Originally part of the Kholer-Frohling Tokay Vineyard and
Winery. Cottage became London's home from 1911-1916
Jack London's Ranch Album
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On May 14,1910 Jack London was able to purchase the Kohler-Frohling Tokay Ranch for twenty-six thousand dollars plus cost of livestock and equipment. The Jack London Ranch now had a total of one thousand ninety acres, making it one of the largest in the Valley of the Moon.
Over two hundred acres of the Tokay addition were suitable for growing wine grapes. With seven distinct soils in the alluvial deposits at the foot of Sonoma Mountain, with cool mountain breezes at night and warm sunny days, in an area that had never seen frost during the growing season, a crop of premium wine grapes was almost a certainty every year. But at the time Jack bought the ranch, grapes were selling for eleven dollars a ton. Since it cost more than that to raise them, he reluctantly plowed most of the vines under, leaving enough for his own use.
Jack's purchase of the Tokay Ranch didn't include the buildings - the twelve acres containing the ruins of the old winery destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, or the old six room cottage, the two small stone buildings, and the stone sherry house which were owned by the California Wine Association. Jack's goal was to now buy these twelve acres and the five hundred-acre Freund Ranch above his property, which was vital to his water needs. When, and if, those purchases were made, the Jack London Ranch, as he envisioned it, would be complete.
On May 12, 1911 during Jack and Charmian's four-horse trip to Oregon, Eliza Shepard, (Jack's step sister and ranch superintendant) obtained the deed to the twelve acres with the buildings which included the cottage.
While the London's were away she managed to get the cottage livable for them until completion of Wolf House. On September 5, 1911 they rolled through Glen Ellen and up the hill to sleep for the first time on their own ranch, in the cottage.
Sleeping porch: Jack's sleeping porch is on the left
Know Jack's favorite sport ?
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