Broughton Quarterly - Fall 2008 - (Page 21) HARMONY HOPEFulS local artists and an lA-based development corporation find common ground on California’s Central Coast. Welcome to Harmony, population 18. BY kATHY CHIN lEONG PHOTOS BY CuRT BENTzINGER T hegreensignoffHighway1isirresistible: Harmony. Population 18. For decades, thousands of curious motorists have turned off the road to take a peek at the smallest town in California, the place with the adorable name. In the 1970s and early ‘80s, this two-and-ahalf-acre unincorporated area of San Luis Obispo County was a charming network of pottery barns, glass blowing shacks, and art and clothing boutiques. It had its own post office, an outdoor stage for concerts, and a restaurant. As many as a dozen businesses thrived in the dairy-town-turnedartist colony. But times have changed. Today, after 94 years in operation, the post office has halted services, at least for now. The wood stage is rotting. The restaurant relocated and eventually closed. The town was sold to a new owner in the mid ‘90s and rents jumped, causing vendors to jettison. The nearby creek overflowed, flooding Harmony in 1998. An earthquake in 2003 made several buildings uninhabitable. However, several successful businesses remain on this solitary street, keeping the tiny-town-that-could alive. These Harmony hopefuls include the Harmony Glassworks Studios, Harmony Pottery Studios, and Harmony Cellars winery, located up the hill. The reopened Harmony Chapel also rents its space for weddings. All are pointing to the Los Angeles owner, Calyork Group, to strike the right chord. CEO James Mehdizadeh says he has been working to bring back the splendor of yesteryear. According to Mehdizadeh, the company purchased Harmony, which consisted of five weathered buildings, four years ago. “We are a group of investors in the process of trying to restore it to what it was,” he says.“Our plans are complex. There are BroughtonQuarterly.com 21 http://www.BroughtonQuarterly.com
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