Fairies of Del Ray
Real estate in Del Ray is booming — and not just for humans.
Thanks to a young Del Ray artist, fairy houses and businesses are popping up all around the neighborhood. Kate Young, who is also known as the “fairy realtor” first started a magical project in 2017, but it has grown a larger set of wings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three years ago, Young found herself out of work and living with her parents in her childhood neighborhood of Del Ray. Young, a graduate of the Savannah School of Art and Design, has always been an artist. While on her daily walks, she found herself drawn to a small fairy garden at Auburn Village Condominiums.
She began to leave nuts, leaves and flowers at the garden. When Halloween rolled around, she thought about making some pumpkins for the fairy garden out of some leftover polymer clay from college. That was when Young’s father told her “you can’t take over someone else’s project!” and her own project — which she called Fairies of Del Ray — was born.
Young started making fairy doors that she left around Del Ray houses and businesses on her daily walks. Neighborhood children started to notice. Earlier this year, right before quarantine, Young found herself out of work again and decided to start a fairy post office where children could leave letters for the fairies. Young’s fairy persona, “Violet,” responds to children asking them about their day, what they are eating and any other topics they want.
Fairies of Del Ray
The post office took off and Young received more than 100 letters. Her social media presence also grew from 80 followers to now more than 800 on Instagram.
“The outpouring and support from my community has been insane because I’ve always said this is like a love letter to my hometown but now people are sending me love letters back. It’s amazing,” said Young.
One day, Young discovered a mother and two daughters doing what she calls the “fairy crouch” and putting up their own fairy doors. This gave her the idea to create an online map featuring not only her fairy houses, but also ones made by other people around Del Ray.
Fairies of Del Ray
Fairy entrence at Del Ray Cafe
Young creates her own molds for her fairy doors which she makes out of epoxy clay and UV resin. Some of them even glow in the dark. She is constantly improving the houses with special touches like holiday decorations and solar powered lights.
Her fairy doors became so popular, that she began to receive commissions from people who wanted their own but it became a challenge to keep up with them on top of looking for a job. It was then that Young had the idea to create a an online store where she could sell fairy doors which would allow her to continue her project and reach even more families.
On the Fairies of Del Ray website people can order their own fairy doors, kits and even fairy door earrings. “I was like well, let me support my community and see if they want to support me," she said. "I sell out about half the shop every time I update."
Fairies of Del Ray
Fairy door earrings
Young hopes her fairy houses will continue to be a gift to her beloved hometown. She is happy to be providing a bit of magic and solace to neighborhood children during a difficult time.
“The kids that are interacting with there are the same age I was when things like 9/11, the DC snipers and Kevin Shifflett happened and I remember really finding comfort in whimsical stories at that time. To be able to give comfort back to my community has been very important to me,” explained Young.
Next time you are in Del Ray, keep an eye out for the community’s tiniest residents. After all, we could all use a little bit of magic this year.
