PT01 Hale House, Los Angeles, CA.  Built in 1887, the Hale House is credited to the work of the Newso Brothers who designed the famous California Victorian, Carson Mansion. The Hale House has many architectural details that accentuate the tall red brick chimneys and the California redwood.
In 1970, the Hale House was moved to Heritage Square, a santuary for threatened Victorian houses.  Restored by the Cultural Heritage Foundation of Southern California and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hale House is used by the State of California Parks and Recreation Department as a guide for historic preservation throughout the state.

PT02 Gingerbread Mansion Inn, Ferndale, CA.  This majestic home was built in 1889 for Dr. Hogan J.Ring, a Norwegian immigrant, and his wife Orcelia Lowe Ring.  In the 1920's, Dr.Ring converted and enlarged the structure to become the Ferndale General Hospital.  Through the years the house has been a rest home, doctor's office, an American Legion Hall, and finally an appartment building.  The hospital rooms have now become elegant guest rooms and the grounds a formal English garden.  The Gingerbread mansion is a spectacular example of Victorian grandeur and is one of the most photographed Inns in California.

PT03 Flashy Lady, Eureka, CA.  Eureka is best known as the home of the Carson Mansion, an elaborate Victorian designed by the Newson Brothers.  The Newsom Brothers also designed this 1893 Queen Anne cottage dubbed the "Flashy Little Lady" by its current owner.  The Flashy Lady was originally painted in paler, more subdued color tones.  The Victorian's present owner decided to change its color scheme in 1989 to a palette of hotter colors, giving the home rhythm by accenting the radiating spindlework, horseshoe arches and balconettes found on the home's upper level.

PT04 Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, Ca.   In 1884, Sarah Winchester, widow of the famed rifle manufacturer's son, William Winchester, moved to San Jose, California, and began the obsession that was to last for the rest of her life.  Mrs.Winchester purchased an unfinished eight-room farm house and, until her death in 1922, the sounds of construction never stopped.  She was convinced by a spiritualist medium that she would have an everlasting life if she kept building.  This continual building created a 160-room mansion with 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, 10,000 windows, and endless spiritualistic symbols throughout the house that sprawls over 6 acres.  The Winchester Mystery House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is open daily (except Christmas Day) for guided tours.

PT05 Holly Hill House Inn, Port Townsend, WA  Located in the heart of Port Townsend's Historic District, this elegant Victorian was built in 1872 by Colonel R.C.Hill.  This Holly Hill House is famous for its beautiful woodwork and Victorian plantings.  The former part of this home's name comes from the 17 ancient Holly trees which guard a 100 year old Camperdown Elm.

PT06 Captain John Quincy Adams House, Bed and Breakfast, Port Townsend, WA.   This home was built in 1887 by Albert C.Adams and is the namesake of his father who was a descendant of the renowned John Quincy Adams from Revolutionary times.  Albert Adam's father served in the Union Army and lived in Chicago before moving to Port Townsend in 1887.  Albert Adams left Port Townsend to prospect for gold in Alaska.  He bought several properties there and became a real estate speculator and builder.

PT07 Carson Mansion, Eureka, CA.  By the mid 1880s, Eureka, CA was becoming the dominant city on Humbolt Bay.  Many elaborate homes were constructed during this period, none more famous than the Carson Mansion.  Built by William Carson, one of the area's most prosperous lumbermen, and designed by two of San Francisco's most uninhibited architects, the Carson Mansion stands as a monument to American Victorian Architecture.  There are many theories as to why Carson built such an extravagant home.  One claim is that he wanted to keep his employees working during a depression in the forest industry.  Another suggestion is that the lavishness of the mansion was intended to advertise the possibilities of wood as a construction material.  The simplest suggestion is that he just wanted to create something spectacular.  Whichever theory, the house was two years in the building and the labor alone is said to have cost upwards of $75,000.  Today it is owned by the Ingomar Club, a private men's organization.

PT08 Post Card Row, San Francisco, CA.   This famous view of Alamo Square presents vivitors with an excellent example of color and architecture present in San Francisco.  The townhouses are individual houses which are not really attached and are referred to by the genteel English term, "Terrace," which is sometimes used to designate row houses that function together in an overall design scheme.  Designed as a unit, no two houses are precisely the same.  Difference in porches, gables, window details along with different color shemes create individuality within uniformity.  The Alamo Square area is considered to contain some of the "crown jewels" in the city's "museum" of Victorian treasures.

PT09 Star of India, San Diego, CA   Is the world's oldest ship able to go to sea.  Launched in 1863, she defies her age and sails annually.  The ship has gone to sea on numerous special occasions and has been called the foremost symbol of San Diego.  She is the essence of a vanished age, a glorious time when men and women voyaged under towers of masts and clouds of canvas.  The Star of India is a national Historic Landmark, recipient of the American and World Ship Trust Awards.

PT10 Whaley House, San Diego, CA   Thomas Whaley, the son of a New York merchant family, constructed his San Diego home in 1857, seven years after he sailed to California in search of gold.  The Whaley House is the oldest brick structure in San Diego and features authentic period furnishings.
He purchased the property in September 1855, which had been the site of the hanging of the infamous Yankee Jim Robinson in August 1852.  The North room, originally a granary, was remodeled and became the County Courthouse in 1869.  From October 1868 to January 1869, the Tanner Troupe Theater operated out of the front upstairs bedroom.
The Whaley House has been called the most haunted house in California.  It has been designated as an official haunted site by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Only 29 other places has received this same honor.

PT11 Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, San Diego, CA   Known as the Mother of the Missions, it was founded on July 16, 1769 by Padre Junipero Serra.  First of the 21 missions, it was designated as a Minor Basilica in 1976 by Pope Paul VI.  It is considered to be the first church ever erected in California.  It also contains the oldest known cemetery in present day California.  Today, the Mission is an active Catholic Parish in the Diocese of San Diego.

PT12 Postcard Row, San Francisco, CA   This view of Alamo Square's colorful Victorian row houses against the San Francisco modern skyline almost brings the nineteenth and twentieth centuries together.  During the earthquake in 1906, terrified residents huddled along the slopes of this park and watched their city burn from the waterfront almost up to these houses.  The colors of these houses are always changing, as new owners take over these established historic homes.