The pink and green house on the corner of 'A' Street and Louisiana in Midland has been known as the Pepto Bismol House all of my life and the story behind why it is painted bright pink and green has been speculated for years but the Midland Reporter-Telegram found out that the stories that have been passed around are all false.

The story I heard is that the people who owned the house had a handicapped boy that was also mentally challenged and those were his favorite colors and when he passed away that was the color his parents painted the house in remembrance of him. FALSE.

Stories Swirl

Other stories include one of a girl who died of leukemia and those were her favorite colors, another one that the color of the house has to stay that way because it is in the sales contract, another that a Mexican family lived there and that was the color of their house back in Mexico, and last but not least, a little boy died of cancer and made his parents promise they would keep the house pink. All of those stories are great ones but they are FALSE.

Most importantly it was NOT the inspiration for John Mellencamp's 80s classic "Pink Houses" either.

The Truth?

The story is, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram, there is no story. The house was just painted pink and green at one point and not because of a child dying and the child asking the parents to paint it that color, and no reason is given other than it was just a pink and green painted house. But the house has been photographed by many including international visitors and it has also been used as a point of reference for decades.

So any story you have heard of the Pepto Bismol House is not true and it is just a house that was painted pink and green and now has become so known in Midland/Odessa that it will probably never be repainted at this point.

I know this long-time resident of Midland will be very upset if the color is ever changed from the current pink and green.