John Muir's Mansion: The Father of National Parks

[@sherirunnels545]

Love this elegant house. Elegant but clearly meant for comfortable umpretentious living. He is an American hero in my humble opinion. Thank you!

[@orangetreevintagewaresotvw9590]

I grew up in Pleasant Hill, CA, the town right next to this house. I toured it many times for school and with my parents as a very young child. This is one of the very first homes that started my love affair with old historical homes. Thank you for letting me revisit this! It,s been maybe 50 years since I have seen it. 🥰

[@Mark723]

This man was a god amongst men. So glad to see this beautiful home where he was able to spend his life. Loved John's Scribble Room - and that typewriter! Thanks, Ken, for sharing.

[@garygloska7396]

Love the hexagonal entry with the bay windows flanking

[@elpirata5468]

how wonderful to spend a lifetime preserving the beautiful places on our planet

[@brianholihan5497]

He said, "I would rather be in the mountains thinking about God than in church thinking about the mountains." I often remember it while hiking in the mountains in the SF Bay Area.

[@arnelmontgomery8188]

Thank you for solving a mystery I've had for a very long time. When I was five, my parents took me to tour a house with square windows in the attic. I remember my father lifting me up to numerous windows so I could see out. As I grew older, I wondered where that attic was. Thanks to this video, my mystery has been solved since the John Muir house is only about a two-hour drive from where I lived back in the 1960s!

[@IntriguedLioness]

Growing up in the UK my idea of a mansion is definitely different than those in the states. In extended families 14 rooms is simply sustainable! When I toured the property a few years ago I was struck by this preserved house without additions over the years and it is magnificent as it is. Coming to the states I fell in love with the NPS and when I moved from the Manhattan to San Fransisco Yosemite, Yosemite valley, Mariposa Pine's et cetera was my idea of heaven. I spent every Christmas I lived in the west in Yosemite valley. Never in the summer with the RV's and tourists chasing the wildlife but in peaceful winter, the crunch of my boots in snow and wildlife unharassed. In preparation for my NoBo PCT I brought a copy of "leaves of grass" as I hiked the John Muir trail. My poorly written haikus tucked in the pages. We should always be greatful To SIR John Muir and his contributions to the NPS.

[@ML-xi2rt]

What a truly GREAT forward thinking man! He understood the importance of preserving natural lands and resources! A great American and a wonderful residence !

[@HermicraftAddict]

I owe this man a lot. I live in Utah and went on a honeymoon in Capitol Reef. Our kids like to go to Spring break there. Yellowstone is also amazing. Utah is expanding rabidly, so fields and open spaces are becoming houses and condos. Its amazing to go to a national or state park and be free of that.

[@HermicraftAddict]

Edit: I meant to say rapidly. Rabidly is not a bad word for it either.

[@SpanishEclectic]

Yosemite is amazing, especially in winter. Check out the paintings of Albert Bierstadt, which were painted during the lifetime of Muir. The more I see vast, spreading cities with cheaply built housing developments and malls with the same stores, the more I appreciate the wilderness (and of course, old houses!!). I think it's very important for children growing up in cities or suburbs to experience the real world, where everything isn't created for their entertainment. Nature is not kind, and the wilderness is not safe, but our forefathers survived through self-reliance. Taking selfies next to the rim of the Grand Canyon or up close to a bison in Yellowstone is not it. I love the hexagonal porch, and noted that shape elsewhere in the home. Wood paneled library rooms are always a favorite. The roof line on this one is spectacular! Thanks, Ken!

[@danielulz1640]

I visited this house when I lived in California. It is a lovely, comfortable family home of its time.

[@gro2709]

My favorite national parks are Glacier, Grand Tetons, Yosemite and Volcanos. I've hiked all over all four of these parks and they are like heaven to me. I now live on the Big Island of Hawaii so haven't been back to the mainland parks in almost a decade. But I can get away to Volcanos whenever I want and especially, when Madame Pele decides to bless us with her lava! Thanks for show casing the John Muir house in Martinez, CA. Even though I lived about 5 miles from the house, I never had the opportunity to take the tour. Hopefully, sometime in the not-so-distant future, I'll be able to get there.

[@califdad4]

Finally a California home, this is a nice example of a California home from the period, wood frame and Palm trees

[@ThisHouse]

We have an entire playlist of Californian homes! Check it out: kzbin.info/aero/PL5qQ4DHDutfteStHhXMjrW55iBxt5oss_

[@KarenBaker616263]

That looks like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt in the photo at 0.26 sec. Muir's popular writings caught the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, who invited him camping in Yosemite. Roosevelt left behind reporters and his Secret Service agents for the company of two park rangers, an army packer, John Muir and the wild. I once read a book titled "Travels in Alaska" by John Muir. Festinating ~ he was fearless!

[@monkeygraborange]

I was thinking how wonderful it was that the land remained intact, until I saw that last photo. A train trestle _and_ a highway in the back yard? Muir would not have been a happy camper if he saw that!

[@raffinataonline]

Gorgeous. Thank you. 👍👏

[@Jmittle101]

Definitely Yosemite! Went there many times and it was incredible in every season.

