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LOVELY HOMES AND COTTAGES AROUND SONOMA, CALIFORNIA

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Indeed we are back in Sonoma, and that is because I want to show you some of the charming homes and cottages I have found and love. Some of them can be found along Broadway and the main streets that shoot off the Plaza, and some are in the residential side streets. A few are B&Bs and small businesses, but most are private homes. Most are Victorian in style, which I absolutely love and I wish more were built like that today; some are, but not nearly enough to please me. I certainly wish I could see inside these lovely homes! If you are one of the owners and would like to invite me, I promise to bring treats.

So take a stroll with me, enjoy the loveliness, let yourself be inspired and leave me a comment to let me know which one is your favorite.

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Two images above: I love how they made a one-story house look interesting by adding movement and texture, and this front garden is one of the loveliest I have seen.
The column-rich house below often seems to have a realtor sign outside, whether for sale or rent. It was really in your face so I blurred it, as Photoshopping it all out, with those columns in the background, was more work than I wanted to do. Overall, I find the columns a bit too much, but this is still a pretty little house, and those olive trees in front are glorious.

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I just love the splash of lavender by the pretty white gate and the overgrown trellis of the house in the image above. The trellis should extend all the way to cover and hide the car, but maybe that is a temporary parking spot.

Below is the first little Victorian cottage.

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This pretty abandoned Victorian (image above) has looked like that for a long time. Each time I drive past I hope to see some change, signs that someone has purchased it and given life back to it. The plaque says Adrian Martinez, Architect, so here’s to hoping! I plan to drive by again in a few days, and if something has changed I will take a photo and update this post. It has such potential, don’t you think?

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After a few adorable little cottages with lovely gardens, we come to one of my absolute favorites. The magical cottage below has had me spellbound for several years, and makes me think of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Each time I drive past it, I either stop or slow down (if no one is behind me) just to look at it. And I love the riot of blooms in their garden.
When I walked past with my Nikon and took these photos, the wisteria covering the front porch was already past its bloom, so I included a few iPhone pics I had snapped the previous year just when the wisteria was showing all her beauty. The image quality is not the same, but still good enough, and worth the delight of seeing the wisteria.

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What follows now is a residential area off of East Napa Street, and it’s filled with glorious Victorian homes. The main villa (a beautiful italianate Victorian) surrounded by a large garden in the middle plot is original (built in 1872) and renovated (in 1996), while the others have been built in similar style, though in more recent times. Honestly, this quiet residential neighborhood would be perfect for some Meet-me-in-Saint-Louis-style trick-or-treating on Halloween!
As I was walking around taking photos I ran into one of the local residents and we got to talking. She explained that the man who had renovated the original house and then developed around it was Steve Ledson. The name rang a bell.

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Beautiful-Victorian-Homes-and-Cottages-in-Sonoma-California

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Somehow it was only yesterday that I put two-and-two together (and three and four as well) and figured he must be the same Ledson who built another smaller residential cluster off of Broadway that caught my eye a few months ago. The houses there are all rentals, as far as I know anyway, and all so beautiful and in either Victorian or hispanic style. I don’t have photos of those, but I will swing by again soon and get some videos to share in my Instagram stories.
Steve Ledson is clearly the same Ledson of Ledson Hotel on the Plaza (see this post for a photo tour of Sonoma Plaza), as well as the beautiful Ledson Winery up the valley, and who knows what else. I have a feeling that it will be easy for me to spot whatever else he has created: certainly a man of taste. And a busy one!
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Beautiful-Victorian-Homes-and-Cottages-in-Sonoma-California

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Image above: this is a second building on the same center plot where the main villa is located. I am not sure, but it could be a guest house. It is all very lovely.
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Beautiful-Victorian-Homes-and-Cottages-in-Sonoma-California
Beautiful-Victorian-Homes-and-Cottages-in-Sonoma-California

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In the images above and below is a one-story new Victorian (same neighborhood) that I really love. This is another one I have driven past several times. I love the less massive look given by the fact that it is only on one floor; I love the porte cochere, and the fact that the garages are in the back and hidden from view. I also love that the main part of the garden develops behind the scenes and in privacy (I’ve looked at an aerial view on Google Maps).
My only exception is that, not long after I discovered it, this home was sold and the new owners had it repainted all white. By all means it is still pretty, and I do like white houses, but look how much better it was in pale yellow with white trim in the (iPhone) images below. What do you think?
I had to photograph this house from off center each time because of the lamp post just in front of it, as I wanted to make sure to include the lovely white picked fence and yellow roses.

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Beautiful-Victorian-Homes-and-Cottages-in-Sonoma-California
Beautiful-Victorian-Homes-and-Cottages-in-Sonoma-California

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This concludes out little tour. There are more lovely homes in the residential side streets of Sonoma Plaza, though these are my favorites. As I make more discoveries, I will add them to this post and also share them on my social media, especially Instagram. So keep an eye out for them.
And don’t forget to let me know which of these are your favorites in the comments below.

Also, if you love (American) Victorian architecture, you will enjoy this full tour of Ackerman Heritage House in Napa, as well as this post showing you the lovely Victorians in Pacific Grove.

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