Glen Ellen, California

Points of interest[edit]

Writer Jack London lived in Glen Ellen from 1909 to his death in 1916, where he devoted much of his time to development of his Beauty Ranch and the building of his mansion, Wolf House. Many of his novels and stories, notably The Iron Heel and The Valley of the Moon mention Glen Ellen and Sonoma County. ("The Valley of the Moon" is a translation of Sonoma Valley's name given by the Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples.)


The site of his ranch is now Jack London State Historic Park, which contains the ruins of Wolf House, several ranch buildings, the grave of Jack and Charmian London, and a museum housed in Charmian London's "House of Happy Walls".


The Sonoma Developmental Center is located just outside Glen Ellen near the Jack London ranch. Its predecessor, the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children, was the setting for Jack London's story "Told in the Drooling Ward."


Glen Ellen is located in the Wine Country and is part of the Sonoma Mountain AVA. Like all the communities in Sonoma Valley, Glen Ellen is home to many vineyards and wineries including B.R. Cohn Winery, Benziger Family Winery, Mayo Family Winery, and Valley of the Moon Winery.


Quarryhill Botanic Garden, located near Glen Ellen, is a research botanical garden housing with one of the largest collections of temperate Asian plants in North America. Quarryhill's collection includes rare species such as Acer pentaphyllum, Cornus capitata, Holboellia coriacea, Illicium simonsii, and Rosa chinensis var. spontanea, all native to Sichuan, China, as well as extensive collections of various wild Asian dogwoods, lilies, magnolias, maples, oaks, roses, and rhododendrons. Quarryhill is open to the public.


Dunbar School is the second oldest school in California.^[8] Currently it comprises grades K-5 and is part of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District.