"Fantasy Island" House
(Queen Anne Cottage)
L.A .Arboretum
Robert Winter, 2004 

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
18" x 24"

Giclee Print:   $400
On Sheet Canvas, Unframed

Framed Original:  Not currently for sale

Artist's Notes

"Look, boss, de plane!"

This house has been etched into millions of imaginations as the home of Mr. Roark in the television series, Fantasy Island.  I enjoy watching people’s synapses work through all the connections when I bring them here.

In real life, it's something Lucky Baldwin had built on his San Gabriel Valley estate as a wedding present to one of his succession of wives, this one younger than him to a rather implausible degree.  Her dad was the architect.  The marriage didn't work out, but we got a great building.

For me, the house also has strong personal associations.  I was laid off from my job when my son was about two, and as his primary caregiver during that period, I took him to various places that he would be stimulated by and enjoy.  The L.A. County Arboretum, where the house is situated, was one of our favorite haunts.  We would go through it in a standard, almost ritualized way—first a run in the open space of the lawn near the fountains, then an exploration of what at the time was called “the jungle,” then we’d work our way to this place. 

To me, the Queen Anne Cottage's alternate name will always be “the house with two mommies.” (Two-year-olds have limited language skills, and that’s what registered best with my son, who was intrigued by a room with figurines of two women in period costumes.)

It's been a number of years since my son was a toddler.  (He recently got his driver's license.)

It’s also been quite some time since Fantasy Island was on the air. Tattoo will never again gaze up in anticipation of a new planeload of guests.  But even today, there's still something anticipatory in the way the tower reaches up into the glow of the sky.

 

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© COPYRIGHT 2004 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.