Long Day’s Journey Up to Tao House…
In the secluded hills of Danville, California lies Tao House: a final home and harbor for the father of modern American theater and Nobel Prize Winner, Eugene O’Neill. O’Neill and his wife, Carlotta Monterey O’Neill, designed a pseudo-Chinese house, channeling the couples energy, creativity, and peace of mind. A 10 min. drive from downtown Danville, visitors give self-guided tours on Saturdays, imagining O’Neill writing plays like “The Iceman Cometh,” or “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” in his study overlooking the vast San Ramon Valley. Visitors first see a Spanish adobe house, but the gate going through the house is a black door, warding off negativity— Dao, Da, Bie, Shu. Architecture from the 1930’s stimulates the property with a pool house, barn, patio, and bright colors. Their time spent on the property was filled with gardening, taking care of farm animals, reading, entertaining, and listening to records. The purpose of Tao House was to give Eugene exclusivity and reason behind his writing. On the property, feelings of tranquility overwhelm you from the hills surrounding the property. My time there was meaningful, taking in the isolationist spirit of Eugene O’Neill. #SFSU
Sincerely,
Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site
Eugene O’Neill was America’s only Nobel Prize-winning playwright, and this home and studio in Contra Costa County is where he wrote many of his best-known and most celebrated works, including "A Long Day’s Journey into Night," "The Iceman Cometh" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten."
State(s): California
Established: 1976
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