THE HOUSE THAT B--- BUILT
San Bernardino, California: William B. Doherty, 1929. First Edition. Hardcover. Oblong quarto: 146, [1], [1, blank] pp. with a frontispiece, 52 full-page plates, and a textual illustration, all halftones after photographs by Walter Fiss, as well as decorated page borders and decorations. In the publisher's unfinished tempered masonite binding, with the front cover in two parts, hinged with brown braided cotten shoelace ties and bound with two brass screw posts. Features a pyrographic ruled frame with oak leaf and acorn decorations and titling on the front panel. A bit of wear to the corners; otherwise very good. Provenance: from the Publishers' Bookbindings collection of Ellen K. Morris and Edward S. Levin.
Eccentric, appealing production documenting the building of Acorn Lodge in the San Bernardino Mountains near Wrightwood, California, circa 1926-29. The first section of the book documents Acorn Lodge which was built by William Marion Bristol (1859-1941), the publisher's father-in-law, a retired orange grower who had created and patented the Sunkist label, and who had also invented the household manual orange juicer. He built the unusual house when he was 70, and he wished to remain anonymous. He had previously (c.1920) built Camp Cajon in the Cajon Pass, a rest stop for travelers that was later destroyed in the flood of 1938. A picture of Bristol appears on page 107 at Camp Cajon. The second part is made up of stories and reminiscences of the San Bernardino area by Bristol. The fine photographs by Fiss show various aspects of the appealing lodge, with many images of children enjoying its unusual features including the curved log which formed an archway, the turnstile created from twisted logs, and the bells cut from stone. Finally, there is a charming photograph of the printing establishment of Doherty in San Bernardino, which was also built by Bristol, and a photo of Doherty on page 33. An unusual and uncommon work of Southern California architectural history. Water Fiss (1884-1954) was a well-known landscape photographer based in San Bernardino who specialized in the West, especially the mountains and deserts of Southern California. Very good. Item #78923
Price: $200.00