Miniature CityHerman Fayal
About the Artist/Site
Living in the town of Mendocino, carpenter Herman Fayal paid tribute to his community with a mini-model of the village, displayed in his yard at the Fayal family home on the corner of Kelly and Calpella streets. Fayal was born in Mendocino in 1893, only leaving the seaside hamlet for a few brief years in Napa Valley during the 1940s. Fayal’s miniature Mendocino recreated the village’s mainstreet during the 1970’s, along with other dollhouses, windmills, and dioramas depicting the logging process. The history of Mendocino was a major theme in Fayal’s creations; the logging industry in Mendocino dated back to mid-nineteenth century with Fayal joining the Mendocino Lumber Mill Company where he learned the carpentry trade. The current fate of Fayal’s miniatures is unknown, having been lost to history after Fayal’s death in 1988.
~ Nikki Ranney, 2023
Sources:
https://www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/herman-fayal-and-the-ford-roadster/
https://www.mendocinobeacon.com/2008/03/13/old-time-notes-2/
http://www.malcolmmacdonaldoutlawford.com/past-reflection---blog/category/buldam
https://www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/herman-fayal-and-amelia-costa-wed/
Contributors
Materials
paint, wood
SPACES Archives Holdings
1 folder: images
Map & Site Information
Mendocino-Anderson, California
us
Latitude/Longitude: 39.3076744 / -123.7994591
Nearby Environments
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Comments
Lindsey Dick-Curator October 31, 2024
I want to let the readers know that some of Herman Fayal's Lumber diorama pictured in the above post are safe in the Mendocino County Museum's collection. Herman donated several of the lumber buildings, an example of his water tower miniatures, and an amazing miniature of the barge ship Maru II in the late 1980s. So not all is lost to history! -Lindsey Dick, current curator at the MCM