Featured image credit: Doncram
Recently voted an All-America City by the National Civic League, Monrovia manages to maintain a small-town feel despite being part of bustling Los Angeles County. It’s a great place to go for peace and serenity. Perhaps this, more than anything, is what attracted American novelist and lightning rod for political and social reform Upton Sinclair. He called Monrovia home from 1942 until 1966, living and working in a now-historic neo-Mediterranean abode at 464 N. Myrtle Avenue. Arguably the most notable residence in Monrovia, the Upton Sinclair House earns its place in JohnHart’s LA Home Spotlight series.
The Upton Sinclair House: Pre-Upton
The story of the Upton Sinclair House actually begins a couple of decades before the author laid eyes upon it. While Sinclair would move into the residence in 1942, noted California architect Frederick H. Wallis built the home in 1923. Wallis was a partner in the design firm Norton & Wallis who were making a name for themselves as the creative minds behind several of the city’s iconic buildings.
They enjoyed particular popularity in LA’s thriving Jewish community. The Monrovia home that would become the Upton Sinclair House was built for Louis Vollmer who owned the area’s historic Leven Oaks Hotel. Today, the home’s intricate ironwork entryway still brandishes its decorative “V” in Vollmer’s honor.
Sinclair Moves Out of the Spotlight
The beginning of Upton Sinclair’s residency in Monrovia can be attributed to a familiar though elusive desire of many Angelenos: privacy. Sinclair was a recognized public figure, especially in the wake of his 1906 novel The Jungle. While he’d sought to expose the unjust treatment of America’s workforce, the novel brought unforeseen changes to federal health guidelines. The Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act passing within a year of the novel’s publication was no coincidence.
During his life, Sinclair used his writing to serve as a beacon for social change, shining a light on the country’s corrupt underbelly. He even ran for governor of California in 1934, a campaign that, in a roundabout way, inspired Arthur Bell to start California cult Mankind United. Sinclair’s reputation was bringing some pretty wild characters out of the woodwork and his Pasadena home wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret. Eventually, he and his wife decided it was time to uproot.
Design Features of the Upton Sinclair House
The two-story neo-Mediterranean home echoed the designs of other houses in the placid Monrovia neighborhood, providing an at once simple and sophisticated sanctuary for the Sinclairs. The 2,380-square-foot structure achieved its distinct appearance through a technique of poured concrete, allowing for rounded archways and detailed flourishes. One of its most distinctive features, the entryway, employs an archway opening to the decorative ironwork door with a small matching balcony directly above it. The Upton Sinclair House also incorporates authentic Batchelder tiles like those featured in Downtown LA’s legendary Dutch Chocolate Shoppe. There’s even a soothing patio area in the backyard punctuated by a fountain.
But fans of Sinclair’s work will be most curious about the twin garages located to the back right of the home. The writer used one of these garages as his office, completing a huge portion of his later career’s work under its roof. In 1943, he even earned a Pulitzer Prize for his novel Dragon Teeth which was at least partially written at his Monrovia residence. The other garage was used to store all of his “papers”, encompassing everything from personal letters to manuscripts. The full collection is now owned by Indiana University in Bloomington.
Sinclair Exits But His Impression on the Home Remains
Even in the remote foothills of Monrovia, Sinclair needed to stay vigilant about his privacy. Toward the end of his years on Myrtle Avenue, he created a privacy wall from eugenia bushes, erected a chainlink fence, and took apart the home’s doorbell. When Sinclair’s second wife, Mary, died in 1961, he immediately remarried. His third wife, also named Mary, remained with him in Monrovia until the couple left the west coast in 1966.
Today, the Upton Sinclair Home is a private residence, so admirers need to give it the same respect the author so desperately hoped it would bring him when he resided there. In 1991, the 5.6M Sierra Madre earthquake wrought extensive damage on the structure. It was enough that the occupant at the time sought to demolish the home. However, since the Upton Sinclair House had earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places and achieved distinction as a National Historic Landmark (both in 1971), the request was denied. These days, Sinclair is just another in a line of residents of the home. Yet, popular knowledge seems to have baked his history with Los Angeles into its concrete walls, inexorably linking them for as long as we remember his name.
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Awesome recognition of this fantastic house. I’ve sold it twice over the 23 years I’ve been in real estate.