146 pages. Illustrated with Walter Fiss photographs throughout including frontispiece. (Oblong 4to) original masonite boards with title burned into upper cover, original ties and screws. First Edition.
Eccentric, appealing production documenting the building of Acorn Lodge in the San Bernardino Mountains near Wrightwood, CA, 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.
The former owner of the book, Lloyd R Shirk (1903-1971) was born in Pasadena and worked for the Santa Fe Railroad as a passenger ticket agent.