Welcome to Solvang, California’s fairytale Danish-themed town

A little slice of Scandi cuteness bang in roadtrip-friendly California, this thatched and half-timbered wonder is an essential stop on your way out of LA, says Nicola Trup

Friday 08 July 2022 14:21 BST
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A windmill and Scandi-style buildings in Solvang, California
A windmill and Scandi-style buildings in Solvang, California (Getty/iStock)

With its wood cladding, timber frame and pastel colour palette, the building in front of me could easily fit into a Nordic coastal town. Reykjavik, perhaps, or Tromso. Copenhagen, maybe, but a century or so ago. Yet there’s something about it that doesn’t quite fit – something I can’t quite put my finger on. Oh, that’s right: it’s the huge American flags fluttering outside, and the awning promising “Burgers. Fries. Shakes”.

Because the town of Solvang isn’t in Scandinavia. It’s not even in Europe. It’s proudly Danish, but if we’re going to get technical, it’s in California – a two-and-a-half-hour drive north of LA. There may be star-spangled banners, but there are also white crosses on red, along with other nods to the homeland of Solvang’s founders.

The town centre is dominated by wood-clad and half-timbered buildings, reminiscent of traditional Danish architecture; restaurants have names like Red Viking and Bit o’ Denmark; and there’s even a scaled-down replica of Copenhagen’s Rundetaarn (Round Tower), which houses a pizza parlour.

Here, in front of the café selling burgers, fries and shakes, is another uncannily familiar tourist attraction – a Little Mermaid statue, half the size of Copenhagen’s original. It was made by the same sculptor, says my guide, Daniel Lahr, and in fact served as an artist’s maquette for the full-scale version. The town raised the funds to bring it here, and the mermaid now sits, fin curled, atop a water feature.

The town’s Tivoli Square Clock Tower
The town’s Tivoli Square Clock Tower (Getty)

All of which begs a question. How did this great homage to Denmark end up in the middle of California’s Santa Ynez Valley? The answer can be found at the Elverhoj Museum, which was built by a pair of artists in 1948 and now tells the story of the town. Esther Jacobsen Bates, the museum’s executive director, tells me Solvang was founded in 1911 by three Danish immigrants, who wanted to encourage their countrymen and women to assimilate but also to preserve the culture of their homeland. So they established a Danish ‘folk school’, where they taught traditional music and literature, alongside English language and American history.

Esther tells me that today only around 10 per cent of the town’s population have Danish heritage, but that Denmark remains one of the town’s largest international visitor markets. “They come here to find their heritage and roots, and celebrate their background,” she says.

Solvang was founded in 1911 by three Danish immigrants, who wanted to encourage their countrymen and women to assimilate but also to preserve the culture of their homeland

The old folk school has long since been torn down, but the museum itself offers a great insight into these roots. Esther tells me it was built using 19th-century techniques, in a style inspired by traditional Danish farmhouses. She points out the original kitchen, where bright green cabinets, hand-painted with floral motifs, have been preserved. My eye is also drawn to the heavy wooden front door, elaborately carved with a ‘wood spirit’ and her animal friends.

It’s hard to imagine now, but Solvang looked like a typical rural Californian town until the post-war period, when a newspaper article was published about this slice of Scandinavia in the Santa Ynez Valley. That’s when the residents decided to capitalise on it by adapting their architecture to up the Danish theme even more. Some road names were also changed, with Main Street becoming Copenhagen Drive and Spring Street being renamed Atterdag Road.

“They didn’t have to make it look like this, but they wanted to. It creates its own atmosphere, its own unique charm,” guide Daniel tells me over – what else – a Danish pastry. “In the 1950s, the era of the road trip, this became a driveable destination from LA,” he adds – and it remains a popular day trip for Angelenos to this day.

A horse-drawn tram in Solvang
A horse-drawn tram in Solvang (Getty)

We’re sitting at a window table in Birkholm’s Bakery, a third-generation family business in a timber-framed building, overlooking that most American of things – a massive parking lot. The pastries are sticky and sweet, but they’re not the only ones in town. There are five Danish bakeries here, including rivals Olsen’s and Mortensen’s.

“There’s Carlsberg on just about every corner, too,” says Daniel, gesturing to a bar as we walk around town. But there’s also craft beer and – this being California – more than 20 wine tasting rooms (Solvang and the surrounding valley was the setting for the wine-centric 2004 film, Sideways).

The seemingly historic buildings are just a little too perfect, a little too modern and lacquered. We pass an ‘olde worlde’ clocktower that’s still under construction

It’s a surreal urban landscape that in places veers towards the Disney-esque. The seemingly historic buildings are just a little too perfect, a little too modern and lacquered  – indeed, we pass an “olde worlde” clocktower that’s still under construction.

Elsewhere, touches of other European countries have crept in, with several windmills that seem more reminiscent of the Netherlands, and businesses named things like Edelweiss, which would be more at home in the Alps. Daniel also points out where an arched, Spanish-influenced style of architecture more common in California has had beams added to make it look more Scandi.

We head into the Book Loft, which has been selling new and used volumes since 1970. It’s a higgledy-piggledy space of beams and wooden staircases, packed shelves and handwritten signs that reminds me of bookshops in Hay-on-Wye. Upstairs is what’s generously called the “Hans Christian Andersen Museum”, a collection of information boards on Denmark’s most famous son, early editions of his work and, to cap it off, a giant, top hat-wearing bust.

As Daniel and I round off our wander, he points out several life-sized, decorative storks perched on local roofs. The Danes consider the bird good luck, he says, but since they aren’t found in these parts, the locals have settled for making their own. Yet another DIY slice of Denmark in southern California.

Travel essentials

Getting there

British Airways, American Airlines, Air New Zealand, Virgin Atlantic and Norwegian are among the airlines serving Los Angeles from the UK. From there it’s around a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Solvang. Holiday Extras offers car hire from Los Angeles airport from £123 a week.

Staying there

Harbor View Inn, Santa Barbara, offers room-only doubles from $268 (£220) a night.

More information

Find more information at visitcalifornia.co.uk.

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