The Charles M. Schulz Museum: Home of the Peanuts

From the zigzag patterns and oversized birdbath to the mural created using 3,588 comic strips, the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, celebrates the iconic images of the Peanuts gang and the life of the man who created them.

For 50 years, Charles “Sparky” Schulz created the Peanuts comic strip that featured a group of precocious kids and a beagle with a rich fantasy life. The insightful cartoons continue to be loved worldwide.

Schulz moved his home and studio to Santa Rosa in 1969, where he stayed until his death in 2000. The city embraced and still honors this quiet and unassuming artist. The Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport features Peanuts sculptures, as does Santa Rosa’s historic Railroad Square.

In 2005, a city art project scattered highly decorated, five-foot-tall statues of Charlie Brown around town. These popular displays were followed by artistic Woodstock figures in 2006, Snoopy in 2007, and Lucy in 2010. Many of these whimsical pieces can be found on permanent display throughout the city.

The museum is just across the street from the skating arena Snoopy’s Home Ice, Warm Puppy Café, and Snoopy’s Gallery and Gift Shop.

“This is where his life centered in his last 30 years,” said Gina Huntsinger, general manager of the skating rink. “This is where he lived. He would draw, have breakfast at the ice arena, and then he’d go back and draw more.”

With clean, modern lines and a spirit of fun, this 27,000-square-foot museum takes its inspiration from the beloved comic strip. Here, the square pattern of a daily comic strip repeats indoors and out. The museum’s understated simplicity reflects Schulz’s low-key approach to life. 

“Everything was done with the thought of cartooning in mind, and so it is modest and comfortable and feels like home,” Huntsinger said.

In the museum’s courtyard, you’ll find the “kite-eating tree” made famous from the comic strip and life-size statues of beloved characters. Don’t miss holographic images of Snoopy and Woodstock at the oversized birdbath.

Some of the permanent displays include a re-creation of Schulz’s studio, a timeline of his life, an original nursery wall that Schulz painted in his Colorado home in 1951, and a 100-seat theater showing animated Peanuts specials and other programs.

Schulz drew some 18,000 strips in his lifetime, and the museum owns about 7,000. These are displayed 70 to 80 at a time in a changing exhibit that highlights various themes. Other changing exhibits focus on Schulz’s stories, inspirations, influences, and the art of cartooning.

This is primarily a museum for Peanuts fans who want to learn about Schulz and his world-renowned comic strip, although there are features that can engage young children.

For more information, discover this fun two-day itinerary of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang in Sonoma County.

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Written by Sonoma Insider Patricia Henley