The Ghost of Jack London Wanders in the Wine Country
“I am building my dream-house on my dream-ranch.”
In the early 20th century, at the peak of his career as a world-renowned author of novels of high adventure, Jack London, and his wife Charmian, built a gargantuan stone mansion in a redwood and pine forest on their ranch in the hills of Sonoma Valley. In 1913, after two years of construction of the 15,000-square-foot, castle-like edifice, the house was complete with 26 rooms and nine fireplaces, a reflection pool, a two-story-tall living room, a huge library, and a wine cellar. Then, one August night as the Londons lay dreaming of their “Wolf House,” it burned to the ground. Only the thick stone walls remained standing, as they do today.
From a high wooden walkway around the heart-breaking ruin, in Jack London Historic State Park, you can look down into the massive archways, the yawning fireplaces and the empty pool, and imagine how the walls would have echoed to house parties, and how Jack would have loved being the lord of the manor. He wrote, “I am building my dream-house on my dream-ranch. My house will be standing, act of God permitting, for a thousand years.”
Despondent and financially unable to rebuild what he assumed would be the “family ancestral home,” London spent the last three years of his life writing — and, they say, drinking — in a small cottage. Charmian wrote, “The razing of his house killed something in Jack, and he never ceased to feel the tragic inner sense of loss.”
Today, you can visit the cottage where London lived and wrote, peruse memorabilia and vintage photos, and purchase his books. Set in the wilderness of Alaska, some of his best-known novels are The Sea Wolf, Call of the Wild, and White Fang.
Built by Charmian after Jack’s death, the much larger, Arts and Crafts-style, “House of Happy Walls,” also in the park, is now a romantic, interactive museum depicting their cruises on their yacht, the Snark, and his novel writing and journalistic career. The historic sites are surrounded by thousands of acres of Jack London State Historic Park, where you can hike, horseback ride, and picnic.
In the summertime in the open-air stone ruins of London’s winery, Transcendence Theatre’s “Broadway Under the Stars” is a popular annual series of performances by real Broadway singers and dancers.
What are those fine little boats doing in the creek?
Just below the state park, tree-shaded Sonoma Creek rambles through the village of Glen Ellen. Little do most people know that some of the quirkier local denizens pay homage to the author with an annual “Jack to Jack Yacht Race” on the creek, when the waters are high and fast-moving in April.
Yachts, you say? Well, these are 18-inch-long replicas of London’s ocean-going vessel, the Snark, on which he and Charmian set sail from Oakland in 1907 on a voyage to the South Pacific. The model boats are crafted by local artisans of wood from redwood trees rescued after the catastrophic fires near here in 2017. Based at the circa-1905 Jack London Lodge Saloon, members of the Jack London Yacht Club are history lovers, merrymakers, and fund-raisers for local non-profit organizations.
Their flotilla of sailboats competes on a .7-mile course down the creek, from the lodge to Jack London Village. GPS is installed in each boat and cameras are placed along the banks of the creek so spectators can watch the race live at the lodge or at home. Several 30-minute heats take place during the day, and local volunteer firefighters release and catch the boats, helping to resolve finish line squabbles.
Winners are draped in leis, in remembrance of London’s arrival in Hawaii on the Snark. Live entertainment ensues, and food and wine are abundant. Glen Ellen Village Market puts on an outdoor BBQ, and the lodge sets up a beer garden on the creekside deck.
Jack’s Hidden Hall of History
Just up the road at Jack London Village, watch for the giant waterwheel over the creek, where eateries, shops, and a hidden museum rate a stop. In a dimly-lit hallway, vintage photos and documents showcase the area’s early winemaking and the audacious lives of Jack and Charmian.
A redwood log sawmill built on the creekside here in 1829 was converted into a gristmill and a stagecoach stop, and later a winery and distillery that operated right through Prohibition. Today, in a leafy forest setting, rustic, redwood-sided buildings and the massive waterwheel remain entrancing landmarks.
At the entrance to a restaurant, The Mill at Glen Ellen, are the original millstones that were shipped around the Horn from France. When you dine or linger at the bar here, recall that Jack was known to ride his horse here from the ranch to swig a few with his poker-playing buddies. Nowadays, The Mill is a favorite for wood-fired pizza, steaks and seafood paired with house-brewed beer and local wines.
If You Go:
Open 9–5 daily, museum 10–5; cottage noon-4. $10 per vehicle. www.JackLondonPark.com
www.TranscendenceTheater Company.org
