Girl About Town: Jack London's China Cabinet

Well, Charmian London's, to be exact. This is the dining room in The House With Happy Walls, a home built after Jack's death. It currently exists, per Charmian's wishes, as a museum at Jack London State Park to showcase her husband's adventures and accomplishments. The house is a gallery of photographs, publications, and prized possessions from their worldly travels. My favorite part was the oddly extravagant dining room, with an indoor fountain, a massive bank of windows, and three walls of cabinets specifically designed to display a very special set of dishes.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the cabinet knobs are off-set.

Look closer still and you'll realize that the hardware and cabinet trim have been painted to match the china within. The floral shape of the knobs emulates the leafy ornaments on the serving pieces, and both are given an illustrative quality with green outlines.

I love the idea of decorating to celebrate an heirloom or beloved artifact. Even more, I love the significance of these plates and bowls to their owners: Jack London purchased the set from the estate of Robert Louis Stevenson, a man he greatly admired but never met. 

Today I showed you Jack's enviable kitchen sink and some of the interesting interiors on the property. Tomorrow I'll take you on a hike through the grounds...