The Frank Norris Cabin, also known as Redwood Retreat, was a retreat of the author
Frank Norris
Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include '' McTeague: A Story of San ...
in the
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...
near
Gilroy, California
Gilroy is a city in Northern California's Santa Clara County, south of Morgan Hill and north of San Benito County. Gilroy is the southernmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a population of 56,766 as of the 2019 U.S. Census Projection ...
. A
log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers.
Eur ...
, it was only briefly owned by Norris before his untimely death in October 1902. A circular stone bench, the Frank Norris Memorial, was erected nearby by
Fanny Stevenson
Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson (10 March 1840 – 18 February 1914) was an American magazine writer. She became a supporter and later the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the mother of Isobel Osbourne, Samuel Lloyd ...
, a close friend. It was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1962 for its association with Norris, whose novels ''
McTeague
''McTeague: A Story of San Francisco'', otherwise known as simply ''McTeague'', is a novel by Frank Norris, first published in 1899. It tells the story of a couple's courtship and marriage, and their subsequent descent into poverty and violence ...
'' and ''
The Octopus: A Story of California'' are major American literary works of the turn of the 20th century.
Description
The Frank Norris Cabin is located on a remote parcel of private land in the Santa Cruz Mountains, northwest of Gilroy, accessed via the Redwood Retreat Road and a steep hiking trail on that property. It is a single-story log structure with two chambers, and a stone porch. Located a short distance from the cabin is a semicircular stone bench,
in which is mounted a plaque bearing the inscription "FRANK NORRIS, 1870 – 1902. Simpleness and gentleness and honor and clean mirth."
Frank Norris purchased from the owner of the nearby Redwood Retreat Hotel in the summer of 1902, at which time the cabin was already on the property. He had been introduced to the area by
Fanny Stevenson
Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson (10 March 1840 – 18 February 1914) was an American magazine writer. She became a supporter and later the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the mother of Isobel Osbourne, Samuel Lloyd ...
, who owned a larger tract immediately adjacent. Norris and his wife Jeannette had spent time on the Stevenson property in 1899, and had become so enamored of the place that he wanted to stay nearby. He named the property "Quien Sabe" after a retreat so named in ''The Octopus''. Norris's usage of the property is unclear: he made arrangements to enlarge the cabin, which had only one room when he bought it, but died quite suddenly (of complications from a burst
appendix
Appendix, or its plural form appendices, may refer to:
__NOTOC__ In documents
* Addendum, an addition made to a document by its author after its initial printing or publication
* Bibliography, a systematic list of books and other works
* Index (pub ...
) in October 1902.
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in California
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Frank, Cabin
Houses in Santa Clara County, California
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California
National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California
Historic American Buildings Survey in California
Log cabins