By Betsy Stroman and Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
PHOTO FROM VARDA FAMILY ARCHIVE
“Yanko” Varda sits in front of one of his collages c. 1950.
We’ve heard numerous stories about legendary artist and bon vivant Jean Varda aboard the ferryboat Vallejo. But I recently came across some fresh perspectives in Betsy Stroman’s 2015 book, “The Art and Life of Jean Varda” Here are some lightly edited excerpts from the book:
While visiting Henry Miller in 1947, at Big Sur, Jean Varda met British-born artist Gordon Onslow Ford.
The Onslow Fords had rented an apartment in San Francisco, but Gordon Onslow Ford was looking for studio space outside of the city, and both Varda and Onslow Ford wanted to be closer to the water, so the two began talking about finding a place together.
In 1947, while he was wandering through the Arques shipyard, Varda met upon a 120-foot-long iron-hull ferryboat, called the Vallejo, which dated back to the early 1870s. The ship had carried horse-drawn carriages between Contra Costa and Solano counties, and transported shipyard workers and military personnel between Mare Island and Vallejo during World War II; after that, it was sold for scrap
[by Gardiner Steel Mills] and delivered to the Arques shipyard to be broken up.
Varda, who, by one report, was already squatting in the Vallejo, showed the old ferryboat to Onslow Ford. Varda recounted that they were roaming about and inspecting ... [the Vallejo] when a voice of suspicion called from the shore, 'Hey, you guys, what are you doing there?' There was only one way out of an embarrassing situation. We answered: Is this boat for sale?' When we learned that it was, we looked at each other struck by the same idea. What a magnificent studio it would make! ... Two days later we were wedlocked to her for good or for worse."
Many years later, Onslow Ford described the transaction that led to its purchase: "We hurried over to the Gardiner office in Oakland, arrived rather disheveled, and said we wanted to acquire the ferry. He asked how much money we had. Varda had none. I had $500. So he took that as a down payment and we agreed to pay $60 a month."
Varda arranged to have the boat towed to a berth at the northern edge of Sausalito city limits, next to the Marinship. Onslow Ford purchased a strip of land next to the Argues shipyard, along with an underwater lot that they used for berthing space. The new owners of the Vallejo helped themselves to the building materials that were readily available in the Marinship as they began to remodel the ferryboat to serve as their respective quarters.
"There was a waterfront tradition that no one paid their bills," according to Onslow Ford, who, in an interview many years later, added that "Varda was an instigator of that custom." They recycled old engines and turned steam pipes into chimney flues and kitchen parts. They used wood from the paddle wheels for additions and partitions. Varda enclosed the open stern and built an addition that almost immediately caused the boat to tilt. They closed up some of the original windows and added new ones. They built walls across passenger decks and painted the stack yellow. For nearly a decade, the additions continued. Tenants moved into the pilot houses, which expanded into more rooms, and they built lean-tos on the upper deck.
The original plan was for Varda to have the side of the ferryboat next to the land. But after he complained that he couldn't stay at this end because there was no sun, they threw a party for 60 people and tried to turn the boat around. The wind was too strong, but the next day they managed to turn the ship with the aid of three men and a rowboat. From then on, Varda was at the end of the boat that faced the water, which he reached via a long rickety gangway, lined with sculptures created out of discarded wooden industrial molds. In an especially high tide, the gangway was underwater, and visitors could only reach Varda's quarters by rowboat.
Varda's guests seated themselves on benches at an 18-foot table Varda built out of the original benches on the old ferryboat. Surrounding the table were alcoves, counters, beds, and a backlit bottle and concrete fireplace he built from salvaged materials. Light came into the area from huge skylights and windows. Colored bottles, stacked several feet up against gently sloping windows, substituted for stained glass.
Maya Angelou, who sang and danced at the Purple Onion during those days, became friendly with Varda. This is how she described the entry to the Vallejo: “Gaily colored pennants floated on posts attached to the boat. Cut-glass windows, oddly shaped, broke the monotony of weathered wood. Large pieces of sculpture stood sentinel in the area leading to the bridge in the sunlight. The boat looked like a happy child's dream castle.”
Betsy’s book is available at the Sausalito public library, and on Amazon. In its review, Amazon states: “Elizabeth Leavy [Betsy] Stroman has vividly brought this piece of previously hidden history back to light.”