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 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
| 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. |
| 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 |
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