Nosing Around in Snoopy’s Home Town : Though his doghouse is off-limits to visitors, there are some splendid people shelters in his neighborhood, the gentle hamlet of Santa Rosa.

Before somebody puts up a howl about wanting to check in at Snoopy’s doghouse, the answer is no.

Charles Schulz simply won’t permit it.

Sure, someone is likely to growl about this being a rather shabby way to treat a fan of Schulz’s lovable lop-eared beagle.

But those are the rules and, gosh, as Lucy likely would say, “Rats!”

Well, never mind. It so happens that there are a number of simply splendid people shelters to be found in Santa Rosa, and nearly all of them are near Snoopy’s neighborhood.

In this gentle hamlet, which is 60 miles north of San Francisco, there comes to mind Vintners Inn, an Old World abode which rises dead center of an immense vineyard several miles outside Santa Rosa. And there is Madrona Manor with its turn-of-the-century country atmosphere and resident ghost.

Vintners brings to mind one of those enchanting villages one discovers in the South of France, which is no mere coincidence since John and Francisca Duffy, the host and hostess at Vintners Inn, planned it this way purposely. The Duffys scoured the regions surrounding Provence, snapping pictures of ancient buildings and hamlets in their quest for a proper design for the inn they opened in 1984.

Guest units with red tile roofs and arched windows surround a central plaza complete with a fountain. The scene is reminiscent of an inn I am familiar with in St. Paul de Vence, the Hostellerie de la Fontaine, which faces a courtyard with flowers and tiled paths, just as the Duffys’ does.

Vintners Inn is a painting-come-alive, and from the front gate it is only a short drive to the Russian River Wine Road with tastings of Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs, Cabernets, Zinfandels and other joys of the vine.

This morning an immense balloon floated through flawless skies above the inn, shoved along by a gentle breeze that carried with it the chirping of birds and the echo of a train.

Vintners isn’t just another bed and breakfast; rather it is a genuine country inn with beam ceilings, fireplaces, oversize tubs and magnificent antiques gathered by the Duffys during journeys through Europe. John Duffy, an ex-nuclear physicist, and Francisca, a former flight attendant with Pan Am, met while playing tennis in San Francisco. They tried sailing off the California coast, but grew weary, put ashore and discovered a new life in the Sonoma Valley.

While the inn is new, with all the modern conveniences, the furnishings are centuries old. Francisca, reared in Belgium, supervised the decoration of each of the 45 guest units. Old farm equipment graces the walls: seeders, harrows, forks and wooden rakes. Lending other Old World atmosphere is an enormous wine basket that’s displayed in the lobby.

Fresh fruit and home-baked rolls and pastries are featured for breakfast, and while the Duffys serve neither lunch nor dinner, they send their guests packing to restaurants that do, including the 19th-Century Madrona Manor, a Queen Anne mansion with a Gothic carriage house and a small garden cottage that’s reserved especially for honeymooners. Both a country inn and a restaurant, Madrona Manor is famous throughout Sonoma Valley for its gourmet meals.

Innkeepers Carol and John Muir--he’s a distant relative of the famous naturalist--hold court in the rambling three-story mansion with its five guest rooms, 10 fireplaces, etched-glass doors and a grand staircase that leads to a bedroom that’s said to be occupied by the inn’s resident ghost. Still, one guest insisted she saw the very same spirit downstairs in Room 101 with its canopied four-poster bed and windows that face a Monet-like garden scene.

Madrona Manor, rising on a knoll overlooking Dry Creek Valley, is reached by a winding drive that delivers visitors to the door of this enormous mansion with its shade trees and gardens.

This is the world of yesterday, a trusting yesterday, and so keys are left in the locks of vacant rooms, permitting guests to peek in and fill the soul with the moods of the past.

Built in 1858 as a summer retreat by San Francisco banker John A. Paxton, the mansion is crowded with antiques, including a 19th-Century piano, a sprinkling of wing chairs, marble-top tables and massive armoires.

Counting the honeymoon cottage and the carriage house with its hand-carved rosewood door, Madrona Manor provides 14 guest rooms. Meals, which are served both inside and on the terrace, are prepared by the Muirs’ son and daughter, Todd and Denise. Vegetables are grown in the garden, meats and poultry are gathered fresh daily from farms in the valley, and breads and pastries are taken from the Muirs’ own ovens each morning. In addition, Todd and Denise do their own pastas and crank out homemade ice cream.

This isn’t your ordinary run-of-the-mill backyard country restaurant. Not with a menu that lists duck pate, rack of lamb, an Italian-style rabbit stew, fettuccine, cappuccino and a chocolate cake swimming in raspberry sauce.

Guests amuse themselves playing billiards and putting together puzzles, and there are hiking trails, a swimming pool, canoeing on the Russian River, redwood groves to explore and dozens of wineries that welcome the visitor along two-lane country byways.

Other than the wineries, though, it is Snoopy who reigns as the major attraction in the Sonoma Valley. Santa Rosa, the town where Snoopy makes his home, is a pleasant agricultural community whose fame is shared by the ghosts of Luther Burbank and Robert Ripley, both of whom lived in this charming Northern California mini-metropolis.

Snoopy’s the Star

To the tourists, Snoopy is the star attraction, and frequently he shows off for them, skating at the Redwood Empire Arena, the ice rink built by cartoonist Charles Schulz, Snoopy’s creator.

This is where Schulz can be found each morning in a coffee shop he calls the Warm Puppy.

