Vignette 301 > Treehaven

At the 1890 auction, San Francisco banker James Thompson and his wife, Josephine bought two acres on the corner of Molino and Wildomar. In 1895 they were living there in a 5-bedroom house with a small cottage and a barn. They named it Treehaven. There were six children ages 4 to 17, servants, a cook, a horse, a buggy, a cow and chickens.  James was a member and later president of the Bohemian Club. For his commute to San Francisco, a servant drove him to and from the Mill Valley depot. He frequently stayed in town in a hotel. In the summer he spent two weeks at the annual Bohemian Club Encampment in Monte Rio on the Russian River. Josephine had little interest in life except her husband, her children, her home and her religion. She was a devout Roman Catholic.  Sunday services were held at Treehaven until a church was built in Mill Valley. In June 1895, an electrician began wiring their house. No more candles and oil lamps. Cooking and heating required coal. The city provided water and sewage services. Josephine frequently hosted elegant dinner parties for friends as well as for famous out of town and foreign visitors.