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Postcard from Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, California with three color photographs—an outdoor patio with umbrella-covered tables, the Lark Creek Inn sign with building in the background, and a busy dining room with natural light streaming in. Printed on the back: “Just north of San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, Lark Creek Inn is a charmingly restored Victorian, nestled under towering redwoods. Lunch and dinner are served daily, and a Victorian brunch is a popular Sunday offering, with dining on the flower-filled patio, as weather permits.” Photographs by Peter W. Ullman; dated 1975. Current residents of Larkspur, who may know the property at 234 Magnolia Avenue as Perry’s or remember its prior iterations as The Tavern at Lark Creek and yellow Lark Creek Inn, may be surprised at the Victorian building’s storied past. Built in 1888, the two-story, shiplap-sided structure was first home to “Crazy Murphy,” a father of three known locally for alleged bizarre habits, including keeping his “odd looking” red-headed daughter and epileptic son in an upstairs bedroom, placing bars on the windows, and flashes of nudism. According to the book Larkspur Past and Present, the house stood vacant for a time during the 1920s and 30s, falling into disrepair. “The Haunted House,” as it became known, was frequented by transients and nearly condemned by the city until it was purchased by Hil and Mildred Probert in 1937. The Proberts operated a gas station on the property and built a car showroom adjacent to the house with wood beams sourced from the Sausalito Ferry Terminal and A. W. Foster Estate in San Rafael. The home’s porch and surrounding grounds provided a backdrop for the film noir B-movie, Impact, in 1949. In 1971, 234 Magnolia Avenue again switched hands, becoming Lark Creek Inn restaurant and shops. By the postcard’s printing in 1975, yet another set of owners had completed an expansion of the historic building. The charming Lark Creek Inn became ever more upscale under the direction of celebrity restauranteurs and chefs during the 1980s and 90s, and has continued to transform over the last twenty years. Our postcard’s sun-dappled photographs capture just a slice of this Victorian’s fascinating history. Sources: Larkspur Past and Present (Larkspur Heritage Committee, 1991), Redwood Bark |
