Cowboy Author’s Catalina Home Reduced by $10 Million
One of the first millionaire authors, Zane Grey was perhaps the most prolific and well known author of western novels.
Though he started out as a dentist, by the time of the publication of his 10th novel in 1912, Riders of the Purple Sage, he was a bestselling author, now attributed with creating much of the mythos on which tales of the west are based.
Grey was prolific. In fact, though he died in 1939, his publisher had sufficient manuscripts on hand that they were able to publish a new Zane Grey novel every year until 1963.
Grey was born in Ohio in 1872. He moved his family to California when he achieved success as a novelist because he wanted to be closer to the film industry. Over time, almost 50 of his novels were adapted for the screen.
Though Grey’s primary California home was in Altadena, the author built a fantastic getaway on Catalina Island, which is about 20 miles off the coast. An avid sportsman who loved to fish, Grey fell in love with the island and built a pueblo-style home on a half-acre plot on the island in 1926. The romantic 16-room home situated on a Catalina hilltop with a magnificent view of the ocean provided Grey with the perfect place for trysts with his many mistresses while his wife, Dolly, and his children stayed at Altadena.
The house was converted into a hotel after Zane’s death in 1939 and has been in the same family for over 50 years. According to Top Ten Real Estate Deals, the property is currently on the market for $6.5 million. A real deal, when you consider the was originally listed at $16.5 million several years ago.
Though he started out as a dentist, by the time of the publication of his 10th novel in 1912, Riders of the Purple Sage, he was a bestselling author, now attributed with creating much of the mythos on which tales of the west are based.
Grey was prolific. In fact, though he died in 1939, his publisher had sufficient manuscripts on hand that they were able to publish a new Zane Grey novel every year until 1963.
Grey was born in Ohio in 1872. He moved his family to California when he achieved success as a novelist because he wanted to be closer to the film industry. Over time, almost 50 of his novels were adapted for the screen.
Though Grey’s primary California home was in Altadena, the author built a fantastic getaway on Catalina Island, which is about 20 miles off the coast. An avid sportsman who loved to fish, Grey fell in love with the island and built a pueblo-style home on a half-acre plot on the island in 1926. The romantic 16-room home situated on a Catalina hilltop with a magnificent view of the ocean provided Grey with the perfect place for trysts with his many mistresses while his wife, Dolly, and his children stayed at Altadena.
The house was converted into a hotel after Zane’s death in 1939 and has been in the same family for over 50 years. According to Top Ten Real Estate Deals, the property is currently on the market for $6.5 million. A real deal, when you consider the was originally listed at $16.5 million several years ago.
1 Comments:
Zane Grey was extraordinarily lucky. Though he worked as a dentist as a young man, he was passionately fond of the Western U.S. and Canada, and longed to live in and write about those areas. He was lucky, because his wife completely understood his desires, and urged him to follow his dream. He had the good grace to thank his wife, repeatedly, in his writings.
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