I went to high school in Placerville at the same time Thomas Kinkade did. We weren't in the same class, and I did not know him. I found his picture in one of my yearbooks, and also his wife's picture. She was a year behind him. His yearbook picture is shown below:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnOHTimQaFqMYMJ5rQm8r0DIfurPvop3kKFpiyWJTeYPGLOxdv3Koknx7o9GqR-AcQPiXOA9C1ngrTpvazPqUbjvTNDeInOBQgP0PJGp8B5vwHvyIzfnDAI5LLeALiE6H5VdGE5QO_ciC/s400/thomkinkade.jpg)
He painted a series of houses that are located in Placerville, California. These are homes I have admired all of my life, and at some points we had driven by them nearly every day. I managed to find a few old pictures I had taken about 32 years ago:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2Bn4ynXN5c7E9xezj-ZeLP6uNDpNBdmAVyQhyphenhyphen4EhEqRF2k2DhzAPWeQK_NTxiqWUTc2rAZQSV13-DG3Ly4EfOOTvD9q3pfDApJVqn_9GTCX27TkhOZQya9DnpuuEdFwExyGhN6vlR5-U/s400/placervillevictorians.jpg)
The one shown in two pictures , which was painted green with white trim at the time, is the Combellack Blair House. I had a Combellack and a Blair in my high school class - I DID know them. I took these pictures on the day of a home tour, we were so excited to go inside! Here is the same house below, as he depicted it - gorgeous. It's a Bed & Breakfast now, so you could go inside if you wanted, too!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZkCPjAJnTcOLqr_SiK0vnTF-LWhaZwejD6M8Q6_yJpNpLBqi4NVF-H3zGhG9zlFFqqMq9st98cZiZw1W1eaBw6F0qky1B3SvN5BF0Amlw4gd2hJwoeqwMVqcRTZsdUrYsuGuA9Xx37E5/s400/kinkadevic1.jpg)
And the plate below shows the home in the lower left of the four photos. I was lucky enough to go inside that one once, also - my sister's friend Julie Smith used to live there:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0I2GLG9ltYSrrPFsdY-h3_NaLFWMgQIHtW3SfAErJyPopqsTkgVHg-86Z446DPk5s3jWY1I7bJKdgXl8OgdSo2aAkGbyZWuHVzRI6NiqMza1Q6zGNFrLR-j-p-QJ9vDaQy1lab_JTwp_w/s400/kinkadevic2.jpg)
Sorry my little photos are so funky, I am no better at photography now than I was then, but in the top right picture you see a portion of this house, below. See the little diamond shaped window centered below the top eave? My memories of this house aren't quite as pleasant. The only time I was inside of this one was when we went to talk to Daddy's doctor after he died. The doctor tried to explain to us what had happened with his heart. I think we were in a daze, and I never did fully grasp exactly what had happened to him.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabDfz1HmmZ80GKnH0UgQaPUcFSLsS80PB4CwZ3UdD8X8d0hRRQAfGMVzwTZwfnZw0SS21zYZBq0azaeLAvrq5vhdUaNe7QP3_Mi1p4vE_gFGwc0iOAtHMlWKSui6fJvtjrjIIr2xFjoJs/s400/kinkadevic3.jpg)
My sisters and brothers-in-law surprised me on my birthday in 1991 with a signed and numbered lithograph of the Combellack Blair house. I was thrilled! I have to say that I don't particularly care for all of the "stuff" that's out there now featuring his artwork - figurines, candles- almost anything you can think of - overkill, to say the very least. But buying these Bradford Exchange plates when they came out was the least expensive way I could get the Placerville houses on something that was easily displayable.
And, on a slightly different subject, I just had to share with you his depiction of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. I snapped a picture of it when it was on display at the (now defunct) Disney Gallery. Sorry for the glare, but I think it's just beautiful!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXC2XPJGGrmcsAcnBmJ9QGDKXN61_Vcu9bn7JOarnLlGWUmi_LVr4cQ4hUIFR0az_Dbn2WaNNjhw2dBzxtFzIe7tNVWAKM3u8hto3mqzQijRK_A8MBXaXh7y-5d1gS3JCkaxUJ362Z-go/s400/kinkadecastle.jpg)
Here's a better view of it!