OVERLOOKED WOODLAND FULL OF SURPRISES.
“There is a lot of rich history in Woodland,” says Christy Hayes. “Everyone is very proud of it.”
Hayes is speaking at a table in her Woodland restaurant, Kitchen428, which in itself represents a century-plus of California history. Kitchen428’s building dates from 1891, an opulently balconied three-story palace — designed by the architects responsible for San Francisco’s vanished Sutro Baths — with a surprising, bullet-shaped turret that rises like an exclamation point into the Sacramento Valley sky.
That’s Woodland: full of history and surprises.
About 12 miles north of Davis, Woodland may seem unremarkable by its stats: 50,000 people, county seat of Yolo County, center of a rich agricultural region. But arrive on Main Street and you discover something else. It’s a town shaped by big dreams.
“Early on,” says Woodland resident and author David Wilkinson, “Woodland was committed to being a special place.”
To see just how special, pick up a copy of “Explore Historic Woodland,” the guidebook Wilkinson edited. It’s available at various places around town, but maybe the best spot to buy it is at the House Dresser, both because it’s a charmingly overstuffed antique store and because it occupies the first floor of one of downtown’s most impressive buildings, the 1893 Jackson-Armfield building, beautifully faced with Yolo County sandstone.
Guidebook in hand, you can start exploring downtown. At Main and Second streets stands the handsome red-brick Woodland Opera House, still used for theater performances; a block north on Court Street are the Spanish Colonial Revival City Hall and the Mission Revival public library. Head back to Main Street and stroll blocks of two- and three-story 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings that announce to the world that Woodland is a solid, prosperous place.
“There was a lot of wealth from the land,” says Wilkinson, explaining why Woodland seemed to thrive almost as soon as it was incorporated in 1871. Early settlers discovered that the Sacramento Valley soils nurtured bounteous crops, from wheat in the 1870s to tomatoes and almonds today. “Within a generation, Woodland was reputed to be one of the richest towns per capita in America.”
But cities rise and fall. It’s also true that Woodland’s handsome downtown was hard hit by the 2008 recession. Which is where people like Hayes come in. After serving a stint in the Air Force, Hayes found Woodland more or less by accident — “I closed my eyes and put my finger on a map and landed here,” she says.
It was a lucky choice. Hayes began working as hostess and bartender at a longtime Woodland restaurant while attending Cal State Sacramento. When the restaurant closed, she got the chance to take it over. Now her 428Kitchen features Sacramento Valley-sourced dishes like rack of lamb with mint pistachio sauce. And she’s been active in starting downtown events like the Sunday afternoon Food Truck Mania.
Hayes isn’t alone in spending time, energy and money on downtown Woodland. Up the street, developer Ron Caceres has restored the 1870 International Order of Oddfellows building, which now houses Stack’d & Brew’d restaurant. He’s also redone the Woodland Daily Democrat building, with the newspaper now sharing its home with Blue Note Brewing Co. and Uvaggio wine bar.
“Early on, Woodland was committed to being a special place.” David Wilkinson, author and Woodland resident
(Insert joke about the fortunate proximity of wine and beer to reporters here; also insert joke about the brewery’s official location on Dead Cat Alley, a street name with ties to a more raffish period in Woodland life.) Caceres’ next project is the Treehouse, a downtown venue for live music.
The result of all this renovation, says Hayes, is that all of a sudden “downtown is having a real revival.” Other new or newish restaurants include Common Grounds Coffee for caffeine and carbs, and Morgan’s on Main, a swank steak-and-martini kind of spot. Shopping spots include a chic home store, White Barn, and a stylish kitchenware store, Well-Stocked, that offers every variety of baking pan known to humankind.
But downtown is only half of what makes Woodland so appealing. To experience the other half, follow “Exploring Historic Woodland’s” guidance and head a few blocks south from Main on First or College streets. Here you’ll encounter one of the most beautiful concentrations of 19th and early 20th century homes anywhere in California. Name an architectural style and you can find it: Victorian Italianate, Queen Anne, Craftsman bungalow, Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Prairie-style. And most likely it’s been beautifully restored.
To see the interiors of the homes, you generally have to wait for Woodland’s Stroll Through History each September. But even walking or driving these historic blocks inspires admiration and envy. You begin to think that This Old House magazine could devote every issue to Woodland. And that HGTV could devote all of its programming to the town.
In “House Hunters,” for example, the squabbling couple could select from a Woodland Dutch Colonial, a Woodland Tudor or a Woodland Streamline Moderne. And then decide to buy all three.
Wilkinson, who with his wife has restored one of these houses, says the handsome neighborhoods are another sign of the civic pride that makes Woodland unique. “I think there was a sense of aesthetics here,” he says. “People said, we have the wealth to do it, let’s build something special. And so we ended up with lovely homes on lovely tree-shaded streets.”