One of the many casualties of the deadly fires that have spread throughout California, claiming 36 lives in the process, is the home of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz in Santa Rosa. Schulz passed away in 2000, but his widow, Jean Schulz, still lived in the house and managed to escape before the flames before they took the house in the early morning according to the Houston Chronicle:
Jean Schulz, 78, evacuated before flames engulfed her hillside home Monday and is staying with a daughter, Monte Schulz said. The Schulzes built the California split-level home in the 1970s and the cartoonist lived there until his death in 2000.
“It’s the house he died in. All of their memorabilia and everything is all gone,” Monte Schulz said.
While the house is gone, along with many of the personal memories of the family and pieces of memorabilia, most was housed at the nearby Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. It too has been affected by the wildfires, but nothing compared to the loss of the artist’s home according to The Washington Post:
The museum, which houses most of the original “Peanuts” art and much memorabilia, announced Thursday that it will close until further notice because of a lack of power, while also noting that the building was spared from damage.
Jean Schulz’s stepson, Monte Schulz, talked to reporters after the fire, confirming his stepmother was safe, the damages to the house, and the
“I am grateful,” Jean Schulz says, “that the museum in Santa Rosa [still] exists to share the work of this wonderful man with the world.”
Authorities are still battling the blazes, with the speed of the flames adding to the severity of their spread.
(Via Houston Chronicle / Washington Post)