The wine country home where Jack London wrote “White Fang,” “The Sea Wolf” and other acclaimed novels and short stories has sold for $4.75 million.
The connection with the famed writer provided “unparalleled marketing opportunities, with over 50 news outlets covering the property domestically and internationally,” according to Matt Sevenau, who co-listed it with Maurice Tegelaar, both of Compass.
While the exposure didn’t lead to a direct impact on the sales price of 4100 Wake Robin in Glen Ellen, Sevenau said it “significantly enhanced the property’s visibility, ultimately attracting a strong buyer.”
The buyers were Kristen Berg and Wilfredo Vega, according to public records. Berg has a doctorate in social work and is a writer who hosts twice-weekly virtual writing courses. Vega is a core developer for Twisted Matrix Labs, as well as a member of a state board for engineers and geologists as well as a long-time manager of Burning Man’s Black Rock Rangers, according to her website and his LinkedIn.
They were represented by Caroline Sebastiani at Sotheby’s International Realty. She did not reply to a request for comment.
Sevenau said, in general, buyers responded most to the private Glen Ellen location, which is close to popular outdoor attractions, including Jack London State Park and Sonoma Mountain. The “resort-like amenities, spacious layout and high-end finishes” were other major selling points.
The “meticulously maintained” three-bedroom, three-bath 4,300-square-foot home underwent a major remodel in 2014 but still has the same footprint from London’s day, he said. The unique octagonal living room, which formerly acted as the lobby when the property served as the Wake Robin Lodge, as well as the lodge signage and front door, are all said to be original to the 1890s construction.
Sellers Malcolm Walter and Elizabeth Fisher put approximately $300,000 in upgrades into the property, which they bought for $4.5 million in September 2020. Walter is the retired former COO of Bentley Systems, a global infrastructure software company, as well as the president of the Jack London Park Partners Board, according to the park’s website. Fisher joined the board of the Sonoma Land Trust in 2022, after retiring from 30 years in the financial services industry where she worked at Fidelity Investments, JP Morgan Chase and Spencer Stuart, according to a press release from the land trust.
The couple called selling the home a “bittersweet move” in a statement when the property came to market for just under $5 million in September. They had found a home in Sonoma, closer to where they spend most of their time, “with many of the same amenities, but not the rich history that 4100 Wake Robin offers.”
Selling history
As part of the marketing for the property, the listing agents included an extensive history of the property that was compiled by Glen Ellen-based property researchers at the behest of the sellers.
It describes how London began an affair with Charmain Kittridge at what was then the Wake Robin Lodge in 1903. Her aunt and uncle, who had published several of London’s stories in his magazine, ran the lodge as a summertime artists’ retreat called “Camp Reveire.” After London and his first wife divorced, he married Charmain and they used the lodge as a home base — when they weren’t traveling the globe — until 1911. That’s when they moved to a nearby cottage on the former Kohler estate, which they had bought one year earlier and is now Jack London State Historic Park.
London died of kidney failure in 1916 at only 40 years old. Three years later, Charmain inherited the estate from her aunt and gifted it to London’s step-sister, who passed it on to her son. He sold a portion to a developer in 1936. Other bits and pieces of what was originally an 11-acre estate were also sold off over the years, thus severing the connection of ownership from London’s time there.
But even though London lived and wrote in the lodge-turned-home more than a century ago, Sevenau said letting buyers in on the history “underscores the property’s significance among other wine country offerings.”
“Providing a full history of the property, including its connection to Jack London, elevates its uniqueness and appeals to buyers who value being stewards of a historic estate,” he said.
Read more
Residential
San Francisco
Replay Destinations breaks records at Healdsburg condo project
Residential
San Francisco
Ex-Dodgers CEO sells Napa estate to previous owner for $14M