VICTORIAN AGE ALIVE AND WELL IN HERITAGE PARK.

Byline: Story and photos by Eric Noland Travel Editor

SAN DIEGO - The cookies are a nice touch.

The freshly baked treats are kept in a porcelain cookie jar at the Heritage Park Bed & Breakfast Inn. Guests slipping back to their lodgings after an evening out in San Diego can grab a couple of cookies, brew a cup of tea and get comfortable in the parlor of this 1889 Queen Anne Victorian home.

Heritage Park, just a few steps from Old Town at the north end of town, is a tribute to the passion of architectural preservationists.

On a short, cobblestone cul-de-sac stand seven historic structures, all of which once stood in other parts of the city - most of them downtown - and were ticketed for the wrecking ball to make way for office buildings and other modern structures. All were painstakingly moved to the current site, which is under the stewardship of the county parks and recreation department. The buildings were also exhaustively restored.

A stroll through this enclave is an otherworldly experience, as if you've happened onto a movie set. But, no, they're all authentic, built in San Diego between 1887 and 1896, and they represent a cross section of Victorian architectural style, from Italianate to Stick Eastlake to Classic Revival.

The bed-and-breakfast inn actually occupies two buildings that stand side by side, the Bushyhead House and the Christian House. Edward Bushyhead was a former San Diego sheriff, while Harfield Christian operated the equivalent of what we now call a title company. The proprietors of the B&B opted for a generic name tied to the park itself; had they maintained historical integrity and called it the Bushyhead Christian Inn, they might have lost potential business to travelers who assumed it catered to a very specific clientele.

The 1889 Christian House, in which I stayed, features a pointy turret, beautiful stained glass and some impressively stout woodwork within. Its well-worn front stairs emit reassuring creaks when you make your way up or down them.

In its former life, the house stood on Third Street downtown and was alternately a private home, a boardinghouse and a school in which girls were taught sewing and cooking. It was cut into pieces and moved to this spot in 1976.

I found the inn a comfortable place to retire for the night. It isn't afflicted with the teddy bear and chintz obsession that seems to grip many owners of Victorian inns. Rooms are tastefully decorated, with subdued fabrics and furnishings, many of the latter antique.

My room, Forget-Me-Not, had a claw-foot bathtub and an elegant sleigh bed, topped with a featherbed. Peaceful sleep came easily in the dark and quiet room (Heritage Park is a few blocks removed from Old Town's business center).

A gourmet breakfast was served the next morning in the dining room. I noticed that most of the guests spent the hour before breakfast on the broad front porch, an inviting spot that catches the first rays of morning sun.

In the evening, if you don't feel like taking on the town, you'll find a vintage movie showing in the parlor at 7. The night of my visit, for example, the bill featured Laurel and Hardy in ``Flying Deuces,'' from 1939.

Before the credits roll, be sure to grab a handful of cookies.

--The Heritage Park B&B has 12 guest rooms, most with featherbeds, ranging from $120 to $250 nightly, including breakfast. Information and reservations: [phone]; www.heritageparkinn.com.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Heritage Park Bed & Breakfast Inn is housed in 1889 Queen Anne Victorian home that was moved to the park from downtown San Diego.

(2) The Heritage Park Bed & Breakfast Inn's Christian House was once a sewing school for girls in San Diego.

(3) The Forget-Me-Not room reflects the Heritage's Victorian history with a featherbed and other period furnishings.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor