Valentina Expressions

On the way to my friend in Woodside, California, I got lost in the hills, went around and around to find my way out, instead I stumbled in this little gem hidden among the sequoia redwood trees. Being the curious person I am,  I took the time to browse around and found a pleasant surprise. This is the general store of rich Woodside area, where many American wealthy entrepreneurs of the late 1800 and the roaring ’20s lived.
Woodside was originally home to native Ohlone tribe. In 1769 Spanish explorers led by Gaspar de Portolá spotted the site while searching for an area where to camp the troupes.

Going to the General Store in Woodside, now a museum since 1947, one has the impression of stepping back in the old far West of the gold rush. Redwood trees surround the rugged area, the same wood which in the 1800 supplied the booming construction industry in San Francisco.

Dr. R. O. Tripp and M. A. Parkhurst built the General Store in 1854 and soon became the center of the town where notable families of the era attended their daily businesses. It operated as a general store, United States post office, dentist office, a stagecoach stop, a bank with the only armored safe in the area, a lending library and a community gathering spot. Today, visitors can see artifacts on display that reflect the varied activities of the people living in Woodside in the 1800.

Notable people of modern era living in Woodside have been George Whittell, Jr. who had an odd collection of exotic pets kept on his 500 acres, Steve Jobs, Willie McCovey player in the San Francisco Giant, Michelle Pfeiffer actress and Shirley Temple Black, the cute and clever girl actress who charmed the world over. The General Store is very secluded among the sequoia redwood trees, there is no public transport, visitors must have a car and drive through winding roads where at times it is possible to see some famous homes with horse stables, well hidden away from public reach.

The area is beautiful, it smells like a clean earth, silent, no city noises, every so often the gate or the top of a wealthy home appears, one feels in another stratosphere, the one of riches and powerful.
I have been living in California a long while now and I am still considering myself the tourist in my life. Summertime is made also for discovery and taking time to do things I normally wouldn’t do. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2017 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is a storyteller by nature. Stories are very important to her design career to convey ideas because making someone’s home or personal images is not only about building around shapes, lines, forms, and colors. It is about the story one can create around their spaces and how they want to appear to others. She is the author of three books, all available on
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