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Fun Architecture: The Storybook Style in Disneyland
Written May 8, 2010 by John Hendricks, Architect AIA • Filed Under Storybook Style, Whimsical After visiting Hollywoodland and the Hansel and Gretel cottage, the last stop on our spur of the moment Southern California Storybook style tour was a family trip to Disneyland. We actually made the trip to see family and friends, but I owed a Disneyland day to my wife and kids after architect dad dragged them to the other places. Besides, Disneyland has some fun Storybook style architecture of it’s own, and arguably the most whimsical and imaginative. This particular style is sometimes referred to as the Disneyesque style.
I have to admit, it was nice to see the rustic landing dock building on Tom Sawyer’s Island in Frontierland, which reflects a little of the mountain style I design. I can only imagine what it would be like to integrate the mountain style with the Toontown style.
 Rustic Architecture in Disneyland - Tom Sawyer's Island When I was in grade school I was fascinated with the architecture of Disneyland. I loved that the Pirates of the Caribbean had fun, yet authentic exterior architecture on the interior. Plus the fact that every “themed land” at Disneyland had it’s own architecture, and in these were villages with their own separate architectural styles.
 This Bavarian Village in Fantasyland houses Peter Pan's Flight. When I graduated from Texas Tech in 1990 I had job offers, but I still sent resumes to Frank Gehry, as well as Disney’s Imagineering department. Architecture without limits seemed like the way to go. We were in a mini-recession, and Gehry’s receptionist told me they had a stack of resumes two feet high. Disney sent me a postcard of Mickey Mouse, who kindly told me they weren’t hiring.
 Lopsided Architecture in Fantasyland - Pinocchio's Daring Journey I eventually took a path into the mountain architecture style, where there are a few limits. Snow loads, for example, are something you don’t need to worry about in Disneyland.
The architects and engineers in the Imagineering department have done a great job throughout the years. They truly have no limits, designing whimsical approaches to historic architecture, or creating exaggerated storybook images. The former in places like New Orleans Square and Fantasyland, and the latter in Mickey’s Toontown.
 Mickey's House in Toontown Mickey’s ToonTown is a newer “themed land” in Disneyland, opening in 1993. The colorful, wacky, skewed, completely off plumb architecture in ToonTown captures the imaginations of children and many adults as well. Ironically enough, this area, partly themed after Roger Rabbit’s hometown, was originally considered to be named Hollywoodland, an historic storybook themed neighborhood in Los Angeles.
 The Wacky Storybook Style of the Toontown Town Square  Cartoon Architecture - Goofy's Playhouse in Toontown John Hendricks, Architect AIA
Hendricks Architecture specializes in custom residential design on the planet Earth. We’re located in Sandpoint, Idaho.
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Storybook Style: Hansel and Gretel Cottage
Written May 5, 2010 by John Hendricks, Architect AIA • Filed Under Architecture, Storybook Style, Whimsical The Spadena House in Beverly Hills, California is one of the most recognizable homes of Storybook style architecture. Nicknamed “The Witch’s House”, this Hansel and Gretel cottage is the last thing you would expect to see in posh Beverly Hills. As an architect, my main critique would be that it needs more windows for natural light on the interior. But then again, who’s going to argue with a witch and her privacy demands.
In 1926 the home appeared in Dixon’s magazine, and was described as “A New Home With an Aged ‘Old World’ Appearance”. The article noted, “All lines in the designs are irregular, crooked and distorted, even the metal bars in the windows are not made straight. All of which, together with color used in painting the house, gives an old weather-beaten appearance.”
 The Storybook Style Spadena House is pure Hansel and Gretel. The house was designed in 1921 by an art director, and was built in Culver City to provide offices and dressing rooms for the Willat movie studio. The building doubled as a movie set and appeared in several silent films in the 1920s. The building soon became widely influential among maverick architects in search of new ideas.
Architect Charles Moore once described the home as the “quintessential Hansel and Gretel House”, and the home is believed to have greatly influenced the architecture of Disneyland, as well as Disney’s Imagineering department.
 The Spadena House is often referred to as "The Witch's House" The building moved to Beverly Hills in 1934 and has since served as a private residence, beginning with the Spadena Family. The Spadena House is the perfect example of an original Storybook house where it cartoonishly has no lines that are straight or plumb, and it was meant to appear rusticated. The roof has a seawave pattern that appears to leak horrendously and will fall in at any time. The front of the home is surrounded by a moat-like pond and gnarled, twisted trees. I would bet at Halloween that many children (and adults) wouldn’t dare steal a peak into one of the dark windows framed by the saggy wooden window shutters. But then again, how could you not?
