Jack London Ranch | |
Nearest city | Glen Ellen, California |
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Coordinates | 38°21′2″N122°32′35″W / 38.35056°N 122.54306°W |
Area | 47.5 acres (192,000 m2) [1] |
NRHP reference No. | 66000240 |
CHISL No. | 743 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 [2] |
Designated NHL | December 29, 1962 [3] |
Designated CHISL | July 5, 1960 [4] |
Jack London State Historic Park, also known as Jack London Home and Ranch, is a California State Historic Park near Glen Ellen, California, United States, situated on the eastern slope of Sonoma Mountain. It includes the ruins of a house burned a few months before Jack London and family were to move in, a cottage in which they had lived, another house built later, and the graves of Jack London and his wife. The property is both a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark.
The Jack London home, called the Wolf House, is a sizable stone structure, which was destroyed by fire and whose ruins are visible within the state park property. The sloping terrain of the park has a considerable occurrence of Goulding clay loam soils, particularly in the lower reaches. [5]
Jack London State Historic Park was occupied by a winery called Kohler & Frohling. [6] Jack London purchased the property when it was abandoned in 1905 with hopes of becoming a rancher. He named it Beauty Ranch. While London was there, he expanded the small cottage to 3,000 square feet (279 square meters) and converted the stone house next to it into a study where London would write his works. Between 1909 and 1911, London bought more land to expand his ranch.
In 1910, he began work on his mansion on his ranch called the Wolf House. Jack and Charmian spent more than $80,000 in pre-World War I money on the house. It was to be 15,000 square feet (1,393 square meters), have custom made furniture and decorations, and feature a reflection pool stocked with mountain bass. On August 22, 1913, while the Londons were away from their ranch, they received word that their new mansion was on fire. By the time they got there the building was completely overtaken by the fire, and it was too late to save the house.
London was devastated after the fire burnt down the house that he never got to live in.[ citation needed ] This put London in debt and forced him to literally work to death, as he tried to earn enough money to run his ranch and have a good lifestyle.[ citation needed ]
On November 22, 1916, London died of a cause that is still disputed today.[ citation needed ] He wished to be cremated and have his ashes interred on the property. He also stated that he wanted to be buried near the pioneer children on a hill underneath a rock from the Wolf House, which was just down the road.
After Jack London died, his wife Charmian inherited the property. During that time she built a house on the land called the House of Happy Walls, which is a smaller version of the Wolf House.[ citation needed ] Charmian lived there until her death in 1955. Jack's half-sister Eliza Shepard superintended Beauty Ranch until her own death in 1939; her grandson Milo Shepard later inherited the same role. [7] Charmian died in 1955 and, by 1959, the land and its structures were given to the state of California with the help of Eliza's son Irving Shepard and his wife Mildred. [8] The next year, 1960, the property was declared a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark in 1962. [1] [3] [4] On September 24, 1960, the new state park hosted an opening dedication ceremony that included a speech by the Londons' friend Anna Strunsky. [9]
Today, more than 800 acres of London's Beauty Ranch have been preserved. The site is owned by the California State Parks system, and operated by Valley of the Moon Natural History Assn. DBA Jack London Park Partners [10]
The park has been entrusted to the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association (VMNHA) due to the statewide budget problems experienced in 2012. The California State Park system is breaking new ground by allowing private non-profit groups to operate State Parks slated for closure. [11]
The Winery ruins next to the cottage were host to the Transcendence Theatre Company's benefit performance on Saturday, October 1, 2011, for the VMNHA. [12] The Theatre Company planned to partner with the VMNHA to produce a concert series in summer of 2012 which would also benefit the Annadel, Sugarloaf Ridge, and Jack London State Parks.[ citation needed ]
The Winery Cottage was the main living quarters throughout London's time on the ranch, and the location where many of his visitors stayed. London bought it in 1911 and expanded it later that year. London further expanded by adding a west wing to the cottage, which served as a study where he wrote many of his stories. London died in this cottage, on the sunporch, on November 22, 1916.[ citation needed ]
