Jack London

Author and Adventurer

The Beauty Ranch

In June, 1905, London wrote to George Brett, his editor at Macmillan Company, to ask for an advance of $6,500 to pay the balance due on land he had just found in the Sonoma hills. He wrote, "There are . . . 130 acres of the most beautiful, primitive land to be found anywhere in California. There are great redwoods on it, some of them thousands of years old . . . Also there are great firs, tan-bark oaks, maples, live-oaks, white-oaks, black-oaks, madrone and manzanita galore. There are canyons, several streams of water, many springs, etc., etc. . . . All I can say is this -- I have been riding all over these hills, looking for just such a place, and I must say that I have never seen anything like it."

As he often did, Brett obliged his star author with the advance, and London made his first land purchase. As more opportunities arose, London bought adjacent ranches, eventually owning about 1,400 acres of land in Glen Ellen.

Jack London. Letter to Eliza London Shepard, with her annotations, January 26, 1915.
JL 13429

As in all his endeavors, Jack's ranching energy knew no bounds, and he expected the same from his step-sister Eliza, who became ranch superintendent in 1910. More than 80 letters exchanged between them attest to their prodigious attention to the details of operating and improving the ranch.

In this letter, Jack poses no fewer than 31 instructions or questions to be dealt with, and Eliza has noted her answers or actions for many of them. Topics range from the best type of flooring to be used in the milking-barn, to the best feed balance, the desirable number of bulls and cows, and the most efficient way to spread manure.

Scenes of ranch life.

London operated his ranch according to both modern, scientific principles and his own good sense, and he succeeded in making it one of the best in the country. He set out to achieve maximum productivity, but also to preserve the land and enable it to renew itself for future generations. He grew extensive crops, and raised award-winning livestock, ranging from pigs to Neuadd Hillside, his prize shire stallion.

Charmian is pictured above riding Sonoma Boy, ca. 1910. Charmian was one of the first women in the Bay Area to ride astride a horse, rather than side-saddle.

Directions to the Ranch. Pamphlet, ca.1910.  
JLE 2705

The Londons entertained frequently at the ranch, and guests included such figures as writers George Sterling and George Wharton James, naturalist Luther Burbank, artist Xavier Martinez, sculptor Finn Frolich, and friends James Hopper and Cloudesley Johns.

In order to bring some order to the nearly constant, chaotic arrivals and departures of their guests, and to ensure uninterrupted time for work, Jack and Charmian outlined in this pamphlet the travel instructions and rules of the household.

Wolf House

By 1909, after the Londons returned from the abandoned Snark voyage, Jack began planning to build his dream home. Built of volcanic rock and redwood from the ranch, the structure was to be strong enough to withstand earthquakes, and it would be called Wolf House. At the height of construction, some 30 workers were employed on the house, and its total cost reached about $70,000.

On August 22, 1913, just days before its completion, Wolf House burned, as a result of the spontaneous combustion of oily rags mistakenly left in the building. Charmian recorded their sorrow in her diary, writing on August 25: "Dear Mate -- he is so brave and cheerful. I don't believe a soul of us knows his secret heartsorrow."

Return to top