Californian architecture has certainly attracted a great deal of attention, boasting classic mid-20th century bungalows and beach houses, but there is one location on Californian maps that has not been universally admired due to the quirky building that was erected there in the 1970s, using a technique that involved spraying concrete to build “wavy” walls.
The prestigious town of Hillsborough is in its own right architecturally unique, as it’s the site of a Frank Lloyd Wright house where the famed real estate developer Joseph Eichler once rented and then popularized the mid-century style, well represented across the US state.
However, an experimental house atop a hill, which goes by the name the “Flintstone home”, has been a real sore in the eyes of local residents, despite multiple efforts of its new owner, Florence Fang, to harmonize the site and bring its exterior further in line with Fred and Wilma’s “prehistoric” style, The New York Times reported.
Some, for instance, even went as far as to sue Ms Fang, who came into possession of the territory in 2017, in a court of law, arguing that gigantic metal dinosaurs and cartoon figurines, which can be seen scattered across the property, should be removed.
Fang, notably, also installed a deck, a parking strip and a sign with the famous exclamation from the cartoon: “Yabba-dabba-doo” to give the finishing touches to the site, dubbed, however, by some locals as a genuine “public nuisance”.
The suit argues that Fang has been asked several times to halt her decorative activity in the area, with officials calling the place “a highly visible eyesore and out of keeping with community standards”, as well as accusing the owner of persisting with her construction without the necessary permits.
Last year, the authorities slapped a $200 fine on the owner, the local Daily Journal newspaper reported, but she chose not to dismantle the vast dinosaur collection, with her grandson noting that “the beautiful” prehistoric reptiles “make everyone smile” and thus should stay, according to a statement cited by the Associated Press.
If town officials win in the case, the Flintstone house is expected to repeat the fate of a similar site in the town of Bedrock, Nevada, where a colourful replica of the Simpsons house was repainted and redesigned to look like an average suburban building.
