Wolf House
Pen & Ink

Wolf House
Limited Edition
 

Jack London's Wolf House

I am the only artist to have researched and drawn pictures of Jack London's ill-fated Wolf House that consumed three years of his life from 1911 until August 1913. The house was built at a cost of $ 80,000 1910 dollars. " Wolf House " was named in honor of his early experiences in the gold fields of the Yukon Territory, Canada. It was to be a monument to his life and his great "Log Cabin" in the sky. On the evening before he and his wife Charmian were to move into this magnificent structure it was set on fire by unknown persons.

A set of floor plans for "Wolf House" had been discovered in the Sonoma County Recorder's office in 1981. This led to the Exchange Bank commissioning me to do a drawing of the house as it appeared before it was destroyed by fire in 1913. As there were no photographs of the finished house, it required five months of historical research before I was ready to begin. My research included reading old letters, Contemporaneous newspaper articles on the construction of the house, looking at historical construction photographs at the Huntington Library, reviewing materials at the Bancroft library, as well as interviews with Jack London's heirs. It was only by gathering this historical data that I was able to reconstruct the only authenticated pen and ink rendering of the house.

Prints of the drawing were donated, by the Exchange Bank, to the State of California and are displayed in the House of Happy Walls Museum at Jack London State Historic Park. They are also available as part of the print collection in the California Room at the State library in Sacramento. I am the only artist to have drawn a picture of "Wolf House" as it appeared before it was destroyed. There are no photographs of the completed home, as they were going to be taken the next day as the London's moved in. Tragically, the night before they were to occupy the house, it was destroyed fire. Fortunately none of their collections from world travels, or Jack's original manuscripts had been moved into the house. Today the stone walls and concrete floors are all that remain to be viewed as one of the many exhibits at Beauty Ranch in the Valley of Moon, Jack London State Historic Park, Glenn Ellen, Sonoma County, California.

THE HOUSE

Jack and Charmian London chose a dramatic spot on which to perch their dream house: A hill overlooking a broad valley of oaks, redwoods, madrons and douglas fir. The London's wanted native-building materials to be used as much as possible in their home. Volcanic rocks, blue slate, huge boulders, concrete and redwood were chosen to reflect the countryside. A deep-red Spanish tile roof glinted in the sun and protected, for too brief a time, what the London's had invested so much time, love and money in building, Today the ruins of Wolf House stand in Jack London State Historic Park as a monument to Jack London's vision. The boulders, concrete walls and towering stone fireplaces tell their story to each visitor at Beauty Ranch in Glen Ellen, California.

In 1911, Albert Farr, a well-known San Francisco architect, began to collaborate with the London's on an American rustic home, which would someday house their unique collections. The home they began building shortly thereafter was huge: 86 feet long with two 82-foot wings. The house was U-shaped and built around an open court that measured 45 feet by 58 feet. In the center of the court was a 15 foot by 40-foot pool, spring fed and stocked with black bass and trout. A guest could expect to be invited to catch his own meal from the pool. The five-foot wide gardens surrounding the pool were the only formal gardens on the ranch grounds.

Redwood was featured throughout the house. Rough-hewn redwood was used for the rafters and for the balconies extending around the second floor, Huge redwood trunks surrounded the central pool. Two giant redwoods at the entrance led to the porte-cohere, which was large enough to accommodate the largest touring cars. The Spanish tile on the roof was chosen to harmonize with the redwood, rock and madden.

The four -story structure included nine fireplaces and combined creature comforts on a grand scale. Jack London wanted a study and a library. On the first floor a 19 x 40 library was connected by a spiral staircase to a second-floor study. The living room was two-stories high, 18 x 58 feet, and it featured an alcove for Charmian London's Steinway. The dining hall could seat fifty people and after dinner the men could retire to the ground-floor game room. Wolf House had its own milk room, store room, root and wine cellars. Hot water plumbing, central heating, a generator, refrigeration, a vacuum cleaning plant and a laundry room equipped with a rotary wringer and steam dryer were part of the house.

The structure's foundation was one piece of solid concrete designed to be earthquake proof. If the ground were rocked, Wolf house would shift intact. The foundation was engineered of sufficient strength to support a forty-story skyscraper. As London once stated, "My house will be standing, Act of God permitting, for a thousand years."

In the years of its construction, Jack London and his wife Charmian, spent approximately $80,000 1913 dollars. In August 1913, it was almost completed, as pictured in this drawing. At 2 a.m., August 23, 1913 a fire whose origin is still unknown destroyed Wolf House. Perhaps it is Charmian London's words which best describe their dream: