the lost chapter: Hop Louie and the Stockton Islander (image heavy) - General Tiki

A abstractiki Tiki Socialite Lodi, CA Joined: Aug 29, 2009 Posts: 606	A abstractiki Posted posted on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 6:30 PM The other day I looked up The Islander architect Warren Wong’s name in a directory on the chance he was still alive and in the area. He is 85 yrs old and to my surprise he answered the phone! I explained the whole urban archeology /Tiki thing to him and asked him if he had the old blue prints or any pictures of the Islander. He said maybe but he needed help searching for them. I quickly agreed to help out and met him at his home today. Come to find out he’s got a great MCM home that he designed in the 50’s on the Port of Stockton main channel. So next thing I know I’m in his car and we are driving around Stockton. We arrive at a huge old Mansion (14,000 sq ft) that he said he grew up in. He took me inside, we wondered around a maze of rooms filled with old stuff and then wound up in the living room. This room was filled with big drawers that contained his old blueprints. There were lots and lots of drawers and each one contained probably 75-100 blue prints. After searching about 30 drawers I spotted the words Pollardville. I pulled it out and there it was, The Islander. Warren told me that these were original prints that include new notes and new instructions/drawings added to facilitate the moving of the Islander to Palardville and its reassembly. I took pictures of all the prints, there must have been 10 separate prints in all. I asked Warren some questions about the Islander and there wasn't much that he could remember that I didn't already know. He didn't have any photos or menus or any of that stuff. He told me that Hop Louie was a nice man and that he ran into him in LA a long time ago. I showed him a copy of the Islander artist’s rendering and asked if he new who drew it and he said he did! I asked if he new where it was and he took me through more rooms to the basement. I was feeling pretty good about this expedition already having found the blueprints. If I could just find the original artist rendering, what a great treasure that would be. Once in the basement we looked through a weird print hanging cabinet where he had more blue prints and artist renderings of different projects. No luck. He said one more place to look. A tall metal cabinet with long narrow boxes for prints that were rolled up. One by one I shined the flashlight on the labels on the lids. One by one I read them off to him. After about 100 boxes I was on the next to the last row at the bottom of the cabinet. Then I saw it “Hop Louie Islander” !! My eyes were popping out, “I found it” I yelled. I got down on my knees and pried the little metal door open. I shined the light inside and… my heart sank, it was empty. We looked around some more but he said if it wasn't in there then he doesn't have them any more. I helped him dust and clean his cabinets and then we left for his house. In the car I gave him an 8x10 print I made of the color Islander photo, and some from the Bank of Stockton photo Archives. He was happy to have them and poured over them with his old eyes. I thanked him for his time and he thanked me for the visit. He had been wanting to go over there and rummage around for a while now. Mr. Wong is a nice man who is still busy working and donating his time to help American Indians obtain affordable “green” housing and further their education. I then left his house and headed south, in search of Tahiti Iti… but that’s another story… Happy Hunting! Abstractiki [ Edited by: abstractiki 2009-10-29 18:31 ]

The other day I looked up The Islander architect Warren Wong’s name in a directory on the chance he was still alive and in the area. He is 85 yrs old and to my surprise he answered the phone! I explained the whole urban archeology /Tiki thing to him and asked him if he had the old blue prints or any pictures of the Islander. He said maybe but he needed help searching for them. I quickly agreed to help out and met him at his home today. Come to find out he’s got a great MCM home that he designed in the 50’s on the Port of Stockton main channel.

So next thing I know I’m in his car and we are driving around Stockton. We arrive at a huge old Mansion (14,000 sq ft) that he said he grew up in. He took me inside, we wondered around a maze of rooms filled with old stuff and then wound up in the living room. This room was filled with big drawers that contained his old blueprints. There were lots and lots of drawers and each one contained probably 75-100 blue prints. After searching about 30 drawers I spotted the words Pollardville. I pulled it out and there it was, The Islander.

Warren told me that these were original prints that include new notes and new instructions/drawings added to facilitate the moving of the Islander to Palardville and its reassembly.

I took pictures of all the prints, there must have been 10 separate prints in all. I asked Warren some questions about the Islander and there wasn't much that he could remember that I didn't already know. He didn't have any photos or menus or any of that stuff. He told me that Hop Louie was a nice man and that he ran into him in LA a long time ago. I showed him a copy of the Islander artist’s rendering and asked if he new who drew it and he said he did! I asked if he new where it was and he took me through more rooms to the basement.

I was feeling pretty good about this expedition already having found the blueprints. If I could just find the original artist rendering, what a great treasure that would be.

Once in the basement we looked through a weird print hanging cabinet where he had more blue prints and artist renderings of different projects. No luck. He said one more place to look. A tall metal cabinet with long narrow boxes for prints that were rolled up. One by one I shined the flashlight on the labels on the lids. One by one I read them off to him. After about 100 boxes I was on the next to the last row at the bottom of the cabinet. Then I saw it “Hop Louie Islander” !! My eyes were popping out, “I found it” I yelled. I got down on my knees and pried the little metal door open. I shined the light inside and… my heart sank, it was empty.

We looked around some more but he said if it wasn't in there then he doesn't have them any more. I helped him dust and clean his cabinets and then we left for his house. In the car I gave him an 8x10 print I made of the color Islander photo, and some from the Bank of Stockton photo Archives. He was happy to have them and poured over them with his old eyes. I thanked him for his time and he thanked me for the visit. He had been wanting to go over there and rummage around for a while now. Mr. Wong is a nice man who is still busy working and donating his time to help American Indians obtain affordable “green” housing and further their education.

I then left his house and headed south, in search of Tahiti Iti… but that’s another story…