Vallejo's Thomas Kinkade community one of a kind

A street sign marks way at The Village at Hiddenbrooke on Friday, April 13, 2012, in Vallejo, Calif. A street sign marks way at The Village at Hiddenbrooke on Friday, April 13, 2012, in Vallejo, Calif. Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Vallejo's Thomas Kinkade community one of a kind 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

Ten years ago, when artist Thomas Kinkade was at the peak of his popularity, a subdivision named after and inspired by the self-proclaimed Painter of Light opened in Vallejo.

Named the Village, a Thomas Kinkade Community, it promised residents a "vision of simpler times" with "cottage style homes that are filled with warmth and personality." Its slogan: "Calm, not chaos. Peace, not pressure."

This, of course, was before Solano County got slammed by the housing crisis and Vallejo became one of the biggest U.S. cities to file for bankruptcy, which it has since exited.

Sales of Kinkade's paintings and reproductions have gone through the roof since the artist, who lived near Los Gatos, died April 6 at age 54. That's typical after an artist dies; fans and speculators bet that prices will rise because no more originals can be produced. Whether that holds true in Kinkade's case is debatable because of the sheer enormity of works produced during his lifetime.

But the Vallejo neighborhood is one of a kind.

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Although two other Kinkade-themed communities were planned - one in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, and another in Columbia, Mo. - they got derailed by the housing downturn and were never developed.

"The whole thing tured upside-down right at the point we were about to begin," says Rann Haight, an architect on both projects.

The 11 properties in Columbia that his development company purchased were turned over to the bank.

Seeing the Village

I drove up to the Kinkade Village last week to find out what drew residents to this community and what impact Kinkade's death might have on their property values.

The small neighborhood of 101 houses is one of nine that make up the larger master planned community of Hiddenbrooke, which is plopped in the middle of rolling fields about 9 miles from downtown Vallejo, just east of Interstate 80.

The Village is the only gated community within Hiddenbrooke, which boasts an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course but no schools, churches or commercial amenities other than a hardware store, dry cleaner and small deli/market.

The homes in the Village look a lot like other tract homes in Hiddenbrooke, but with Kinkadean touches such as steeply gabled roofs covered in faux-slate tile, gingerbread trim, front porches and stone facades.

Residents see their homes and neighborhood as unique and distinctive.

Teri Booth, an original owner, says she bought her home because "it didn't look like every other McMansion."

Homes here average 2,400 square feet. The four models were named after Kinkade's daughters - Merritt, Chandler, Winsor and Everett. The styles might be described as pseudo Victorian, pseudo French provincial, pseudo New England cottage and pseudo arts and crafts.

The streetlights (electric) look like Kinkade's gaslight logo and the walkways (stamped concrete) resemble cobblestones.

Residents can't change the color of their homes, and cars are not allowed to be parked on the street (although several were during my visit).

Familiar names

Most of the streets - such as Summer Gate and Rose Arbor Way - are named after Kinkade paintings.

"Kinkade created this vision of a perfect small-town America where neighborhoods were safe, there were rosebushes and well-lit paths," says Richard Polsky, an art dealer in Sausalito. He calls this vision "a fraud."

Residents say it's real.

"We liked the ambience. It's like one of his little villages. The lights have to be on at night. We felt safe," says Diedra Plagman, who moved in seven years ago. Her daughter and son-in-law live a few houses down. Her son-in-law's parents also live in the Village.

Ramona Sampayan bought her home on Wisteria Circle 10 years ago, when it was under construction. "We fell in love with the neighborhood and this particular floor plan. We came over every night to see what got done," she says.

Sampayan and her husband, Bob, a Vallejo city councilmember, own just one of Kinkade's works, given as a housewarming present.

"He did such wonderful work. Even though I'm not a Kinkade collector, his death made me sad. I sat in front of that picture and stared at it for a while," she says.

A fresh feeling

When the neighborhood was new, it really was like an idyllic small town, she says. "When we first moved in, the neighbors next door left us a gift basket. We had keys to each other's houses. If we didn't have a reason for a party, we'd give a birthday party for our pets. It was like that in the early days, but folks come and go."

The neighborhood has had its share of short sales, but Sampayan says when the house next door was vacant, the neighbors mowed the lawn and parked a car in the driveway to make it look lived in.

Dennis Harrison, who moved in a year ago, says, "It's a quiet community. Nobody is ever home. They are always working."

Harrison says he always loved the neighborhood, but "we couldn't afford it when they first came out. They were way out of my league."

Valerie Bechelli, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker, says homes in Hiddenbrooke, the Village included, have dropped at least 40 percent from their peak and most are selling for less than they did new.

A home in the Village on Nottingham - approximately 2,600 square feet on a 5,000-square-foot lot - sold for $476,000 in 2002, $699,000 in 2006 and $349,000 in October.

Prices have stabilized in the past year, thanks to a shortage of inventory. Out of 1,200 homes in Hiddenbrooke, there are only five active listings (although more are pending), Bechelli says.

Some residents complain that property taxes in Hiddenbrooke are high and the park and school they were promised have never been built.

Although Kinkade lent his name to the Village, and showed up for marketing events, he didn't design the homes. He even criticized some features, such as the gate, in an interview with The Chronicle's John King.

Asked whether Kinkade's death might increase their home values, most residents hadn't given it much thought.

"I don't see it in the next four or five years, but in the long run perhaps," says Jagdip Nirwan, but he's not too concerned about it.

"There are two types of collectors, those who want to enjoy a painting and those who buy to make a profit off it," Nirwan says. The same goes for the home he bought in 2009. "It certainly wasn't for investment purposes, but to live in and enjoy the feeling of the neighborhood."