Schulz finds it hard to turn fans away. They’re forever asking him to sketch Snoopy on napkins and gum wrappers and whatever else is handy. (This, confidentially, irritates the cartoonist.)

He told me once: “It isn’t fair. I just can’t keep up with the interruptions. I’m a nice guy. I don’t step on bugs or try to hurt anyone. I’m not a crabby person. But how do you put up with all this? I defy anyone to keep up a good humor and be interrupted as much as I am.”

One morning this summer Schulz watched Snoopy skating alongside Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton. They were rehearsing for a performance of “Flashbeagle.” Schulz’s daughter, Jill, a professional skater, drifted across the ice with Snoopy on one arm, Hamilton on the other.

Not Snoopy’s Father

Inside the Warm Puppy, Schulz ordered coffee from a menu listing a Hockey Puck Sundae, a Snoopy Hot Dog and a dish of Waltz Jump Jell-O.

What bothers Schulz most is that he is interrupted during breakfast by strangers who ask, “Are you Snoopy’s father?”

The artist will shake his head sadly and reply, “No, I’m Charles Schulz.”

On other occasions fathers exclaim to their children: “Look, this is Snoopy’s father!”

It’s embarrassing, Schulz confesses.

To many of the residents of Santa Rosa, Snoopy is alive; it is no secret that Snoopy, Schulz and the ice arena he created are responsible for a great deal of the tourism Santa Rosa enjoys.

Visitors flock to the ice arena by the carload. Others arrive in huge sightseeing buses. They pester poor Schulz till he runs off and closes the door to his office at No. 1 Snoopy Lane.

He’s a Hockey Player

The reason Schulz built the arena is because he’s from Minnesota and he wanted to skate and play hockey. It cost him more than $2 million and the arena resembles nothing more than a giant Swiss chalet surrounded by redwood trees, pine, fir and bowls of flowers that hang from Bavarian-style lamp posts.

The arena is where Snoopy struts about, just as Mickey Mouse does along the streets of the Magic Kingdom in Anaheim and at Disney World in Florida.

As for Schulz, well, he’s a softy, and he will tell you quite frankly, “I have a Charlie Brown complex. I want to be liked.”

Schulz frequently skates in tournaments at his arena. He confesses that one of his greatest thrills came when he scored Santa Rosa’s only goal in a game with a team from Korea. “I can still see the puck hitting the back of the net. That was really exciting.”

To friends he is Sparky (his nickname), the creator of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Linus and, Snoopy, of course. And then there’s Woodstock, the bird that flies upside down. And speaking of flying, Schulz operates his own airline which he calls--oh, my!--Woodstock Aviation.

Doesn’t Seek Crowds

Traveling, though, isn’t one of his joys. Sparky doesn’t seek out crowds, it’s the other way around. And so carloads of parents and youngsters continue to arrive, snapping pictures with their Instamatics of America’s most famous cartoonist.

Afterward they turn to Railroad Square where Janis Platt and John Adams have restored a once-derelict hotel near the old Southern Pacific Depot, transforming it into one of Santa Rosa’s leading attractions. Called Hotel la Rose, it is impossible to fault--the rooms are simply gems, the restaurant is superb.

Entering this old stone building is like stepping across the threshold into the 19th Century and taking up residence in a country manor. Platt and Adams, both from the Bay Area, built an annex across the street; at the same time they restored a Bowery-like bar called Hogan’s which turns out beer, wine and gourmet sandwiches.

A few doors away Rebo’s serves poached salmon, clam fritters, crab cioppino, linguine and Gold Dust Gertie’s cheeseburgers in a restaurant occupying an old warehouse that’s a jungle of hanging planters.

Antique Inventory

Until recently when the city chased off the hobos, Railroad Square was the Skid Row of Santa Rosa. Now visitors dine at the Sweet Life on 4th Street, carrying away the silverware without the slightest concern of being arrested. The answer is simple: The Sweet Life also serves as an antique shop and the entire inventory is for sale--even the dishes and dining tables.

Across the street Michele and Jan Rosen pour drinks at an 1880 oak bar at J. M. Rosens; they also whip up duck, veal and lamb dishes along with their homemade cheesecake that’s become so famous they deliver it weekly by the truckload (literally) to the four-star restaurants of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.

Michele drives and her mama Stella rides shotgun on the long ride up the coast. At $30 a cake, they’re thinking of hiring Brink’s to do the job.

--Vintners Inn, 4350 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa 95401. Rates: $70/$250. Telephone (707) 575-7350 or (800) 421-2584 (California only).

--Madrona Manor, 1001 Westside Road, Box 818, Healdsburg 95448. Rates $75/$140. Telephone (707) 433-4231.

--Hotel La Rose, 308 Wilson St., Santa Rosa 95401. Rates $68/$110. Telephone (707) 579-3200.

Other Sonoma Valley area accommodations:

--Healdsburg Inn, P.O. Box 1196, Healdsburg 95448. Rates: $45/$80 weekdays, $65/$95 Saturday. Telephone (707) 433-6991.

--Grape Leaf Inn, 539 Johnson St., Healdsburg 95448. Rates: $45/$95. Telephone (707) 433-8140.

--Camellia Inn, 211 North St., Healdsburg 95448. Rates $40/$65. Telephone (707) 433-8182.

--Inn At The Tides, 800 Coast Highway, Bodega Bay 94923. Rates $85/$150. Telephone (707) 875-2751 or (800) 541-7788 (California only).

--Ridenhour Ranch Inn, 12850 River Road, Guerneville 95446. Rates $49.75/$85. Telephone (707) 887-1033.