In Martinez in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, John Muir’s home became a center of both family ranching and American conservation. The fourteen-room Italianate Victorian mansion, built in 1883 by his father-in-law, Dr. John Strentzel, stood on land tied to the Muir family’s extensive fruit ranch and adjoining native oak woodland and grassland. After moving there with his wife Louisa in 1890, Muir lived in the house until 1914, writing books and articles, co-founding the Sierra Club, serving as its first president, and helping build support for protecting major natural landscapes. His study and desk remain linked to ideas that helped shape the modern conservation movement.