The Upton Sinclair House is an historic house at 464 N. Myrtle Avenue,

Monrovia, California Monrovia is a city in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Monrovia is the fourth-oldest General-law municipality, general-law city in Los Angeles County and the L ...

. Built in 1923, it was the home of American novelist

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

(1878–1968) between 1942 and 1966, and is where he wrote many of his later works. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1971. It is a private residence.

Description and history

The Upton Sinclair House is located in the foothills of the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...

, north of the center of Monrovia at the southeast corner of North Myrtle Avenue and East Scenic Drive. It is a Neo-Mediterranean building in a district of similar houses. It is made of poured concrete and includes "ball-and-ribbon" concrete moldings and Batchelder tile. Its main entrance is set in an ornate archway, with an iron balcony above. The entrance and flanking windows are set in round-arch openings. To the rear right of the house is a period garage. The house was designed by California architect Frederick H. Wallis and built in 1923. It was purchased by Sinclair in 1942, seeking a quieter location than

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, where he had been living. Sinclair is best known for his exposé style of writing, epitomized by ''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a novel by American author and muckraking-journalist Upton Sinclair, known for his efforts to expose corruption in government and business in the early 20th century. In 1904, Sinclair spent seven weeks gathering information ...

'', his 1906 novel exposing unsavory practices in the meatpacking industry. Sinclair was awarded the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

in 1943. Many of Sinclair's later works were written while he lived here, in a studio space created in the garage. The grounds also include a concrete vault where he kept all his papers. The house sustained damage during the

1991 Sierra Madre earthquake The 1991 Sierra Madre earthquake occurred on June 28 at with a moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 5.6 and a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). The thrust earthquake resulted in two deaths, ...

(5.6M) and was nearly torn down by its owner; however, California's state historic preservation office denied the demolition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Upton, House Houses in Los Angeles County, California Houses completed in 1923 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Historic Landmarks in California History of Los Angeles County, California Monrovia, California San Gabriel Valley Mediterranean Revival architecture in California Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California

Description and history

See also

References