Romano Gabriel, Wooden Garden (Gabriel's Garden)
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Location:
Eureka, California, USA (Map)
Status:
Extant
Artist:
Built:
circa 1950-circa 1970
Materials:
paint, placards and signs, wood
Visiting Information
A major portion of Gabriel’s garden was reassembled, and it remains on view in a permanent, public exhibition in the “Old Town” section of Eureka.












































May 1976
October 1975
October 1975
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May 1976
May 1976
2013
2013
September 1991
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Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
Used with permission of the photographer, Willem Volkersz
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About the Artist/Site
Romano Gabriel was born in Mura, Italy. He worked with his father as a furniture maker until 1913, when he immigrated to the United States. After serving in the U.S. Army, he settled in Eureka, California, where he worked in a lumberyard, and as a carpenter and gardener. He also bought land and built houses, selling both for profit.
As he neared retirement in the early 1950s, Gabriel began a garden unlike any other. He complained that Eureka’s climate, with its salt air and overcast skies, was too poor to grow real flowers, so he made flowers out of wood. Over the next quarter century, Gabriel added more flowers and figures to his garden, filling his front yard with carousels, whimsical animals, fantastic trees, Roman soldiers, priests, hula dancers, nurses, sculptures of Italian salami, and caricatures of famous people. He aired his political and anti-papal feelings with signs, written in Italian, and installed figures of the Pope.
At first Gabriel used a handsaw to build the wooden pieces, but he later acquired an electric saw. His built out of scrap lumber and the ends of fruit boxes, and used paint from the dime store. His constructions could be elaborate: he created braces for figures that extended above the roof, allowing them to withstand wind. Other pieces he set in motion, using his own system of motors, belts, and rollers. Despite a reputation as a solitary, he often boarded the tour buses that increasingly journeyed to his house, and he sometimes secretly activated animated components, delighting in the reaction of tourists as his garden began to move.
He predicted his garden would be known all over the world. Unfortunately, by the 1970s, when his art began to appear in books and exhibitions, Gabriel was in a nursing home and was only vaguely aware that his prediction was coming true. He had intended to leave the garden, in its entirety, to the City of Eureka, but when he died without a will, the property was privately acquired and the garden dismantled. After five years of community effort, however, a major portion of Gabriel’s garden was reassembled, and it remains on view in a permanent, public exhibition in the “Old Town” section of Eureka.
~Seymour Rosen/Jo Farb Hernández
SPACES Archive Holdings
The SPACES archive contains figures and flowers from the original garden site, as well as the following:
Collection size: 1.5 linear feet (1932- )
Correspondence, drawings, ephemera, field survey, maps, clippings, pamphlets, photographic prints, slides, negatives, and postcards
Related Documents
business card for Stan L. Dixon
business card for Dona M. DePaoli
business card for Broadway Motel
Pamphlet for Humboldt Arts Council
Pamphlet for Humboldt Cultural Center
Various notes about Romano Gabriel
Diagram of Gabriel site, 8/17/1985
Report about Romano Gabriel and site
Various notes about Romano Gabriel
List of info needed about Romano Gabriel
Timeline of Romano Gabriel’s life
Honorable Discharge From the US Army
Timeline of Romano Gabriel’s life
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Stan L. Dixon, County of Humboldt, 6/14/1977
Letter to Ted Wimmer, Romano Gabriel Fund from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 1/7/1980
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Ted Wimmer, 12/5/1980
Letter to Lois Boardman, CA Design from Ted Wimmerk, 12/5/1980
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Stan L. Dixon, County of Humboldt, 8/20/1985
Letter to Ted Wimmer, Romano Gabriel Fund from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 4/4/1986
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Ted Wimmer, 2/3/1986
Flyer for”A Mini Retro” and “The Human Figure” exhibitons, 4/18/1986
Pamphlet for Eureka Image Tour
Letter to Romano Gabriel from SPACES/Seymour Rosen/SFMoMA, 12/30/1976
Letter to Alfred Frankenstein from Floyd Bettiga, College of the Redwoods, 5/10/1978
Draft of letter to Stan Dixon, 1/18/1977
Letter to Stan Dixon from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 4/13/1976
Letter to Stan Dixon from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 3/24/1976
Letter to Dolores Vellutini from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 4/13/1976
Letter to Dolores Vellutini from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 3/24/1976
Letter from SPACES/Seymour Rosen
Death certificate for Romano Gabriel, 8/14/1985
Press release for dedication of Romano Gabriel site
Press release for dedication of Romano Gabriel site, 3/19/1982
Press release for restoration of Romano Gabriel site, 4/24/1978
News Release for dedication of Romano Gabriel site, 3/15/1982
Map and site information
315 2nd St
Eureka, California, United States
Latitude/Longitude: 40.804306 / -124.168363
Visiting Information
A major portion of Gabriel’s garden was reassembled, and it remains on view in a permanent, public exhibition in the “Old Town” section of Eureka.