jack london state historic park brochure

8/9/2019 Jack London State Historic Park Brochure

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Jack Lonon State Historic Park2400 Lonon Ranch RoaGlen Ellen, CA 92345

(707) 938-5216

1994 California State Parks (Rev. 2008) Printed on Recycled Paper

www.parks.ca.govv

Our MissionThemissiono the CaliorniaDepartment oParks and Recreation is to provide or thehealth, inspiration and education o thepeople o Caliornia by helping to preservethe states extraordinary biological diversity,protecting its most valued natural andcultural resources, and creating opportunitiesor high-quality outdoor recreation.

CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS

P. O. Box 942896Sacramento, CA 94296-0001

For inormation call: (800) 777-0369(916) 653-6995, outside the U.S.

711, TTY relay service

Caliornia State Parks supports equal access.Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities whoneed assistance should contact the park at(707) 938-5216. This publication is availablein alternate ormats by contacting:

Discover the many states of California.

Jack LondonState Historic Park

he grapes on a score

o rolling hills are red

with autumn ame. AcrossSonoma Mountain wisps o

sea og are stealing . . .

I have everything to make

me glad I am alive.

(I am flled with dreamsand mysteries. I am all sun

and air and sparkle. I am

vitalized, organic.)

Jack London

T


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J ack Lonon was frstattracte to the Sonoma

Valleby its magnifcent

natural landscape. He hadought his way up out o the

actories and waterront diveso West Oakland to become

one o the highest paid, mostpopular and prolifc writers o

his day. Although he had sailedthe world over, this gentle

landscape made him eel athome and anchored in the

land.

THE FIRST INHABITANTS

For thousands o years, these high hills, deep

canyons, felds and streams were home tothe Coast Miwok people. They lived in small

autonomous villages, with leadership romheads o the largest and most inuential

amilies. Their lives began to changedrastically around the early- to mid-1800s,

when the arrival o Europeans and othersettlers introduced serious diseases that

killed many natives. The remaining Miwok

were orced into servitude.Today Coast Miwok descendants still live

in the area. The Coast Miwok and some o

the Southern Pomo have joined togetheras the Federally-recognized tribe known as

the Federated Indians o Graton Rancheria.

JACK LONdON

The author was born on January 12, 1876. By

age 30, London was internationally amous

orCall of the Wild(1903), The Sea Wolf

(1904) and other literary and journalistic

accomplishments. Though he wrote

passionately about the great questions o

lie and death and the struggle

to survive with dignity andintegrity, he also sought peace

and quiet inspiration. Hisstories o high adventure were

based on his own experiencesat sea, in Alaska, or in the felds

and actories o Caliornia. Hiswritings appealed to millionsworldwide.

Jack London was also widelyknown or his personal exploits.

He was a colorul, controversialpersonality, oten in the news. Generally

un loving, he was quick to side with theunderdog against injustice o any kind.

An eloquent public speaker, he was muchsought ater as a lecturer on socialism and

other economic and political topics. Mostpeople considered London a living symbol

o rugged individualism, a man whoseabulous success was not due to special avor

o any kind, but to a combination o immensemental ability and vitality.

Strikingly handsome, ull o laughter,

restless and courageous, always eager oradventure, Jack London was one o the mostromantic fgures o his time.

He ascribed his worldwide literary successlargely to hard workto dig, as he put

it. Between 1900 and 1916, he completedmore than 50 fction and nonfction books,

hundreds o short stories and numerousarticles. Several o the books and many o the

short stories are classics and still popular;some have been translated into as many as

70 languages.

In addition to his many commitments,

London carried on voluminous

correspondence (he received some 10,000

letters per year), read proos o his work

as it went to press, and negotiated with

his agents and publishers. He spent time

overseeing construction o his custom-

built sailing ship, the Snark(1906-1907);

the construction o his dream house, Wol

House (1910-1913); and the operation o hisarm, Beauty Ranch, ater 1911.

