The History of My Fairy Houses & Furniture

I’m Greg, a potter in Oakland, California, USA. Most of my life, I’ve loved the creation of practical pottery that people can use in their day to day lives. But recently, my three year old friend Maddie introduced me to the world of fairy houses. For my wife’s birthday, she built one in our back yard made of sticks, yarn, feathers, and pine cones. I immediately realized that I could add ceramic furniture for the fairies. Being made from glazed and fired clay, the furniture would be bright, beautiful, and would last indefinitely outdoors. And so I’ve begun to make chairs, tables, bookcases, and even pianos for the little folk. That led to the creation of whole houses, all built for the smallest of the magic people.

I’m in the fortunate position of being retired and not needing to sell my pieces in order to live. So I’ve decided to give the fairy houses to young people who can appreciate and enjoy them. I’ve begun placing the fairy furniture and houses in city parks all over Oakland. I include a plaque asking those who find them to take them home. I love the idea of gifting my creations to Oakland’s children.

I enjoy the mystery of not knowing who has picked up each fairy house. I mean, I don’t want to lurk around city playgrounds spying on the kids. Plus I like being a mysterious stranger who deposits these little treasures and disappears again. I fantasize that someday people will become intrigued to find out who’s doing this. But in the meantime, I am having a ball creating these things and sharing them.

I have a special comrade for my distribution adventures. My pal Melissa has been going around with me. If anything, she gets more of a kick out of what we’re doing than I do. She’s practically levitating with excitement as we go about our business at one park after another. Her smiles and laughter are absolutely infectious.

11/30/2021 - An Added Wrinkle

Some of the kids have not obeyed my signs to take the fairy houses home. Instead they’ve started playing with them right in the parks. That’s a lot of fun to see. So now I’ve created new signs to place with the houses asking kids to play with them instead of taking them. We’ll see how that develops. What a hoot!!