John Hendricks, AIA Architect
Hendricks Architecture specializes in residential design, most specifically in the design of mountain style homes and cabins. See Storybook Cabin Plan for an example of one of our Storybook homes, and for more information on the Storybook Style. We’re located in Sandpoint, Idaho.
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Previous Post: Southern California Storybook Style Architecture: Hollywoodland
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Southern California Storybook Style Architecture: Hollywoodland
Written May 2, 2010 by John Hendricks, Architect AIA • Filed Under Architecture, Storybook Style, Whimsical Recently my family and I took a whirlwind car trip to Arizona and Southern California to see family, friends and coincidentally, more Storybook style architecture. Along the way we stopped in Hollywoodland, a unique development of storybook cottage homes in Hollywood. I had briefly mentioned the neighborhood and some of the Storybook style origins on a recent blog post titled Storybook Cabin Plan, and since we were in the area, I added Hollywoodland to our itinerary.
 Entrance to Hollywoodland As I had mentioned, the Storybook Style surged in popularity after Hollywoodland, a subdivision of cottage homes, was built in 1923. The theatrically designed homes served as residences in Los Angeles for a number of movie stars and received nationwide media attention as America’s first themed residential community. The Hollywood sign actually used to say Hollywoodland and was built to promote the neighborhood, which housed such notables as Bela Lugosi and Humphrey Bogart. The developers bowed out in the 1940’s and now the stars build to suit their own tastes. The neighborhood is now referenced as upper Beachwood Canyon.
 Storybook House in Hollywoodland Hollywoodland’s covenants required homes to be designed in one of several European revival styles. Architects and builders made full use of this license, arriving at eclectic combinations that its developers might never have expected. Below is a Hansel and Gretel cottage combining half timbering, stone accent walls, and a seawave patterned roof with rolled eaves and jerkinhead gables.
 Hollywoodland Storybook Cottage A closeup of this home below shows more accents of the European style. In older times, homes were built of stone. Sometime along the way, the stucco style grew popular, and homeowners covered up the beautiful stone with stucco. This creative affect was applied to either side of the windows below. Additionally, shingle roofs were created in seawave patterns and shaped to represent the European straw bale roofs. Eventually wood shingle roofs were prohibited because of fire danger, so composition style roofs became the norm, though they pale in comparison.
 Storybook Cottage Detail Wolf’s Lair, a rambling mansion built by real estate developer Milton “Bud” Wolf, is a Norman Revival style castle in Hollywoodland dating from the mid 1920s. Shown below is the gatekeeper’s residence, designed by architect John Lautner in the 1950s.
 Wolf's Lair Today, Hollywoodland has its own homeowner’s association, but is often referred to as upper Beachwood Canyon. Shown below are some of the homes that have replaced many of the Hollywoodland cottages.
 The Homes Today in the Upper Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood. A word to the wise. If you ever plan to drive through Hollywoodland, make sure you bring a small car, and aren’t squeamish about driving on narrow, winding roads.
For more information on the Storybook style, see Storybook Style Hansel and Gretel Cottage in Beverly Hills, Fun Architecture: The Storybook Style in Disneyland, and Storybook Cabin Plan.
John Hendricks, Architect AIA
Hendricks Architecture specializes in residential design, most specifically in the design of mountain style homes and cabins. We’re located in Sandpoint, Idaho.
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Storybook Cabin Plan
Written March 18, 2010 by John Hendricks, Architect AIA • Filed Under Cabin Plans, Storybook Style, Whimsical This storybook cabin looks more like storybook cottage meets hobbit house meets Swiss chalet. Nevertheless, this quaint, whimsical cabin could fit in just as easily in a city such as Seattle or Portland as it would in the New Zealand countryside or the Cascade Mountains.
 Storybook Cabin Front Elevation This 834 square foot architect designed cabin (with an optional 159 square feet of two loft spaces) is built for comfort and includes a comparatively large great room with open picturesque trusses and beams set amidst the curved roofs. The home is loosely inspired by the playful Storybook Style from English and French medieval farmhouse design. This style has several style variations, including English Country Cottage, Cotswald Cottage, Hansel and Gretel, Fairy Tale House, Disneyesque, Hobbit House and Storybook House. All were designed to create a cozy, homelike atmosphere.
