A fairy-tale Danish “village” has Solvang’s policy preferences all twisted up.
Nine cottage-style hotel units went a little off-script during the construction process, and Solvang put a stop to developer Ed St. George’s dreams. Apparently, he got a little too slap-happy with the half-timbers for the city’s liking. Too much wood!
St. George didn’t take things lying down. He leaned into his little tiff with city staff, going so far as to hang a sign attacking Solvang planning commissioners and design committee members for the city’s decision to stop work on his project.
But half-timbers weren’t the developer’s only crime. He also decided to put red and white pinstripes on the roof of at least one of the buildings, a choice St. George explained as an ode to Denmark’s flag. City Community Development Director Rafael Castillo told the City Council that the color combo wasn’t “characteristically found in Old World Denmark.”
“Those do not emulate the authentic appearance and patterns of historic Danish buildings,” Castillo said at the Oct. 13 meeting. “A solid color should be utilized to emulate the Old World Danish style.”
Who knew you could be considered a deviant for too much whimsy?
St. George believes in his process and his whimsical fantasy of an old style Danish village. And while he definitely has detractors—including Castillo—he also had supporters, with one resident going so far as to say that Hans Christian Andersen would approve the project! Really?
The speaker, Jean Seamount, also joked that the development could be a sanctuary from the giant troll installed at the California Nature Art Museum, aka Lulu, who would definitely need a door taller than 5-foot-9 to get in.
Councilmember Mark Infanti liked St. George’s whimsical cottages, saying it was more about the principle of the matter than it was anything else. As in, the project deviated from its original plans and no longer complies with the city’s design code.
“I frankly like the buildings. I like what’s going on—the colors, the half-timbers,” Infanti said. “Your taste and my taste are probably pretty close.”
I call that taste tacky. Oof. I’m not very nice. Sorry! Not sorry.
I guess the biggest problem Solvang has with the cottages is that they lack “authenticity.” Get in line with the right thatching on your roofs, the right number of half-timbers on your walls, and the right colors—and it better be Old World Danish, or else! Nothing modern. Nothing too fanciful. Nothing too colorful.
Thank goodness Santa Barbara County doesn’t have such a complicated relationship with design, or the 99-unit affordable housing development the county Planning Commission just approved would be kaput! Half-timbers didn’t even make the design plans! Can you believe it?
The biggest issue with the project planned for Orcutt was that it was initially a three-story building. What a skyscraper!
Now it’s half two-story and half three-story. Much better. Oh, the things we’ll do for affordable housing. And the county planning commissioners liked the recent iteration of the project because it was so much better than the first design.
St. George probably could learn a little from that one, amirite?
The Canary is ready for a new roof. Send pinstripe designs to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 16 – Oct 23, 2025.