House and Home

Guy C. Earl’s resolve to spend more time with his young family was severely tested by his older brother. One of the first to recognize the potential of shipping California fruit East by train, Edwin T. Earl became a big player in the produce industry when he secured a patent on an improved refrigerator car.
 It was the heyday of the trusts, and the Earl Fruit Company was challenged by one of the largest ones—the Armour meat empire, which owned its own fleet of refrigerator cars. The ensuing trade war required plenty of legal help and Guy did his part. When Edwin’s patent was upheld in court, it became apparent that the Chicago corporation would have to buy him out. As negotiations intensified, Guy reluctantly moved to Los Angeles with his wife and four children.
 On Valentine’s Day, 1901, Edwin Earl retired from the fruit and refrigerator car business as a multimillionaire. Guy also reaped a substantial profit. Flush with capital, Edwin became intrigued by an ambitious new plan. Hydraulic engineer Julius Howells wanted to convert a region in the Sierras, known as Big Meadows, into a power-producing reservoir, capable of serving the cities of the Bay Area. Convinced that this could be the opportunity of a lifetime, the Earl Brothers agreed to finance and manage the project.
 As their plans took practical shape, Guy realized that his role would be time-consuming and involve considerable travel. It was nearly summer time when he returned with his family to the Bay Area and, as usual, they all looked forward to spending another vacation in the San LorenzoValley. Discussing the upcoming year with his wife, Ella, it occurred to them that the children might profit from an extended stay in the country.
 After a visit to Felton, Guy encountered a friend on the train. Oakland real estate man Edgar Bishop owned a summer residence in South Ben Lomond, and, as it happened, another holding in the neighborhood. “My father told Mr. Bishop he was interested in some property,” daughter Alice recalled, “and Mr. Bishop told him of a lot he should check out. He wrote my mother, and she and the children went up to see it. It was beautiful, covered with orchards with apples and pears and the oak and Madrone was still standing and there was a stream running through the property.”
 It was James Pierce’s old home, which he had dubbed “Hillside.” Edgar Bishop had purchased it for a wealthy relative, formerly married to a Hawaiian princess. Unfortunately, his elderly cousin did not enjoy Ben Lomond, so Edgar agreed to market the property.
 Hillside was architecturally intriguing, incorporating relics of Ben Lomond’s origins. Alice told a reporter that: “The house had its beginnings as two cabins located in the area known as shanty town which was used by the mill hands. Pierce combined two cabins with a large living room in the center. The floor of the barn was made from lumber used in the flume which spanned the length of the San LorenzoValley and crossed the property.”
After installing an indoor bathroom, the Earls moved in and Hillside became their year-round residence in Ben Lomond. When Guy was not visiting bankers in New York or drawing up corporate documents, he caught the Friday morning “Del Monte Special” to spend weekends in Ben Lomond.
 As told by P.G.& E.’s official historian: “The first step was to secure options on the Big Meadow lands.” The Earls’ agent, Arthur Breed, “traveled the length and breadth of Big Meadows. When he telegraphed Guy Earl of the reporting options secured, his messages were in code.” By the spring of 1902, the brothers and their partners held in their hands the rights to purchase over nearly 15,000 acres of land. At the end of March, they quietly incorporated the Western Power Company.
 There was one more step to be taken before the Earls could proceed openly. Notices of claims to water rights must be posted and recorded. Julius Howells personally staked out the necessary claim, beating a rival to the county recorder’s office by less than an hour.
Although the Big Meadows project would not be completed for many years, the Earls and Howells quickly agreed to call the future reservoirLake Almanor, employing the names of sisters Alice, Martha, and Eleanor Earl. That fall, as details about the planned power plant—“second only to Niagara”—were revealed in the press, Guy and Ella Earl decided to execute an option of their own and purchased the 22 acre Hillside property from Edgar Bishop. “Californians need roots,” her father told Alice, “and Hillside is to provide the roots for the entire Earl family.”