 The design was by the firm Mayberry & Parker.The concept of canals and gondolas was similar to the "Venice of America" developed by Abbot Kinney up the coast.Parson's Naples Land Company called its plans the "Dreamland of Southern California", and projected that "through the canals and under the high arching bridges gay gondoliers will propel their crafts like those in the waters of the Adriatic under the blue skies of Italy."