Just steps from Piazza del Popolo, in the historic center of Todi, lies a unique and colorful house painted entirely by internationally renowned Irish artist Brian O'Doherty.

A symbolic homage to art and love

In 1975, conceptual artist Brian O'Doherty and his wife Barbara Novak, a university professor and art historian, purchased a house in the charming medieval village of Todi, at Via delle Mura Antiche 25, as a holiday retreat.

Two years later, the artist began creating an immersive artwork, painting the walls of the entire three-story house with acrylics.

A temple dedicated to the love uniting the couple for over fifty years, this love is palpable in every corner of the house, fully conveying O'Doherty's artistic vision.

Soft and vivid colors, along with geometric perspective shapes on the walls, invite visitors into the artist’s intimate world and emotions, enhanced by the use of the ancient Celtic Ogham alphabet. Extinct for over 1,200 years, Ogham translates the 20 letters of the Roman alphabet into horizontal and vertical lines.

One, Here, Now

Each painting in the house is designed to engage visitors, making them feel part of the artwork.

The first floor, with its kitchen and dining room, immediately evokes Brian O'Doherty's artistic essence through three key words, accompanied by the full ancient code transcription, “One, Here, Now”. This phrase encapsulates his conceptual belief: each of us is a unique microcosm, living in one place and one moment.

The journey continues, with paintings and installations on every wall, immersing visitors in a colorful voyage filled with hidden meanings to be discovered.

Going up the seven rainbow-colored steps leads to the living room, where the eye is immediately drawn to the fresco painted above the sofa—a tribute to a 14th-century Umbrian votive shrine, given three-dimensionality through cords that evoke the perspective studies of that period. On the opposite wall, a mural dedicated to vowels, which the artist considers the “music of language”, forms the foundation of both language and emotions.