Charmian London constructed The House of Happy Walls in 1919, in memory of Jack. It is a smaller and a more formal version of the Wolf House, and much of its furniture was originally intended for use in the Wolf House. Charmian lived in The House of Happy Walls until her death in 1955. In her will, written in 1938, she asked that the various properties of Beauty Ranch become a museum open to the public but was especially concerned about the House of Happy Walls: "In case of my death, it is my wish that my home, 'House of Happy Walls' is not to be lived in by anyone except a caretaker. This building & its arrangements are peculiarly an expression of myself and its ultimate purpose is that of a museum to Jack London & myself. It can be used for the purpose of revenue." [9] Today the building serves as the visitor center and a museum for Jack London State Historic Park.[ citation needed ]
The Wolf House is an unfinished property that was intended to be the main residence of the Londons. Construction on the 15,000 square foot (1,393 square meters) house began in 1910. Its design included only materials native to the area, a reflection pool stocked with mountain bass, and custom made furniture. The house was nearly complete in 1913, but before the Londons got to move in, the house burnt down on August 22 of that year. The ruins still stand today. [13] Losses were estimated at $35,000 to $40,000 but the Londons collected only $10,000 in insurance claims. They pledged to rebuild the house and workers began drying redwood logs in preparation. Jack was in poor health, however, and he died in 1916 before the wood was ready. [14] [15] Construction halted with his death.
Jack and Charmian London are both buried on the property not far from the Wolf House. After his earlier funeral in Oakland, Jack's ashes were spread at sunset on November 26, 1916, at this small knoll overlooking the Valley of the Moon. Charmian, Jack's sister Eliza, and a few workers were the only people in attendance. [16] In accordance with his wishes, his ashes were laid next to some pioneer children, under a rock that belonged to the Wolf House. After Charmian's death in 1955, she was also cremated and then buried with her husband in the same simple spot that her husband chose.[ citation needed ]
John Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
Glen Ellen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Park, Sonoma Valley Regional Park, and a former home of Hunter S. Thompson.
The Little Lady of the Big House (1915) is a novel by American writer Jack London. It was his last novel to be published during his lifetime.
Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards and wineries in the state, some of which survived the phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s and the impact of prohibition in the early 20th century. Today, the valley's wines are promoted by the U.S. federal government's Sonoma Valley and Carneros AVAs.
Rancho Camulos, now known as Rancho Camulos Museum, is a ranch located in the Santa Clara River Valley 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east of Piru, California and just north of the Santa Clara River, in Ventura County, California. It was the home of Ygnacio del Valle, a Californio alcalde of the Pueblo de Los Angeles in the 19th century and later elected member of the California State Assembly. The ranch was known as the Home of Ramona because it was widely believed to have been the setting of the popular 1884 novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson. The novel helped to raise awareness about the Californio lifestyle and romanticized "the mission and rancho era of California history."
Joan London was an American writer and the older of two daughters born to Jack London and his first wife, Elizabeth "Bess" Maddern London.
Kenwood is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, located on Sonoma Highway between the cities of Santa Rosa and Sonoma. It lies east of Sonoma Creek in the upper part of Sonoma Valley, a region sometimes called the Valley of the Moon. Bennett Mountain lies west of the town, and Sugarloaf Ridge to the northeast. The population was 1,028 at the 2010 census.
Charmian London was an American writer and the second wife of Jack London.
Rancho Petaluma Adobe is a historic ranch house in Sonoma County, California. It was built from adobe bricks in 1836 by order of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. It was the largest privately owned adobe structure built in California and is the largest example of the Monterey Colonial style of architecture in the United States. A section of the former ranch has been preserved by the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park and it is both a California Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. The Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park is located on Adobe Road on the east side of the present-day town of Petaluma, California.
Sonoma Mountain is a prominent landform within the Sonoma Mountains of southern Sonoma County, California. At an elevation of 2,463 ft (751 m), Sonoma Mountain offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sonoma Valley to the east. In fact, the viticultural area extends in isolated patches up the eastern slopes of Sonoma Mountain to almost 1,700 feet (520 m) in elevation.
