The Arden – Sacramento’s Arts and Crafts Community

The arden is the community center for many of the residents in the Village of Arden, Ardentown and Ardencroft. It hosts dinners, concerts, theatrical performances and other events throughout the year, including Saturday evening dinners and programs. It is available for wedding receptions and other private parties on a limited basis.

Arden has a strong arts community, centered in the Arden Craft Shop Museum (1807 Millers Road, open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Many homes are built in the style of the Arts and Crafts movement, which was a reaction against industrialization that emphasized handmade products and individualistic design. This style has created a close-knit, supportive community seen at the fair.

Originally, the word Arden referred to an area of forest in antiquity and the early modern period that included much of Warwickshire, along with parts of Shropshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. It was also a name for a country estate and was used as the title of a book by William Shakespeare.

In recent years, the term has been applied to a specific development based on the single-tax, garden city philosophy of Henry George and the Arts and Crafts movement of William Morris. It is comprised of the three villages of Arden, Ardentown and Ardencroft and has a population of about 5,400 people.

Arden Fair is the dominant regional mall serving Sacramento, and is home to a wide selection of premier apparel and specialty stores such as Apple, Coach, lululemon athletica and Quay Australia. It is also the city’s premier shopping destination for food and beverage, with offerings from Seasons 52, BJ’s Restaurant Brewhouse, Gen Korean BBQ House and 85C Bakery.