The walls of Casa Querida are filled with evidence of travel. Handwoven textiles, clothing, jewelry and objects arrive from Mexico, Guatemala, Palestine, India and beyond. Mixed among them are photographs of sisters Monica and Christine Martín’s own family—their grandmothers, their childhood, the people and places that came before the shop. It makes sense. Casa Querida…
If you’ve wandered through uptown Idyllwild lately, chances are you’ve already experienced a little of Diana Orr’s influence—even if you didn’t realize it. There’s Wax Apothecary, the botanical candle company she founded over a decade ago. There’s Made in Idyllwild, her Instagram page celebrating local artists and makers. And now there’s Funky Bazaar, the colorful…...
The first “First Friday” felt like a promising experiment. The second answered a different question: Was it a fluke? Judging by the crowds that filled North Circle Friday evening, the answer appears to be “no.” If the inaugural event introduced the idea, the second suggested something more meaningful may already be taking root. People wandered…...
There is a social structure in Idyllwild that operates just beneath the surface. It is not widely recognized, but it is quietly enforced. At the top, of course, is Mayor Max. He is greeted by throngs of adoring fans. Photographed often. Conversations pause for him. Couples gush. Children approach with the kind of reverence usually…...
There’s a stretch of road in Idyllwild that has long served as connective tissue between the town’s two centers of commerce. Not quite downtown, not quite uptown—the portion of North Circle in between. For decades, it’s been a pass-through. A place you move along, not necessarily a place you stop. But lately, something has started…
Dan Fedrick picks up a Newton’s cradle from the counter at Remember When Toys and gives a quick lesson on the three principles that guide it: inertia, equal and opposite reaction, and conservation of momentum. It’s the kind of object that feels perfectly at home in a store like this — simple, tactile, a little…...
In Idyllwild, some roles aren’t assigned—they just appear, and everyone agrees they were always there. Such was the case with Sofía Landis, the chocolate princess of Idyllwild. Sofía didn’t grow up going to school in the morning and coming home in the afternoon. She was raised behind a chocolate counter. El Buen Cacao, tucked into the…...
Seventy years separated bassist Dr. Marshall Hawkins and pianist David Lim on stage at Town Hall this week — but the musical conversation between them felt timeless. As the two musicians settled into their instruments, the room seemed to lean closer. Hawkins, 87, coaxed deep, resonant tones from his upright bass while Lim, a 17-year-old…...
On Saturday mornings, a white tent appears on North Circle as the town wakes. Almost Heaven, a pop-up bakery, isn’t a storefront yet. It’s a window. Miss it, and it’s gone. Idyllwild sees its share of weekend ventures — operations that crest the hill with the tourists and disappear by dusk. That pattern is part…...
Tucked back from North Circle in a historic building just off the main road, Mountain Mike’s feels less like a storefront and more like a waypoint — the kind of place you find because you’re meant to. Mike prefers it that way. People don’t stumble in. They arrive. His love affair with the mountain began…...
