Best Underwater Toy (2015)

Voyeuristic Village

Smallsea, The Barnyard, Carmel

(831) 250-7666, www.smallseamini.com 

With ladies clad in finery and carriages for couples, the miniature replication of a turn-of-the century English town named Smallsea could be Carmel’s fiercest competition for the reputation of Monterey County’s most romantic small town. Smallsea fills a two-room suite at the Barnyard, and the impeccable detail of the dolls, furniture, and buildings leave you wondering how human hands could create them. The perpetually-expanding town of Smallsea includes everything from restaurants, a church, markets and even a cathouse; it’s so lifelike it feels voyeuristic to peep in on that guy asleep in his bed in his underwear or that prostitute powdering her nose.