Gala at House of Happy Walls evokes an earlier era

The museum at Jack London State Park - nearly empty because it's being remodeled - was literally 'retrofit' into a 1920s party for park supporters.|

Clocks in the House of Happy Walls at Jack London State Historic Park seemed to whirl backward Saturday night to the flashy, flamboyant, fabulous 1920s.

Ford Model Ts glistened just outside the museum and former home of Charmian London. Inside, guests decked out for the Great Gatsby sipped Buena Vista Winery bubbly, noshed appetizers that were the bee's knees and thrilled to professional actors dancing the Charleston.

All that was just part of the roaring fun of An Evening with 'The Crowd,' a soirée that transported supporters of the park to when Charmian built the home following the fiery loss of the Wolf House in 1913 and the death in 1916 of her husband, the universally renowned author/adventurer.

Today, the House of Happy Walls is undergoing a remodel and upgrade. Removal of the exhibits gave champions of the Glen Ellen park an opportunity to use the two-story landmark for a benefit bash.

There was plentiful wine, an upstairs bar and appetizers from The Girl & the Fig, including Alsatian onion tartlets, goat cheese and lavender toast, and apricot-cured salmon with crème fraîche on potato latkes with caviar.

All through the house was music à la Gershwin, Porter and Bechet. Actors with Transcendence Theatre Company, a constant ally of the people who sustain the Jack London park, appeared almost magically here and there and broke into the performances that win them praise as absolutely hotsy-totsy.

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