- Storybook house
A Storybook House refers to an architectural style popularized in the 1920s in
England and America.The storybook style is a nod toward Hollywood design technically called
Provincial Revivalism and more commonly called Fairy Tale or Hansel and Gretel. A primary example can be found in the 1927 Montclair, Oakland firehouse, and in a more traditional English cottage-style in the 1930 Montclair branch library.Idora Park in northOakland, California is a four square block storybook architecture development begun in 1927 on the grounds of the old amusement park.The primary architects that worked in this style are:
Harry Oliver , W.R. Yelland, W.W. Dixon and Carr Jones among many other local architects.Oliver is noted for his
Spadena House in Beverly Hills, and theTam O'Shanter Inn in Los Feliz (Los Angeles).Yelland is noted for his (Thornburg) Normandy Village and Tupper & Reed Music Store, both located in
Berkeley, California . Yelland designed homes in Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley, San Leandro, Hayward, Woodland, Modesto, Clarksburg, Sacramento, Kensington andSan Francisco, California . One of Yelland's residential masterpieces is "The Goss House", located at 1121 Winsor Avenue in Piedmont. Designed by Yelland for his friends at Cal Berkeley, Constance and Merle Goss, this home exhibits many of his favorite Norman-French details, including a Norman tower entrance hall with a rooster pediment, a curved brick staircase leading to upper level bedrooms, dormer windows, gables and stenciled redwood ceilings. More details of this extraordinary home can be found at www.1121Winsor.comW.W. Dixon noted for his work with developer R.C. Hillen in creating the Dixon & Hillen catalog of homes. Dixon is noted for Stonehenge & Stoneleigh villages in Alameda as well as Picardy Drive in
Oakland, California .Carr Jones is noted for the (il Posinto Restaurant) post office in
Lafayette, California . He designed and built one-of-a-kind homes in Oakland, Berkeley andPiedmont, California .External links
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/03/06/CMGGTB4KTL1.DTL Oakland California Storybook House neighborhood]
* [http://www.storybookers.com Storybook Style homeowners club maintained by John Robert Marlow]
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