A little more history, the Storybook Style is a whimsical variant of the Tudor Revival in the 1920′s and 1930′s. The Tudor Revival was based on late medieval styles and the Arts and Crafts movement. Many of the home buyers (as well as architects and builders) were veterans of World War I, and brought back memories of the English and French countryside. In the meantime, Hollywood was creating movies set in historic time periods in faraway lands. In pure Hollywood fashion, liberties were taken with the local styles by enhancing the charm and cuteness of these places.
The Storybook Style surged in popularity after a subdivision of cottage homes, called Hollywoodland, was built in 1923. The theatrically designed homes served as residences in Los Angeles for a number of movie stars and received nationwide media attention as America’s first themed residential community. The themed neighborhood included such places as The Humpty Dumpty Store. The Hollywood sign actually used to say Hollywoodland and was built to promote the neighborhood, which housed such notables as Bela Lugosi and Humphrey Bogart. The developers bowed out in the 1940′s and now the stars build to suit their own tastes. The neighborhood is now referenced as Upper Beachwood Canyon. For more information please see Southern California Storybook Style Architecture: Hollywoodland.
 Storybook Cabin Plan Whereas the historical homes were identified with false, distressed, ornamental half-timbering, this particular home includes fully exposed architectural and structural timbers on the interiors and exterior, which may or may not be distressed. The original Storybook houses had modern interiors resembling the homes of the 20′s, whereas this home has rustic interiors (yet modern in function) to match the exterior.
The home includes a comfortable two person bedroom with a built-in desk. An open loft sleeps two more in twin beds. The quality designed home also includes built-in cabinets, bookshelves and a window seat, as well as wrought iron lighting and hardware. A pantry/storage/laundry room is included, along with a storage attic (which could also be incorporated into a larger loft area) over the back rooms. The home includes an energy efficient stone masonry fireplace while still retaining the Old World look and feel.
The Storybook Cabin is our second stock cabin plan. Prices include:
- Preliminary Sketches – Schematic 8-1/2″ x 11″ drawings showing Floor Plans and the Front & Rear Elevations, for $200
- Study Home Plans – Developed 24″ X 36″ drawings showing Floor Plans & all Exterior Elevations, for $450
- Construction Set – A full set of 24″ X 36″ detailed drawings and specifications including Floor Plans, Foundation and Framing Plans, Exterior Elevations, Building Sections, Wall Sections, Details, Interior Elevations, Reflected Ceiling Plans, Window/Door Schedules, Electrical Plans, Finish Plans, and all Products and Materials Specified per the original design, all for $1550
- Each Additional Construction Set $250
- Construction Set PDF Files $1550
- Modifications available. Please contact us for pricing.
This energy efficient cabin is designed for “rustic elegant” comfort. Plans can be modified to be more unique per individual preferences. Preliminary drawings and Construction Documents are drawn with cad software, and are designed per the latest International Residential Codes. Plans may need to be modified for certain jurisdictions. Please note that with the curved roofs, timbers and other detailing, along with a higher quality of specified materials, that construction prices are higher than the typical home.
For our first stock cabin plan, see cabin plan. While we are beginning to delve into the stock plan arena, I still recommend a custom home design for maximum living and cost efficiency for individual lifestyles. For more information see Good Quality Architecture Adds Value to Your Home. Please visit our portfolio for examples of some of our recently completed custom projects. Sorry but we don’t sell plans of our client’s custom homes.
For more information on our plans please contact us by phone at 208.265.4001, by email, or by filling out your information on our contact page.
John Hendricks, Architect AIA
Hendricks Architecture, listed as one of Mountain Living Magazine’s top mountain architects, is located in Sandpoint, Idaho. Subscribe to Hendricks Architecture’s Blog.
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Mountain Chapel
Written February 10, 2010 by John Hendricks, Architect AIA • Filed Under Mountain Architecture, Storybook Style, Whimsical We are designing a rustic mountain chapel for a family in conjunction with the design of their custom mountain home. Tucked in a quiet corner of their property in the woods, it will be a place for them to escape the usual distractions and pray quietly, either alone or in a small group.
 Rustic Mountain Chapel with Trusses Several options were presented, with a few of them shown here. Stone and wood are the main materials on the exterior and interior, along with rustic arched timber trusses, beams and/or rafter accents. A central wood window with cross shaped mullions overlooks a spectacular rock outcropping. Some of the options include window bench seats and clerestory windows.
 Small Hobbit Chapel  Small Mountain Chapel with Window Seat John Hendricks, Architect AIA
Hendricks Architecture, mountain architects located in Sandpoint, Idaho.
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