A trip to "Fantasy Island"

Wow. What an unexpectedly cool assignment I had today. This afternoon I was sent to Mountain View to photograph this man, Charles, and his unique garden and home decorations done in a Polynesian inspired theme. I didn't really know what to expect, some fountains, some plants, bamboo, tiki torches, etc. It was for the home and garden section so I thought it would be another boring photo or two of gardens as usual. Turns out Charles' place is unbelievably extraordinary, and I ended up spending 3 hours talking with him and getting the tour around his tiki-Gaudi-esk house and yard. How can I describe this very strange yet very cool experience? Let me explain what entering his place is like.

To start with, there are towers and towers of 80 feet high bamboo shrouding the entire house. It looks as if you are about to enter a jungle from a normal suburban street- and you are. Then you wander into his front yard filled with bamboo seedlings, a rock fountain, and tons and tons of plants. As you pass the alley and enter the backyard and are surrounded in lush green the smell of mold, moss, and dirt fills your nostrils. Then you hear the delicate and soothing sound of trickling water from his 20 or so fountains created from driftwood found at Santa Cruz beaches. (The plants, the smell, and the moisture in the air really reminded me of Hawaii, of course it's January and I was freezing out there.) Then you wander past the walls of bamboo and redwoods, past the two cages with quail, and come across a rock wall and pond compelete with a mosaic of tiles with salmon painted on them. Above you are wooden planks and you hear the shuffling and flapping of the 40 or so wild doves walking along them.
When you enter into the house, into the tiki room, it feels like a dream or something out of a movie. Charles puts on the lights and you start to take everything in. To the left are lamps made of ivory and pink shells. A stuffed puffer fish glows with red light. A taxidermied bobcat rears up and snarls in mid air. Paintings of sunsets and palm trees hang on the dark blue walls which glow from black lights while the ceiling is covered with an old fishing net. A window overlooks an alcove with a rock waterfall, tropical flowers, and plants. Above the window hangs a sign made of driftwood with bright orange lettering which reads "welcome to fantasy island". Around the right side of the room is a green and gold couch, lounging chair covered with a zebra print, and a gemstone-like coffee table covered with taxidermied quails and hawks. In the middle of the room, dozens of hand-carved tiki statues grimace. This is Charles' house.