Little red wooden houses on the waterside

These little red waterside houses have been a very common sight on the way in to numerous ports or along the inlets and skerries along the southern most parts of Norway.....in the North they would get battered I suspect!
I learned today that the red colour is not just traditional, its very pragmatic as there is iron oxide and copper mixed into the paint and this apparently produces some sort of protective effect in the wood. White paint is significantly more expensive and usually only used for churches and wealthy peoples houses or state buildings. Obviously not heard of Magnolia!
I just liked the line of this curve as we went around into the harbour and the symmetry of all the houses and their reflections. Starting to see why the Norwegian flag is blue, red and white.