Voodoo Days at La Casa Fabulosa: An Unconventional Memoir

When food writer David Domine moves into a six-bedroom, three-story Victorian house, he doesn’t realize he will be living in an enchanted neighborhood, one known for its gargoyles and gas lamps, hidden courtyards, towers, turrets, and gingerbread trim. In need of some TLC, the 1890s structure he will call home becomes known as La Casa Fabulosa-or the fabulous house in Spanish-because of its elaborate facade. His is just one of hundreds of striking dwellings in an area famous for its fanciful architecture and 19th-century charm, however. Apart from beautiful old houses, the neighborhood is also replete with colorful characters-an assortment of vagrants, cross-dressers, gypsies, and random misfits that make life interesting, to say the least. There are even rumors of modern-day witches and voodoo queens in the area. When strange noises and puzzling smells start to keep him awake at night, and bizarre coincidences punctuate his days, he discovers that enchantment can take many different forms. The oddballs and oddities he encounters in this enchanted neighborhood come to life in Voodoo Days at La Casa Fabulosa.