Dirty Harry - The Superintendent's Cottage
When Scorpio drives into the Hutchinson Rock Quarry trying to throw Dirty Harry off the roof of the bus we get a brief glimpse of a cottage, shown arrowed at far right. The cottage has nothing to do with the movie but its story is worth recounting since it is of local historical interest. It was built in 1891 to house the superintendent of the adjacent Remillard Brick Company; today it is the lone surviving quarry complex building.
In this 1937 image the Hutchinson Rock Quarry is in the center (back then the site was part of Greenbrae before it was annexed to Larkspur). The arrows point to the cottage and the towering smokestack and brickyard kiln of the Remillard Brick Company. The kiln and cottage were built in 1891; the quarry followed it in 1924. San Quentin State Prison is in the background; still operational, it has been there since 1854.
What to do with the delapidated cottage became a cause célèbre when the Hutchinson structures were demolished in the mid 1970’s, a few years after Dirty Harry was filmed there. Here it sits alone awaiting news of its fate.
This 1977 article in the Marin Independent Journal reflected a lack of enthusiasm by the local city council for saving the structure. But thanks to the efforts of the town’s Historical Society and Heritage Committee and just as it was about to be burned as an exercise by the local fire department in 1982, the decision was made to save it.
Then … With doors and windows boarded up the cottage was temporarily moved next to the Remillard brick kiln smokestack, very fitting since these are the only surviving structures from the entire Remillard/Hutchinson site. The brick smokestack, whose letters proclaim ‘RB Co 1891’, survived the closing of the kiln in 1915.
… and Now, The redeveloped kiln site integrated the smokestack into an office and restaurant complex at 125 East Sir Francis Drake Blvd. (The restaurant closed in 2000, a victim of a parking issue). But the cottage is gone from here, moved one last time. (Note the same electric pylon at center on the distant skyline).
Then … A new purpose was found for the cottage; in this 1984 photo, below, a tow truck has taken it to its new home at 2900 Larkspur Landing Circle on the corner of Lincoln Village Circle (map).
… and Now, a $100,000 restoration in 1985 transformed the cottage into a nursery, still there today as the Children’s Cottage Cooperative Preschool.
This map shows 1: the original cottage location, 2: the temporary location, 3: the final (current) location.