If you live in the Bay Area, you already know that our citizenry is exceptionally whimsical and in touch with our childlike side. These qualities are best evidenced by a pair of local features with vintage, storybook appeal: Children’s Fairyland and the many Bay Area storybook houses.
The former, set on Oakland’s jewel-like Lake Merritt, is probably more familiar to you, but a San Francisco Chronicle article in Fairyland by Peter Hartlaub has some details you probably didn’t know, such as the fact that the marionettes for the puppet show were costumed by the mother of Frank Oz of Muppet fame, and that the crown-topped Fairyland Magic Key was designed by a dude who went on to make lock systems from hotels, and a key from 1950 still works in the park’s audio story boxes. The story does not, however, delve into rumors that Fairyland inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland.
While you’re getting yourself to Fairyland to soak in the antique charm, make sure to drive through the storybook homes of Alameda and Oakland. The architectural style, popularized in the 1920s by architect Walter W. Dixon, is characterized by houses with a Tudor air: white stucco, steep roofs, giant fireplaces and chimneys, sweet “Juliet” balconies, turrets. The best place to see them are on Picardy Drive in Oakland, and in Alameda’s Stonehenge and Stoneleigh housing developments. But they’re scattered all over the Bay Area. Here are some pictures of storybook homes, so you’ll know what you’re looking for. Happy hunting!
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