VALLEJO, Calif. — The quiet lanes and gentle vistas of Thomas Kinkade's paintings beguile the faithful. Reproduced on calendars and coffee cups, in prints and on wallpaper, it's a gauzy, weightless world in which time stands still.
Admirers react with awe. Critics call it awful. In the sunbaked hills of a former ranch 30 miles northeast of San Francisco, families with at least $400,000 to spend on Kinkade's vision will call it home.
The California painter has licensed his name and artistic inspiration to Taylor Woodrow Homes, a London-based housing developer. With Kinkade's paintings as a guide, Taylor Woodrow laid out a 101-house gated community called the Village. Streets, houses, fixtures and landscaping will epitomize Kinkade's nostalgic style.
About 300 people tour the Village's model homes each week. Seven homes have sold so far. It is a slower pace than the developer hoped for, but in keeping with the country's cautious mood since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
With models named for Kinkade's daughters--Chandler, Everett, Merritt and Winsor--the houses range from 1,800 to 2,600 square feet and sit on 4,000-square-foot lots. Touches such as decorative moldings and built-in bookshelves spring from Kinkade's fantasies of family life. Options such as a media room or wine bar bow to modern-day California.
And there are gates. Disguised as tollhouses, flanked by a fountain, the Village is nonetheless guarded. Kinkade seems abashed at the irony, but as master of an empire that earned about $450 million in licensing fees over the last four years, he submits to the economic need.
"Clearly, the gates are at odds with my vision," Kinkade said. "I can't imagine that living behind gates would be something I would enjoy. But they're a necessary sacrifice to the consumer instincts of the average home buyer."
Kinkade lives in the country near Santa Cruz, where he gets satisfaction from "my 50-foot commute" from his home to his artist's studio. There, he finishes about 12 paintings each year.
"The studio is central to my life," Kinkade said. "The kids come over to visit during the day, I have an easel set up for them. It's a foundational part of how we live."
Kinkade didn't sit down at the drawing board with Taylor Woodrow's architect, but he saw and approved designs along the way. He likes the front lawns that don't have fences. The bookcases were his idea. One of the model homes comes with an option for a small studio; another offers a granny flat above the garage, complete with a tiny balcony.
