The Irony Of It All: "A Concept of Permanence" - The John Wack House in Montecito, Built of Ancient Stone to Last for Centuries. The House is Gone, Its Relics Live On!
For a description of the house: John Wack House
Here is the post mortem: Enough material to fill an entire stone yard, John Brigham, John Van Bergen's grandson, sent me this note and photos of the relics of the John Wack house in Santa Barbara, California.
"News about the Wack house: they demolished it almost one year ago (Spring, 2002).
"I talked to Mike Harrington at the Stoneyard in Santa Barbara on Thursday. The Stoneyard did the stone salvage; they have about 250 tons of the Monterey Shale from inside and outside of the building, including some very nice special stones like long window sills and the fireplace base stones. They also have about 5 tons of the total 75 tons of the "Yosemite" slate roofing in original random sizes up to 5 ft x 3 ft pieces. They are hoping to resell the stone for over $1000/ton.
"The fossil mosaic over the fireplace was salvaged with difficulty ("2 ft thick masonry backing"), and refit into a temporary setting on their showroom floor (see my photos). They hope to resell the entire mosaic only to a very discriminating buyer for (gulp!) $100,000 obo.!!
"And I thought I might make an offer!!!! Oh, well - I wonder what it 's original cost was?! He mentioned if I was to find a buyer, I could collect a 10% finder's fee...
"The house was demo'ed to make a lot split possible, and the lots are still vacant. The people you talked to when you came out sold it to a Mr Sullivan who did the demo. He still has 50 -60 tons of the roofing for sale. It looks like the slate was set with wires tied through holes just like eastern houses (but much larger sizes). These slabs were set about 1/3 to the weather, and range in size from 1.5 ft x 3 ft, up to 3 x 5 ft. They are 1-1/2 to 3 in thick, and set in regular courses - but don't ask me how!! This roof must have been really heavy and thick! I can see why those glue-lam beams were showing deflection! I have a small sample of the slate, if you want. It came from a quarry in Mariposa, CA, that doesn't seem to produce very good slate, but these were still in only slightly worn condition.
"The stone is from a quarry in Santa Maria, CA, about 1 hr north of SB. This is well known "Santa Maria Stone", which is especially valued in Carmel, CA, which is from where Mike thinks his buyer will come. The veneer stone is min 4 in. bedding depth and includes corner stones as well as some impressive sills, capstones, and lintels. It is all of the Monterey Shale formation which runs in this area, but this is the very best example. I have a copy of a letter from J dB Wack to the stone supplier which talks of a masonry industry magazine which did a feature article on the house."
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The following is a reproduction of pages from the "Masonry Industry" trade magazine from June, 1966. (courtesy of Nancy VB Brigham).
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For more, see article in Newsletter 14
Copyright © 2003 Martin Hackl