Nut Tree: From a California Ranch to a Design, Food, and Hospitality Icon

Diane Power Zimmerman will share highlights from her book Nut Tree: From a California Ranch to a Design, Food, and Hospitality Icon. As the oldest granddaughter of the founders of a famous northern California roadside destination, Nut Tree, Power Zimmerman is uniquely poised to tell the story of a twentieth century icon.

The real story begins in 1921, when newlyweds, Helen and Bunny (Edward) Power took over a lease on a 150-acre California ranch and disaster struck. A late frost and early heat wave wiped out most of the fruit crop, and what was left, could no longer be shipped to the cities in the East. In desperation the couple set up a roadside stand to sell fruit and recapture some profits. They soon realized that American’s love affair with the automobile had just begun.

Helen and Bunny Power were in the right place and time to start a small farm-based restaurant that grew into a multi-million-dollar entertainment complex thanks to the advent of the automobile. While the history begins with the California Gold Rush, the main story focuses on the entrepreneurial successes of her family.

After the business closed, Power Zimmerman began to collect the stories tinged with nostalgia and the vivid memories proffered by fans. Power Zimmerman draws from family records, letters, newspaper clippings, photos, and the extensive archives of the Vacaville Museum to create a visually stunning book full of tales and photos chronicling the twentieth century. Power Zimmerman reflects on the writing experience and tells how a simple history took on a life of its own.

An in-person and virtual presentation by Diane Power Zimmerman, author and a fifth-generation member of the founding family of the Nut Tree