The natural beauty o Sonoma Valley wasnot lost on Jack London. The magnifcent

vistas and rolling hills o Glen Ellen were anideal place or Jack and Charmian London

to relax and enjoy the natural lie. When Ifrst came here, tired o cities and people,

I settled down on a little arm . . . 130 acres

o the most beautiul, primitive land to beound in Caliornia. Thoughthe arm was badly run

down, he reveled in itsnatural beauty.

All I wanted, he saidlater, was a quiet place

in the country to write

and loa in and get out o

Nature that somethingwhich we all need, onlythe most o us dont

know it. Soon, however,he was busy buying arm

equipment and livestockor his mountain ranch.

He began work on a newbarn and started planning

a fne new house. This isto be no summer-residence

proposition, he wrote to hispublisher in June 1905, but a

home all the year round.

Jack London at work


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I am anchoringgood and solid, and

anchoring or keeps.

Living and owning

land near Glen

Ellen was a way

o escaping rom

Oaklandrom the

city way o lie he

called the man-

trap. But, restless

and eager or oreign

travel and adventure, he decided to build

a ship, the Snark, and go sailing around the

worldexploring, writing, adventuring

enjoying the big moments o living that hecraved and that would give him still more

material to write about.

The voyage, which was to last seven

years and take Jack and Charmian around

the world, lasted just 27 months and took

them only as ar as the South Pacifc and

Australia. Discouraged by health problems

and heartbroken about having to abandon

the trip and sell the Snark, London returnedto the ranch in Glen Ellen.

Between 1909 and 1911 he bought more

land, and in 1911 he moved rom Glen

Ellen to a small ranch house in the middle

o his holdings. On horseback he explored

every canyon, glen and hilltop. He threw

himsel into a arming style o the period,

termed scientifc agriculture, as one o the

ew justifable, basic and idealistic ways omaking a living. A signifcant portion o his

later writingBurning Daylight(1910), Valley

o the Moon (1913) and Little Lady o the

Big House(1916)was

about the simple

pleasures o country

lie, the satisaction o

making a living rom

the land and remaining

close to nature.Jack and Charmian

Londons dream house

began to take shape

early in 1911 when a

well-known San Francisco architect, Albert

Farr, created the drawings and sketches or

Wol House. Farr then supervised the early

stages o construction o a grand house that

was to remain standing or a thousand years.By August 1913, London had spent about

$80,000, and the project was nearly complete.

On August 22, fnal cleanup got underway,

and plans were laid or moving the Londons

specially designed, custom-built urniture

and other personal belongings into the

mansion. That night at 2:00 a.m., word came

that the house was burning. By the time the

Londons arrived on the scene, the housewas ablaze, the roo had collapsed, and even

a stack o lumber some distance away was

burning. Nothing could

be done.

London looked at

the fre philosophically,

but the loss was a

crushing fnancial

blow and the end o along-cherished dream.

Rumors abounded

about the cause o the

fre. In 1995 a group o orensic fre experts

visited the site, concluding that the fre had

resulted rom spontaneous combustion

in a pile o linseed oil-soaked rags let by

workers. London planned to rebuild Wol

House, but at the time o his death in 1916

the house remained as it stands today, thestark but eloquent vestige o a shattered

dream.

The loss o Wol House let London

depressed, but he orced himsel to go back

to work. He added a new writers study to

the ranch house he had occupied since 1911.

Occasionally London went to New York,

San Francisco or Los Angeles on business.

He spent time living and working aboard his30-oot yawl, the Roamer, which he sailed

around San Francisco Bay and the nearby

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In 1914 he

was a war correspondent in Mexico, covering

the role o U.S. troops and Navy ships in the

Villa-Carranza revolt.

In 1915 and again in 1916, Charmian

persuaded him to spend time in Hawaii,

where London seemed better able to relaxand more willing to take care o himsel.

