It's not often to see a home painted in bright, bold colors. But in Malone, some are using a broader color palette. Our Cara Thomas has more on why the colorful trend has local officials vying for the title of prettiest painted community.

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MALONE, N.Y. -- While driving down Elm Street in Malone, there's one house that can't be missed. It's an old Victorian home, built during the 1880s and has been fixed up to display its intricate detail and history.

"It's difficult to find these things anymore. People don't do this anymore. It's a piece of history," said John Mills who owns the home.

Mills is the fourth person to own this house over the past 140 years. He says when he bought it, it was green, overgrown and needed some care. And he did just that by giving it a whole new paint job. But the vivid and bright colors weren't always welcomed in the community.

Mills said, "It was not well received. It was the first one that was done this way and it was a little bit jarring, if you will. It was different."

But it didn't take long until the trend began to spread. And the house has become an icon. As well as numerous other homes that Mills has renovated.

"Most of the houses in this area in the village have been, the owners have followed suit. And used multi-colored paint schemes. There's a guy down the street doing a wonderful job on a house right now," said Mills.

There are so many vibrant and colorful houses in Malone that the chamber of commerce has decided to brag about it a little bit. They're planning on entering a prettiest painted town competition and they think they've got a pretty good shot.

Hugh Hill from the Malone Chamber of Commerce said, "Malone has the largest number of Victorian homes north of Saratoga Springs. So a lot of them are painted absolutely beautiful, they're very attractive. We have a very lovely historic district and we just thought that would be a chance to brag about that and show off what we have."

One small and one large community from each of America's six regions will be chosen as winners. Malone will find out if they made the cut by the end of October.

Any community can participate and submit an application. Applicants must submit at least 15 photographs by the end of August.

To get your own community involved go to The Paint Quality Institute for more information about the contest.