Posted on 03/18/2018 9:11:56 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
Faced with the sweeping backyard of her newly purchased $2.8 million home, Florence Fang considered her landscaping options. Should she plant some dainty cherry trees or perhaps a picturesque vineyard?
Then inspiration struck: She needed a herd of 15-foot-tall dinosaurs.
This wasn’t just any multi-million-dollar Hillsborough home — it was the “Flintstone House,” the iconic orange and purple domes that have become a loved (and hated) Bay Area landmark along the northbound commute up Interstate 280. Cherry blossoms weren’t going to cut it.
The prehistoric critters are among the first new signs of life at the home that languished on the market, unsold, for two years. Fang, who also installed a giant metal woolly mammoth and giraffe, a garden of oversized, colorful mushrooms, and a rainbow and peacock sculpture — all of which can be seen from the freeway — has revitalized the house by turning it into a massive arts-and-crafts project. Her motif is whimsy with a Bedrock flare, and her goal is to do justice to her famously weird and quirky new digs.
“Before, passing by, I always wondered who’s living in that house. Now I’m the one,” said the 83-year-old retired media mogul, bursting into laughter during her first interview since buying the home last year.
The three bedroom, 2,700-square-foot home, often called the “Flintstone House” because its concrete domes resemble the prehistoric dwelling of Fred Flintstone from the 1960s cartoon, is frequently tweeted about, has multiple Facebook pages and is featured on off-beat travel website Atlas Obscura. When the previous owner painted the formerly off-white house burnt orange, and then one of its domes purple, a Facebook user started an online petition to reverse the change.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
An exercise in turd polishing.
I didn’t know giraffes roamed the prehistoric era. :O)
LOL! Especially because it’s owned by a successful Chinese immigrant. Were the Geico cavemen given enough preferential / disadvantaged points to even let them bid on it? We demand justice!
Such lack of attention to historical accuracy is appalling!
Good grief, what a gaudy amusement park of a home. WBut. while I think it should be done in adobe colored stucco if not razed to the ground, it’s her house. If there are no restrictions on her little menagerie then I hope she enjoys it.
While I recall seeing this house when I was out there, I honestly thought from the headline that they were talking about Dick Clark’s house in Malibu which is actually sort of nice once you get past the shock. The view and interior spaces certainly are, at least. Maybe tinting it to match the surrounding rock and soil would help that one.
I don’t think her neighbors can see it and it might be visible only to the tens of thousands of people on I-280 every day. It’s one of those quirky places that are fun to see. It was a more subdued beige color for most of its life. The wacky colors were added by the new owner fairly recently.
Until recently, it was a uniform subdued (and blah) beige color. Article points out a petition was started to re-paint it with the original colors. Lots of people don’t like the new and way more gaudy colors.
What power do people think a petition has over the style of a private residence, lol? That’s just stupid. I don’t like it either but as I said before, it’s her house. If she wants to paint the house purple and put spotlights at night on a giant toilet bowl sculpture in her yard, it’s her business. A guy did that down here due to an excessively busybody historical district nagging him because he painted his house a shade off from “approved” color schemes. Still there, last I heard.
As our faithful friend, Christopher Lowell, would claim, “Here is a person with whimsical ambitions.” Who cares if others think it beautiful. If it speaks to the owner, the renovation is a success. Love the bright colors. Even in winter’s drabness - there will be magnificent color.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.