But his greatest satisaction came rom his

ranch activities. His

ambitious plans to

expand the ranch

and increase its

productivity kept him

in debt and under

pressure to write asast as he could, even

though it might mean

sacrifcing quality in

Jack and Charmian London aboard the Snark

Jack Londons ofce


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smaller and more

ormal. Charmian

lived here when she

was not traveling

abroad or staying

with relatives. Ater

her death in 1955

at the age o 84, her

will directed that

the house be used

as a memorial to

Jack London and

as a museum housing their collection o

photographs and exhibits about Londons

lie and adventures.

Much o the houses urnishings weredesigned by the Londons and custom

built or Wol House. The library contains

equipment rom Londons study. The rolltop

desk, the Dictaphone and some other items

appear in old photographs showing London

at work.

WOLF HOUSE

The trail to Wol House is a little

more than a hal-mile long andslopes gently downhill. The one-

mile roundtrip takes an hour or

more. The trail wanders through

a beautiul mixed orest. Ferns,

manzanita and a wide range o

other shrubs and small owering

plants thrive here, along with

many kinds o birds and other

orms o wildlie. The remains o

Wol House still remind visitors

o Jack and Charmians original

dream. Stone walls, complete

with window openings, freplaces and other

details, appear little changed by the passage

o time. It is easy to see how grand the house

was intended to be.

Native materials were chosen and

careully matched to one anotherboulders

o maroon lava, unpeeled redwood logs

outside and redwood paneling inside. The

Spanish-style roo was dark red and matched

the stone walls. The outdoor pool was to be

stocked with mountain bass. Inside, there

was a library and a large, isolated workroom

or Jack. A freproo vault in the basement

was to house his collection o manuscripts

and other valuables. The two-story living

room had a massive freplace and an alcoveor Charmians grand piano. The dining room

would have seated 50 people, and there

were numerous guest rooms.

The house stood on an extra-thick

concrete slab intended to be earthquake

proo. Double-thick concrete walls were

intended to be

freproo. Modern utility

systems were installed,and every detail was o

the highest quality, or

money was no object.

The house would have

been magnifcent.

THE GRAVE SITE

Jack Londons ashes

were placed on the

little hill close besidethe plain wooden

headboards marking

the graves o

avor o quantity.

When his doctors

urged him to change

his work habits and

his diet, stop all use

o alcohol and get

more exercise, he

reused. I anything,

the pressure

o his fnancial

commitments to

helping riends and

relatives and his increasingly severe health

problems only made him dream larger

dreams and work harder and aster.

On November 22, 1916, 40-year-old JackLondon died o gastrointestinal uremic

poisoning. He had been suering rom

a variety o ailments, including a kidney

condition, but up to the last day o his lie,

he was ull o bold plans and boundless

enthusiasm or the uture. Words o grie

poured into the telegraph ofce in Glen

Ellen rom all over the world.

No writer, unless it were Mark Twain,ever had a more romantic lie than Jack

London. The untimely death o this

most popular o American fctionists has

prooundly shocked a world that expected

him to live and work or many years longer.

(Ernest J. Hopkins in the San Francisco

Bulletin, December 2, 1916)

THE HOUSE OF HAPPy WALLS

Built by Charmian London between 1919

and 1926, this house is somewhat similar

to Wol Housethe Spanish-style roo tiles

and walls o feldstone, or examplebut is

The House o Happy Walls

Wol House ruins


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two pioneer children. The fnal ceremony

was simple, attended only by a ew

members o Londons immediate amily,

his old riend George Sterling and workmen

rom the ranch. A small copper urn bearing

his ashes was sealed within a specially

made receptacle, and in Sterlings ownwords:

Amid the proound silence o the on-

lookers, a huge bouldera great block o

red lava long-pitted by time and enriched

by the moss o uncounted yearswas urged

by roller and crowbar above the sepulcher.

Then the party dispersed as quietly as

it had gathered, the stillness making it a

uneral impressive beyond all memory o

those in attendance. No word, aside rom a

brie whisper, had been said. The thirteen

strong men o the ranch aced the bearers

o the remains in silence, and as silently

departed.

