1983 Einung / French Pictorial View of Cambria, California

Where Pines Meet the Sea.

This is an unrecorded 1983 pictorial view of Cambria, California's Central Coast. It presents the town at a time when it was growing rapidly, as were many other regional towns throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

A Closer Look

The view is oriented towards the east, overlooking Cambria and its environs from the Pacific. Major roads, neighborhoods, forests, and ranches in the area are labeled. Some of these reflect the town's artistic and oddball character, such as Nitwit Ridge (also spelled Nitt Witt), a home constructed over decades from discarded materials by local artist and garbage collector Arthur 'Art' Harold Beal (1896 - 1992). The Rancho Santa Rosa in the foreground was a Mexican Land Grant that had been subdivided in the late 19th century and partially developed; a significant portion of it was operated as a dairy farm by the Fiscalini family until 1979 and then protected as the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, offering a stunning coastal nature preserve right in the middle of Cambria.

Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway), runs through town, continuing up to San Simeon and Hearst Castle, the glorious palace of media magnate William Radolph Hearst (1863 - 1951), the basis for 'Xanadu' in the 1941 film Citizen Kane. The zebras are a reference to the wide assortment of exotic animals that Hearst kept on the property.

The curious border is meant to look like an elaborate antique frame, though with elements of the view - the title and clouds - impeding into the frame.

Historical Context

This map was produced at a time when Cambria's population was increasing rapidly after the town had been 'put on the map,' so to speak, by a tourism boom in the preceding years. Particularly important was the 1958 opening of Heart Castle (at left here), some ten miles to the north, as a State Historical Monument. Also, a wider tourism boom saw visitors taking the gorgeous coastal route along Highway 1, which runs through the middle of Cambria. The movement of bohemian-types to smaller towns in California in the 1970s was a further boon to Cambria, as were legal protections for the California coastline, which ensured its natural beauty for the future and limited future development. Thus, while clearly recognizable, a view of the town from the same angle today would reveal considerably more housing and development, particularly south and east of the Rancho Santa Rosa.

Publication History and Census

This view was prepared by local artists David Einung, Homer Johns, and Jan French (the latter two operating as Johns-French Graphics) in 1983. We have been unable to locate any other examples in institutional collections or on the market.

Cartographers

David Einung (fl. c. 1977 - present) is an architect, home designer, and photographer based in San Luis Obispo, California. The first part of his career was spent in Cambria, California, after which he relocated to nearby San Luis Obispo in the early 2000s. Einung has designed hundreds of homes in the Central Coast region over the course of his career.   Further Details...

Homer Lynn Johns (February 19, 1945 - March 10, 2025) was a California-based artist who worked in a variety of media, including painting, wood carving, and plaster. Johns was born in Los Angeles and raised in Winslow, Arizona. After serving in the U.S. Navy in the early 1960s, Johns returned to California and settled in Los Angeles, and later San Luis Obispo. Johns worked on decorative elements of homes and businesses throughout California, most notably as a restorative artist at Hearst Castle, specifically the Castle's ceilings. He also designed artistic elements for the lobbies of Hollywood hotels.   Further Details...

Jan French (fl. c. 1980 - present) is a painter, commercial artist, and illustrator based in the Central Coast region of California. Her work primarily consists of watercolor painting of landscapes in California and the American Southwest, done en plein air. Her work is strongly influenced by the California Impressionism art movement of the early 20th century and has been displayed in galleries throughout California.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Slight margin scuffing.