Alameda may be overshadowed by San Francisco’s internationally recognized “Painted Ladies,” but this small island community is a showcase for Victorians in its own right. Nine percent, or 1,500, of all the single-family homes in Alameda are classified as Victorians — a larger percentage than in any other city in the United States. These flamboyant dwellings from the 1800s are known for their vibrant multicolored paint jobs, towers and turrets, balconies and verandas, and elaborate “gingerbread” woodwork. The houses are everywhere throughout the older neighborhoods of Alameda. Look for the popular Queen Anne-style cottages with their sharply peaked roofs and the narrow, flat-roofed Italianates, distinguished by their vertical columns and decorative eaves.
