The John Steinbeck House is a historic house

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

and

house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Salt pan (geology), Salt Flats") is a city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Monterey County, California, Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is ...

. The house was the birthplace and family home of author

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

(1902–1968). It is noted for its Queen Anne architecture. The building was added to 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 ...

in 2000.

History

The Steinbeck House is a turreted

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

building at 132 Central Avenue in downtown Salinas. It is a two-story wood framed Queen Anne style residence constructed in 1897–98. The house is on a concrete foundation with a full basement. Exterior walls are a combination of horizontal wood siding and buttwood shingles. It has a hip and gable roof covered in fiberglass shingles. An open wood staircase leads to the upper floor, which was first used as an indoor playroom until 1905 when the bedrooms and bathroom were added. The garage space under the house was converted into a gift shop in 1974 and named "The Best Cellar". The house has been preserved and restored by the Valley Guild, a nonprofit organization, established in 1971 by civic-minded women. They purchased the house from the Catholic Diocese of Monterey in 1973. The Steinbeck House is significant under National Register Criterion B, in literature, for its association with John Steinbeck, who was born and spent his early years in the home, and wrote his first short stories, and completed two of his novels, ''The Red Pony'' (1933) and ''Tortilla Flat'' (1935). The home played an important part in his novel ''East of Eden'' (1952). The house is significant under National Register Criterion C, in the area of architecture, as an example of the Queen Anne architectural style. The Steinbeck House is open as a restaurant for lunch and for

tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

during the summer on Sundays from

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

. The

National Steinbeck Center The National Steinbeck Center is a museum and memorial dedicated to the author John Steinbeck, located at the California State University, Monterey Bay#Other locations, California State University, Monterey Bay at Salinas City Center building at ...

is located two blocks away at 1 Main Street. Sheriff William Nesbitt (1853-1933) lived in the house two blocks west of the Steinbecks' home, located at 66 Capitol Street. Peter Krough's daughter Olga E. Krough (1899-1990), knew Steinbeck when they were both children. She lived at 146 Central Avenue, three houses down from the John Steinbeck House.

Gallery

Steinbeck House 005.jpg , Skylight Steinbeck House 004.jpg , Staircase File:John Steinbeck House Dining Room.jpg, Dining room File:John Steinbeck House entryway.jpg, House entryway

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbeck, John, House John Steinbeck Buildings and structures in Salinas, California Houses in Monterey County, California Historic house museums in California Museums in Monterey County, California Literary museums in the United States Restaurants in Monterey County, California Houses completed in 1897 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Monterey County, California National Register of Historic Places in Monterey County, California Queen Anne architecture in California History of Monterey County, California History of the Monterey Bay Area

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links