Idyllwild Home Tour 2025

 Saturday, September 13, 2025

• Stopped at Starbucks from brekkie and headed out to Idyllwild around 7:30.
• Once in town, we grabbed our tour tickets and stopped in to Amelia's Donuts. I was bummed she didn't have the pumpkin spice donut. The carrot cake donut was decent. 
• We drove to the first house on the tour: 52859 Double View Dr. THIS HOUSE OMG. Simply amazing. Practically perfect in every way. There were harpists playing on the porch?! It was decorated beautifully; rustic but modern and understated. The art on the walls was from the owner's travels. The owner was there, and I wish we'd talked to her more. She told us she was relieved to hear our positive oohs and ahhs when we entered the home (how could anyone not be impressed with that house, though?!). She also had a cat named Boozy (named because "he'll drink anything") that let us pet him. 
• It became evident that, on these tours, the old ladies are in charge and will boss you around, telling you which way to go (even if the tape arrows already spell it out). It's not a given that you're able to take pictures so they told us to inquire at each house (I did not. Heh.). The view out back was gorgeous, down into the forested valley. A barefoot volunteer lady showed us a rock on the property that had a Native American mortar hole.
• It was here that we met a scrawny-looking dog named Peaches, being toted around in a backpack carrier (and apparently exempt from the No Dogs on the tour rule). I'm bummed I didn't get any pictures with him in the background.
• As we left, we said hi to the owner's chickens, who had produced the beautiful eggs displayed in a bowl in the beautiful kitchen. Swoon!!

• The second home on the tour: 53503 Marian View Dr. Owned by an artist couple who also were very into gardening; very much a maximalist and DIYer with the decor. The volunteers at this house were particularly bossy and made us wait to go in, then made sure we were going the right "direction" everywhere.

• The third house on the tour: 25120 Glen Road. I'll call this the Elvis house. They filmed some of Kid Gallahad here. Really cool kitchen that looked like a diner (I suppose because it used to be a lodge!). Great party house. Upstairs was weird little dormer window/rooms. Wish I'd gotten pics of the bar area.

• At this point, we had to pee pretty badly. We figured we'd go back into town and use facilities at the Idyllwild Historical Society museum, but they apparently didn't have bathrooms. We walked allll the way into town for the public restrooms. There were refreshments at the museum, but we wanted real food so abstained.
• Explored a couple of shops in one of the side alleys I've always wondered about (did the record store move here? I mean there def. was a record store, just not sure if it's the same one from before). Apparently this little section is called Oakwood Village. I found a Norwegian baking book for my SIL in a little macabre store here.
• Grabbed lunch from Raven Hill Bagels after ducking into Speakeasy Bookmarket. I would've lingered longer in the bookstore, but I was getting pretty hungry. The turkey bagel sando we split was pretty delicious.

• Onward and upward (literally) to house number four: 55599 Encino Road. This house was...weird. The owner was (surprise!) an artist. She had plastered her art allll over the house. It wasn't terrible art--lots of acrylic plastic displays (not sure what these are actually called). Plastic canvases of ethereal butterflies in blues and aquas. The house itself had major potential; it was so high up on the hill that it actually looked down into the trees. But the way she renovated it was way too modern for the overall rustic bones of the house. She also used wayyy too many different colors of mosaic tile everywhere. I think I counted four different patterns in one of the showers? She was giving away ornament pieces of her art on the way out.

I didn't actually take pics of the interior; stole this off Redfin

• Next door to this house was an open house for sale. We decided to peek in. This was maybe the weirdest house I've ever been in! The layout was bizarre and felt like it could be in a horror film. Huuuge primary bedroom that seemed like it was a living room. For future reference, the address of this weirdo house is 55596 Encino Rd.
• We made our way to the fifth and final house on the tour: 54950 Chipmunk Dr. The historical society had arranged for a combination of golf carts and vans to drive us to the house, since the road was a little narrow. Annoyingggg. The house was pretty cool; it seemed like a nice airbnb, albeit with a spectacular view of Tahquitz Rock. 

• With our "work" finished, we headed back into town in search of wine. While searching, I decided I needed a snack, and that snack turned out to be ice cream from Atomic Cow. It occupies the spot where Idyllwild Bake Shop & Brew used to be.
• Went to see the Mayor (Max) and his deputies. We also grabbed a few things at The Spruce Moose. The shop owner lady was just as chaotic as when I first went in there (this is where I've previously found chapstick and hand cream that I love).

• I was bummed to learn that Wine Finch was closed; but there are new owners and a new name--Alpenglow Lounge! Just as cute, and with just as interesting a wine selection. 
  

• We tried to get in to Ferro, but there was a private event going on, and no room at the inn even for just two people! Super bummed that I didn't make a reservation. We ended up eating a pretty "meh" dinner at La Casita Mexican food. Then we hit the road, debriefing and giggling about harpists...