In This Fresno House Purchased by Intellectual Renaissance Foundation, W. Saroyan Lived his Last 17-20 Years

Yet on 4 May 2015 the famous Armenian writer William Saroyan’s house was put on sale by the California Eastern District Court of Fresno, where, according to local news, the writer passed the last 17 year of his life. The house, built in a simple style at 2729 W. Griffith Way, to the west of Cooper Middle School, had three owners after Saroyan’s death and twice faced the danger of losing the property. The house, which has 1228 square feet, was built in 1964, has three bedrooms and a bathroom. According to its neighbor, when Saroyan lived there, he’d planted fruit trees. The house has been included in the list of urban historical monuments. A memorial was fixed on the wall in 1989, on which the titles of ten books by Saroyan, while living in that house, are written.

To save the house from an uncertain fate, RA Ministry of Diaspora and Writer’s Union of Armenia came out with a public statement last year, by which they called on Armenian benefactors to purchase W. Saroyan’s Fresno house, which had been auctioned off, and make it a house-museum. Recently it became known that the house of the world-famous writer was purchased by the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation, founded by Arthur Janibekyan.  Understanding and acknowledging the universal importance of Saroyan’s heritage, and considering the poor condition of the house, with the purpose of saving it from extinction, the Foundation began the work of turning it into a home-museum.

To get information on this and coming plans, 168.am contacted Hakob Hakobyan, Director of Intellectual Renaissance Foundation. The latter informed that the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation, founded by Arthur Janibekyan, which recently instigated the development of Armenian Wikipedia and contributed to rising Armenian intellectual potential on the international level, with the decision of serving the same purpose, has purchased W. Saroyan’s Fresno house. According to H. Hakobyan the house will be reconstructed as a home-museum, which will become a cultural center for Saroyan and Armenian studies. Literary evenings, festivals and other cultural events are to be held in the home-museum.

-How was the decision made to purchase W. Saroyan’s Fresno house?

-When news was circulated that Saroyan’s house was again to be auctioned off, and that its fate was uncertain, Mr. Janibekyan decided to purchase it, as he personally appreciates William Saroyan’s literary heritage. The decision was made to provide funding firstly, for purchase, then, accordingly, it was decided to turn it into a home-museum, and work in that direction is gradually being implemented.

–In what stage is the reconstruction of the home-museum?

-Currently we’re trying to include, as much as possible, more Saroyan specialists in the project. We are trying to find them both in Armenia and the USA, as well as in other countries. Saroyan himself was such a great phenomenon, it’s impossible to be led by the opinion of a single person or organization, especially, when we are speaking of something as serious as the creation of a home-museum.

-Have you found scholars, experts on Saroyan’s work, with whom you are in touch with or discussing the establishment of the home-museum?

-For this purpose we’re going to make an announcement, by which we’re going to inform the wider public of the establishment of a “Saroyan fan club.” A reconstruction plan of the home-museum is in the forthcoming plans. Currently operations are intensively progressing in these two directions.

-Besides renovating the inside of the house, do you plan any architectural changes for the house, purchased by Intellectual Renaissance Foundation?

Naturally, it’ll undergo reconstruction, it’s inevitable, as after Saroyan’s death, throughout these 35 years, the house has had different owners, and currently, mildly put, it doesn’t have a presentable appearance. Presently we’re working on just this concept, and what the final result will be after reconstruction, whether it will be restored like it was in the period of the 1960-70s, when Saroyan was living there, or will it have a final appearance close to it, are still under discussion. Many issues will be clarified soon.

-Is it anticipated to be a home-museum or a museum-institute?

-It’s going to be a home-museum, i.e. its primary and major function will be a museum, but the building will also serve as a cultural center for the development of Saroyan and Armenian studies. It’s anticipated that after final reconstruction it will be alive with an active cultural life.

-Recently information was circulating that Saroyan, in fact, had had two houses in Fresno, one in which he lived for just a few years, and the house in which he did his creative work, which has basically been robbed. What do you know about this? Exactly which house was purchased by the Foundation?

In the house purchased by Intellectual Renaissance Foundation, Saroyan lived the last 17-20 years of his life. The “robbed house” you mentioned possibly refers to this one, as a plaque fixed on the wall and some other things were stolen. However, I don’t think information on what was stolen is clarified, and regarding the purchase and returning of Saroyan’s belongings, we are intensively working on this.

–Is there any cooperation with the RA Ministry of Culture regarding such wide-scale work as the establishment of a home-museum, initiated by Arthur Janibekyan and the Foundation?

-No, all funding invested for the purpose of creating a home-museum is from Arthur Janibekyan’s philanthropy.

We want to inform that the Intellectual Renaissance Foundation is currently working on, and will soon publicize its reconstruction project and action plan. The Foundation proposes all interested persons to submit their ideas by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

By Nvard Manvelyan