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If you live in one of Eureka’s picturesque Victorians, there’s a good chance Eddie Serna has reimagined it in miniature.

For the better part of 30 years, the 85-year-old Eureka resident has spent countless hours recreating the steep gabled roofs, intricate gingerbread cutouts, ornate spindles and scalloped siding that define Victoria-era architecture — all on a tiny scale. Each Victorian façade, measuring at about two feet tall, is a replica of a real house in Eureka.

Serna poses with his models at the Humboldt County Library. | Photo via Facebook.

When he first took up the craft, Serna made each Victorian entirely by hand, painstakingly carving, sanding and painting Chicklet-sized shingles and itty-bitty adornments. These days, he’s able to buy the shingles, siding and other structural components online, but the rest is custom-made.

“It’s taught me patience,” Serna laughed. “When I first started, a few of my houses came out crooked but I learned and got the right tools. I tell everybody, my main tools aren’t my saw and sanders and drills — it’s my combination square and compass. I’ve learned that to make things correct, you got to keep things in square. … Now, I can get parts online, which is easier and cheaper for me, and the houses look exactly the same as the real house. Each one is unique.”

Growing up in a family of skilled masons in the Silicon Valley, Serna was familiar with the technicolor Victorians of San Francisco, but it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that he began to truly appreciate the architectural style. At the time, he was living with his ailing sister Antoinette, known to him as Toni, who had a copy of “Painted Ladies: San Francisco’s Resplendent Victorians.”

“[Toni] was passing away from diabetes, so I was living with her and her family,” Serna recalled. “I was in the living room when I noticed these books about Victorian houses called ‘Painted Ladies’… and I started looking at the pictures and I was just amazed. … I found this quote written by her [on the front page] of one of the books — ‘I love these old Victorians’ — and it hit me! I started making them right there.”

Serna started with some of the Victorians he had seen in Toni’s book, opting to make façades rather than full-blown replicas because he couldn’t see the sides of the house in the the pictures. “It’s amazing that I somehow did it just from a picture in a book,” he said.

He gave his first few models to family members, and kept several others to tinker with and practice new design elements. Unfortunately, his sister Toni didn’t live to see any of his miniature homes, but each one is recreated in her memory.

Serna made his way up to Humboldt County in an old army bus in the early ’90s. He was soon introduced to master craftsman Eric Hollenbeck and started working at the Blue Ox Millworks, where he honed his woodworking skills and went back to school. After he was attacked in front of his house in Eureka, he decided to move back to the Silicon Valley and pursue a career as a truck driver. He returned to Humboldt after he retired about 13 years ago, and he’s been making miniatures ever since. 

Asked about his process and how he selects the homes he wants to recreate, Serna said he walks through Eureka’s neighborhoods and takes pictures of houses he finds interesting, especially those that appear to be on their last legs.

“I want to take pictures of these old house before they fall apart or burn,” he said. “I’m taking pictures of those first because I want to save them by making a model of them. When I’m done with those, I’ll take pictures of the million dollar ones and the $20 million ones. … People ask if  I’ll make the Carson Mansion or the Carter House or another famous house, and I say ‘No, no, no, no.’ Why not make the ones that are kind of shabby?”

That said, Serna has made models of some of Eureka’s most pristine houses, including the ornate Victorian at 933 I Street, which is among my personal favorites. That miniature — and about a dozen others — is currently on display at the Clarke Museum in Old Town. 

The folks at the Clarke Museum adore Serna. 

“He is a sweetheart,” said Dana Fredsti, the museum’s marketing and events coordinator. “He’s just so enthusiastic about [his models], and his enthusiasm is contagious. When we first saw them, we were like, ‘Gosh, wouldn’t it be cool of our house could be made into one of them?’ And we got to know him, and he ended up doing a model of our house! Personally, it has brought us a tremendous amount of joy to see that.”

Executive Director Shawn Wagner said Serna was one of the first people she met when she took the helm of the Clarke Museum last year. She was familiar with his Victorian models, but she had never met their creator.

“When we met, he walked me through every single model, telling me what type of pieces he used, how long it took, how he was able to do this and why he chose this or that house,” Wagner said. “[His models] have become such a pivotal part of the museum, and it’s so Eureka.”

The museum’s staff have worked with Serna to track down the addresses for his models, but there are a few that have yet to be identified.

Serna has several models in progress, but the rising cost of materials has stretched his fixed income. His therapist, Angelina Torres, helped him set up a GoFundMe to help pay for his supplies and update some of his machinery. 

“When I first learned that Eddie was recreating these Victorians on his own — even while living on a fixed income — I was amazed and impressed,” Torres said. “That drove my own passion to help him because I believe we live in a wonderful community, and if other community members knew of his story, that would also inspire others to help him by donating.”

“Eddie is an extraordinary individual, and his journey has been one filled with challenges and setbacks, yet through it all, he’s found a way to channel his experiences and struggles into his creations,” she continued. “I see his work not just as a personal triumph, but as a way for him to share his healing journey with the world. … This campaign isn’t just about supporting an artist; it’s about helping him continue to create the kind of art that heals, that transforms, and that uplifts, art that speaks to those of us who need it most.”

Those interested in donating to Serna’s GoFundMe can do so at this link. His miniatures are on display at the Clarke Museum and in the Humboldt Room of the Humboldt County Library.

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