Upton Sinclair House, Monrovia


  • Address: 464 N Myrtle Ave
  • Vicinity: E Scenic Dr
  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Building

perfect peace to write in,... a garden path to walk up and down on while I planned the next paragraph, and a good public library from which I could get what history books I needed.
Upton Sinclair, The Autobiography of Upton Sinclair, New York, Brace and World, 1962

Upton Sinclair House, a private residence in Monrovia, California, is notable as the former home of American novelist Upton Sinclair, best known for his muck-raking novel The Jungle. - AsNotedIn


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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1923/00/00 Frederick H Wallis Architect Designed by Frederick H Wallis, a residence is built for hotel magnate Louis Vollmer. There is "V" in the bronze grillwork on the front door.
1924/00/00 Batchelder Tile Company Artisan The Vollmer residence features built ball-and-ribbon molding, cast-stone fireplace and Batchelder tiles. Several chandeliers are original to the house.
1942/00/00 Upton Sinclair Home Looking for a more secluded home away from the growing congestion of Pasadena, where he had lived since 1915, and disturbance of unwelcome guests which followed his California gubernatorial candidacy, Upton Sinclair buys a home in nearby Monrovia.
1943/00/00 Sinclair converts the double garage which into a writing studio. Here, he will write almost all his later works including his Prize-winning "Dragon's Teeth" and popular 'Lanny Budd' series.
1943/00/00 Obsession with privacy, Upton builds a chain-link fence (lost) around the property and densely plants 200 eugenia bushes to form a hedge. At one point, he will disconnected the doorbell.
1943/00/00 A concrete block vault is built for storage. Over the next 15 years Upton will fill all his storerooms with over 800 foreign translations of his books, over a quarter of a million letters and almost all the original manuscripts of his 80 books.
1945/00/00 Hewlett Johnson Life When Kate Crane Gartz and the Rev Hewlett Johnson call on the Sincair family, the fanatically anti-Communist Mrs Sinclair locks the big wooden gates at the end of the driveway and refuses the visitors admittance.
1945/00/00 Kate Crane Gartz Life When former friend, the Socialist Kate Crane Gartz, brings the Rev Hewlett Johnson to visit the Sinclairs, they are refused admittance.
1950/00/00 Upton Sinclair Author Upton Sinclair writes "Another Pamela" (1950) and then the temperance novel "The Cup of Fury" (1956) at his Monrovia home.
1954/03/00 In the spring of 1954, the Sinclairs move to Buckeye but Mrs Sinclair's worsening health will force their return to Monrovia in 1955.
1961/04/26 Mary Craig Kimbrough Sinclair, the second wife of Upton Sinclair, suffers a fatal stroke and dies in Monrovia, California.
1967/02/17 Upton Sinclair Home The Sinclairs sell their house to Mr and Mrs Glen W Edwards Jr who will remove the chain link fence, replanted the lawn and make only minor interior changes.
1968/00/00 Upton Sinclair sells his letters and manuscripts to the University of Indiana. The collection now resides at the Lilly Library at 1200 E 7th Street in Bloomington.
1991/06/28 The Sinclair House is damage during the Sierra Madre Earthquake. Denied permission to raze the residence, it will be fully restored.

Data »

Particulars for Upton Sinclair House, Monrovia:
Sight Category Building
Architectural Style Late 19th and 20th century revivals
Area of Significance Literature
Level of Significance National
Other Description Neo-Mediterranean
Criteria Person
Owner Private
Historic Use Secondary structure
Historic Use Single dwelling



US National Registry of Historic Places Data »

Accurate at time of registration: 11th November 1971

PLACE DETAILS
Registry Name: Sinclair, Upton, House
Registry Address: 464 N. Myrtle Ave.
Registry Number: 71000153
Resource Type: Building
Owner: Private
Architect: unknown
Architectural Style: Late 19th and 20th century revivals, Other
Attribute: Neo-Mediterranean
Contributing Buildings: 3
Other Certification: Designated National Landmark
Certification: Listed in the National Register
Nominator Name: National Historic Landmark
CULTURAL DETAILS
Level of Significance: National
Area of Significance: Literature
Applicable Criteria: Person
Criteria Consideration: Significance of less than fifty years
Period of Significance: 1950-1974, 1925-1949
Significant Year: 1942, 1967
Associated People: Sinclair,Upton
Historic Function: Domestic
Historic Sub-Function: Single dwelling, Secondary structure
Current Function: Domestic
Current Sub-Function: Single dwelling Secondary structure

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