By any chance, does your house have a stucco exterior? Stucco contains lime. Over time, the lime in the stucco gets washed down the side of your home and into the soil around the foundation. Lime is alkaline, meaning it raises the pH in the soil. Your lawn requires a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 to remain healthy. Lawn fertilizers are slightly acidic, so when you apply fertilizer (an acid) to your lawn, you change the pH of the soil resulting in a deep green colour.
Lime works the opposite way. As the lime washes off the stucco on the walls of your house, and into the soil around the foundation, it is changing the pH of the soil, making the soil too alkaline. The lawn becomes pale, or even grayish in colour before dying.
How to fix it? Regrettably, this is anywhere from difficult to impossible. Since the foundation has been so fully and completely saturated with lime, it would be nearly impossible to figure out how much fertilizer would be required. BAM! Green advises installing a decorative rock border, flower beds or other landscape feature around your home.