[@julieduchek2969]

I love your videos Ken. You do such a good and you are the best presenter that I have seen 0n KZbin.

[@witsonsmom729]

I've driven by this house many times since childhood, on our way from Stockton to relatives in the East Bay Area but have never visited, I will have to make the time.

[@HeartlandMom923]

As a member of clan Muir and a distant cousin of John Muir, I enjoyed this greatly. I hope to visit the house someday. The correct pronunciation of Muir is two syllables with the accent on the first syllable… “mew” + “er”😊

[@jenpink4298]

It’s beautiful!

[@susanbrown5004]

WOW I love that they took the wallpaper down and that they displayed the clothing. Also, the attic still looks like a typical attic of today. This tour I ❤️🏠 thanks

[@junipersnow1]

Love this house, noticed it in the 90's along with Johns writings on nature as it was in America at that time....the house was always painted green and I was was too wild at the time for the tour, but hope to visit again for sometime soon.

[@crystalclear5684]

John Muir was and IS a great American hero & visionary! His home reflects the practical and unostentatious...I loved the 'Scribble Room' with the beautiful portrait of him there. A shame that he didn't live long enough to see the NPS become a reality. America owes this fine man a tremendous honor in preserving it's wild lands for future generations! 💜

[@zovalentine7305]

John said of his family home in Martinez CA: "This is a good place to be housed in during stormy weather, ... to write in, and to raise children in, but it is not my home. 'Up there,' pointing toward the Sierra Nevada, is my home."

[@TheCaffeinatedOrganist]

Those marbles mantels are quite fine.

[@krazmokramer]

In the 1970s, I knew a family that had a grand piano like the one in these photos. Their's came from a brothel in New Orleans!

[@TheCaffeinatedOrganist]

Interesting fact: the stair case components were from a catalog. Not cheaply made, just mass-produced. Still lovely.

[@TheCaffeinatedOrganist]

Regarding two of your pronunciations, Ken, in the south we call the 19th century “rooftop lantern” a “Q-poll-a” with the accent on the “Q”. We also say “Pile-asters” with emphasis on the “Pile”. Not Pill-asters

[@jamesburtonbud]

Where im from, ive always heard it the way ken says it. Though i've heard many different ways to say all types of architectural terms. Really depends if you are taking a hellenic, italic, germanic, or celtic root of the word.

[@honestmom1958]

That's so interesting! Didn't know any of that information about John Muir. Thank you, again!

[@TheCaffeinatedOrganist]

One final thought- I’d call that an Italianate stair newel post. Italianate is still a classical revival period but with a mid Victorian interpretation.

[@jeanbaker2087]

Can you do a segment on Will Rogers? There was a museum in Claremore OK.

[@joef2932]

There is a great huell howser episode on how this house was abandoned and almost torn down until a couple bought it and restored it.

[@Krankenschwester1]

The peaches are still growing in the orchard . My favorite room is the unfinished one on the third level and I love the Bell Tower room as well.

[@314jrock]

This is one of my favorite homes on this channel. It's not too ornate like most of the homes that you review. The only thing that I don't like about the house is the wood panel walls in the library.

[@yabbahdo222]

You can tour the small orchards near the house. This was the only place I ever saw pomegranates growing on trees.

[@ronframe387]

Favorite would have to be the library. Love the stained wood panels. Also your volume is very low. Hard to hear!

[@jillatherton4660]

Garret's best. 👍

[@LindaHaghgoo]

What about the adobe house built by Vincente Martinez in 1869?

[@suepare9460]

Would have loved to see the kitchen and veranda

[@billtodd999]

Is David Muir of ABC Evening News related?

[@amandab.recondwith8006]

It's pronounced: Koo-puh-luh.

[@amandab.recondwith8006]

Emphasis is on KOO.

[@asylumlover]

ANOTHER DEMOLITION FREE ZONE FOR SURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@emilyfink1185]

Ok, so the bedroom isn’t my favorite room….old bedrooms can often feel a bit creepy to me. Sorry…With the clothing on the bed, it seals it for me 😆. Some historical homes’ bedrooms, such as Mount Vernon’s, aren’t creepy. Brightly lit.

[@ilikequiet6474]

Always nice to marry money and not have work.

[@justinekingmaker493]

I love this "This House" series but what is up with the weird pronunciations. Kah-Pula? It's "Koo-puh-lah" If you don't know how to pronounce a word, Good "Pronunciation" guide is your friend!

[@jamesburtonbud]

Sounded like he said it right to me.. I swear half the people on the internet have never been able to grasp the concept of an accent or dialect.

[@lisadolan689]

Nah…. I didn’t like. It reminds me of the poverty stricken 1970’s. Not appealing to me. Thank you again Ken 🙏☺️

[@kathleenevans1201]

Can't stand the Sierra Club!

[@junipersnow1]

Hilarious... J. Muir had some good books and in 1880's he was also the first Fruit Farmer/Entrepreneur to properly packaged and ship California grown fruit to Hawaii... as appose to the other way around for all of history before that date.