Redwoods

 According to the Guardian, there are more redwoods (coastal and sequoia) in England than in California (500,000 to 80,000)   That doesn't seem right to me,  but I can't find accurate numbers for either place.

The driving factor was a Victorian garden trend (or set of trends).   

The article:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Redwoods_League   (Note the prevalence of Woman's clubs (and Garden clubs) in the preservation of habitat.)

Giant Sequoia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoiadendron_giganteum

The Guardian article:   https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/23/giant-redwoods-britain-uk-sequoia-specieswatch

Holy City / Genius

 Linkdump California!

Not Quite Victorian...

Holy City was a sign just past Summit road, which theoretically led to a glass studio that had a pumpkin sale every year.  It was actually a roadside attraction befoe CA 17 was built, with various things of interest.   Founded by William E. Riker in 1919 (the plague year after the war, I wonder if thre was an apocolyptic message?)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_City,_California

They had a radio station for a while-- KFQU--which didn't follow the rules, and a bunch of sideshow things. 

https://www.sfgate.com/local-donotuse/article/Holy-City-a-cult-compound-that-once-existed-in-11166850.php

He had 9 Santa Claus statues, a penny peep show, and other oddities. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Riker

Eventually, the property was owned by investors.   They were very unsuccessful in selling it (they owned it from 1966 to 2016) but then sold it to the Duggans, who were very rich Scientologists.   Robert Duggan is a hugely successful company founder, including the company that became Intuitive Surgical, and has been successful with everything from cancer drugs to needlework kits to cookies (paradise bakery, now owned by Panera).  

Duggan has started a company called Genius Inc, which has a very interesting series of lectures on Youtube. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Duggan_(venture_capitalist)