PARK FEATURES

Eucalptus Trees

Some o the 81,000 eucalyptus trees near

Beauty Ranch are visible rom the picnic

area.

Sherr Barn

Constructed by Chinese laborers in 1884 or

the Kohler and Frohling winery, the Sherry

Barn became a stable or Londons highly-

prized purebred shire horses.

Stallion Barn

This barn housed six o Londons shirehorses.

Manure Pit

In 1914 Jack London hired Italian

stonemasons to build this pit to store

ertilizer or later distribution in the felds.

He also built an elaborate system to gather

and store liquid ertilizer rom his cow

barn. Note the contrast in construction

techniques between the protruding stoneso the Italian-built structures and the

ush stones o the Chinese-built winery

buildings.

Cottage

Jack London purchased

this wood-ramed cottage

and the old Kohler &

Frohling winery buildingsin 1911. The cottage was

later enlarged to include

about 3,000 square eet

o living space. Jacks

study on the west side

was added in 1914. Here

he wrote many o his later

stories and novels. The

stone-walled east wing,originally part o the old

winery, was used as a

dining room. The glassed

porch to the right o the ront door is where

Jack died on November 22, 1916.

Winer Ruins

The Kohler & Frohling Winery, heavily

damaged by the 1906 earthquake, was

used as a carriage house, living quarters

or ranch hands and rooms or guests. Afre destroyed the wooden upper stories

in 1965.

Terrace Hillsie View

Londons steeper felds were graded into

terraces to retain moisture and prevent

erosion. Some o those original terraces are

still being used today.

distiller

This building was used by the ranch hands

to store and repair arm equipment. The

ruins o a blacksmith shop are on the west

side.

Jack Londons grave

The cottage where London wrote


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Pig Palace

This unique piggery

was designed

by London

and built

in 1915.

Laid out

in a circle, its

central eedhouse is circled by 17 pens.

Each amily o pigs had a courtyard with

eed and water troughs, a rooed sleeping

area and a enced outdoor run.

Silos

These cement-block silos stand over 40

eet high. They once

held odder maderom cut-up orage

plants.

Lonon Lake

About three-quarters

o a mile up the trail

beyond the silos,

London built a curving

stone dam with a

shallow, fve-acre lake.

Featuring a redwood

bathhouse, the lake

was oten enjoyed by

the Londons and their

guests.

Beyond the lake, the trail passes

through madrone, manzanita, redwood,

Douglas fr, grassy meadows and oak

woodland. The Valley o the Moon vista is

visible just below the 2,463-oot summit o

Sonoma Mountain. The strenuous 6.6-mile

round trip takes about three hours. Please

bring your own drinking water.

ACCESSIBLE FEATURES

Restroom: A portable restroom in the

upperpicnic area is generally accessible.

A portable restroom on the Wol House

service road is the only wheelchair-

accessible restroom available to the public.

Parking: The lower

parking area has threespaces designated

accessible. Assistance

may be required with

slopes. The paved 400-

oot route rom the lot

to the Museum may be

accessible or assisted

wheelchair users or

strong riders.

Accessibility is

continually improving.

For current accessibility

details, call the park at

(707) 938-5216 or visit

http://access.parks.

ca.gov.

PLEASE REMEMBER

Picnictablesandbarbecuepitsare

available; ground fres and portable

stoves are prohibited.

ThemuseumintheHouseofHappy

Walls is open rom 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas

and New Years Days.

Bealertforrattlesnakesandpoison

oak.

Dogsmustbekeptonaleash;they

are not allowed in the museum or on

hiking trails.

Donttrespassonprivateproperty

surrounding the park; help us be goodneighbors.

London lake

The Pig Palace


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This park is supported in part through anonproft organization. For more inormation,

contact Valley o the Moon Natural History

Association, 2400 London Ranch Road,

Glen Ellen, CA 95442www.jacklononpark.com

NOTE: Forest roads (unpaved, red-dashed roads)are difcult to bike. Please ride with caution.

jack london state historic park brochure

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