Our Tower Out Back
Behind the Olive Press and across from Opalesce can be found one of the most interesting buildings of Jack London Village: the Tower. This structure was built originally as a bin on stilts, designed for collecting the stems torn from grapes as they were crushed, back when the place was one of the first wineries in the Valley of the Moon.
You will notice the steeply slanting ceiling of the lower cabin, forming the floor of the upper story of the building, which was the bin. Two hatches open at the front, from which the stems that had been gathered throughout the crush would empty into wagons waiting below, ready to cart them back into the vineyards as mulch.
It wasn't until 1969 or thereabouts that a young stained glass artist built the cabin into the open base of the bin, putting in the high windows to make a gallery for displaying his work. Soon enough, however, he outgrew the location and moved into the old general store that had stood at that time where the decks are now. Over the years since then the unique building has served as a studio for a great variety of artists, artisans, and writers.
Many people have stopped by to tell me what they recall having been there: a pottery studio in the mid-seventies, a massage studio not long afterwards, the home of a professor from a nearby college who actually lived in the small structure with his girlfriend, a weaver, a sculptor in bronze, a mosaic artist, and most recently a scholar writing his dissertation. Someday I hope to retell these stories, and to knit together the history of the Tower and the Village. Anyone who knows such a story, or knows anyone who knows such a story, is more than welcome to stop by for a visit.
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This article originally appeared in The Jack London Villager November 2006.