In 1961 Hélène Hooper Brown donated the entire property to the state, stipulating that it be used as a park and named for her good friend, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, "a true pioneer." She included the requirement that Waterfall House be converted into a "museum for the custody and display of indigenous Indian relics, flora and fauna of the California coastal area, and historical objects pertaining to the Big Sur country.". Lathrop and Hélène left Big Sur for Florida in 1956 where Lathrop died in 1959. After one sleepless night, they never returned. They hadn't anticipated the metal siding and roof expanding and contracting with the daytime heat and night time cold, and the noisy popping and creaking that accompanied it. The living room was richly painted in blue.īut despite the sights above the reach of the fog, the Browns only spent one night in the new residence. A wall was constructed facing due west to block out the intense, direct rays of the afternoon sun. The views from the home included those from the main windows in the large living room which looked not out to sea but up and down the coast. The family called it the Gas Station, although it later become known as Tin House. It had a kitchen, living room, and quarters for a maid. When complete, the distinctive, modern house had bold lines. They had a 3 miles (4.8 km) road to the site built, hired a crew to haul the tin gas station parts up the steep road, and paid an architect to assemble a home using the various parts of the two gas stations. They selected a site on a ridge 1,960 ft (597m) above the coast. The Browns bought two abandoned gas station buildings. A side impact of the rationing was that gasoline was in short supply, forcing some gas stations out of business. War-time rationing of vital supplies included building materials required some ingenuity. In 1944, during World War II, they decided to build a house three miles inland on a ridge high above the fog. It supplied power to three residences, a blacksmith shop, and the Funicular railway. The undershot wheel ran a 32-volt generator and was the first electric power in the Big Sur area. He installed the wheel on McWay Creek in 1932. He used hand-split redwood from the canyon and other materials he bought. During this time, Saddle Rock Ranch foreman Hans Ewoldsen worked in the machine shop of the highway construction crew to build a Pelton wheel. Construction of the Carmel San Simeon Highway lasted from 1919–1937. The interior was decorated with fine furnishings and classic paintings. The entryway was inlaid with an ornamental brass fish, a gold octopus, and a compass rose. They replaced that in 1940 with a modern two-story home named Waterfall House. The Browns first built a rough redwood cabin on a site at the top of cliffs opposite McWay Falls.
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