Albert Lincoln Farr was an American residential architect, who designed homes in the Craftsman and Georgian styles.
The Mountain Winery, formerly the Paul Masson Mountain Winery, is a winery in Saratoga, California, United States, North America. It was founded by Paul Masson, a pioneer of the California wine industry. The winery became famous for its slogan, voiced by Orson Welles in television commercials: "We will sell no wine before its time."
Buena Vista Winery is a winery located in Sonoma, California, United States. It is the second oldest winery in California after the D'Agostini Winery, which was founded a year prior in 1856. It was founded by Agoston Haraszthy in 1857. The winery is located on its original grounds, just east of Sonoma, California.
The Hubert H. Bancroft Ranch House is a historic house museum at 9050 Memory Lane in Spring Valley, California. Built in 1856, it is the oldest Anglo-American building in the town. From 1885 until his death in 1918, it was home to Hubert Howe Bancroft, a pioneering historian of the western United States, Mexico, and Central America. Now managed by the local historical society as a museum, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 for its association with Bancroft, and was registered as a California Historical Landmark in 1958.
Rancho Petaluma was a 66,622-acre (269.61 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. Rancho Petaluma stretched from Petaluma River on the west over the hills and down to Sonoma Creek on the east, including all land that lay between these two waterways from the edge of San Francisco Bay to approximately the present site of Glen Ellen. The rancho included present-day Petaluma and Lakeville.
The Nicholas Carriger Estate (16-acre) is a collection of buildings located in Sonoma, California, United States. The estate consists of three buildings: the main house built in 1847, a small house, which is a replica of the main house, built in 1860, and a winery, built in 1875. The main house and the Little Carriger house fall in the architectural Greek revival style. There also is a locally quarried "candy rock" stone small building next to the main house that may have been used as an ice house. The everflowing Yulupa Spring, which supplied water to the houses and is still flowing, is a short walk along a hillside pathway from the main house. In 1979 the estate was designated a Sonoma County Historic Landmark, and in 2001, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Valley of the Moon Natural History Association (VMNHA) is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization based in Sonoma County, CA which cares for the Jack London, Annadel and Sugarloaf Ridge State Parks.
Wolf House was a 26-room mansion in Glen Ellen, California, built by novelist Jack London and his wife Charmian London. The house burned on August 22, 1913, shortly before the Londons were planning to move in. Stone ruins of the never-occupied home still stand, and are part of Jack London State Historic Park, which has been a National Historic Landmark since 1963.
Netta Eames was born Ninetta Wiley, in Wisconsin on September 26, 1852. She is commonly known as Netta. She is best known as a writer and magazine editor in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As the editor of the San Francisco based Overland Monthly magazine, she became an early proponent of Jack London as a writer. She wrote the 1900 biography.|group=Note}} and a promotional biography of London in Overland Monthly in 1900, which helped to establish his career. Later she was his business manager and neighbor.
Walters Ranch Hop Kiln is historical site of buildings built in 1905, in Sonoma, California in Sonoma County, California. The Walters Ranch Hop Kiln is a California Historical Landmark No. 627 listed on January 13, 1958. The Walters Ranch Hop Kiln was built by Italian stonemason, Angelo "'Skinny" Soldini. Sol Walters purchased 380 acres of the Rancho Sotoyome, a 1853 Mexican land grant to Josefa Fitch. The Walters Ranch Hop Kiln is composed of three stone kilns for drying hops for 20 hours a patch. Hops are used in beer making breweries. In addition to the kilns, the site as a wooden building for cooling the hops and a two-story press for baling the hops for shipment. The Walters Ranch Hop Kilns was one of early and large operation in the Northern California region.
Novelist is Found Unconscious from Uremia, and Expires after Eleven Hours. Wrote His Life of Toil—His Experience as Sailor Reflected In His Fiction—'Call of the Wild' Gave Him His Fame." 'The New York Times,' story datelined Santa Rosa, Cal., Nov. 22; appeared November 24, 1916, p. 13. States he died 'at 7:45 o'clock tonight.'