Chips off the ol’ Duke

Deepa Bharath

The Duke’s French waterfront chateau is gone.

But Newport Beach Realtor Michael Thornton has made sure that

pieces of John Wayne’s home, which stood majestically on Bayshore

Drive until late last year, are still alive.

Thornton walked around the 7,105-square-foot home the day its

owners, Robert and Beverly Cohen, demolished it to build their

proposed two-story, 12,437-square-foot home.

Thornton said he “rescued” wood from the demolished home that was

headed to the dumpster, cleaned it up, cut it into little squares and

mounted them on a card with a picture of the home and a paragraph

summarizing its history.

The cards, which bear a guarantee of authenticity, are now on sale

for $19.95 a piece.

“Anybody could’ve done what I did,” Thornton said. “But in the

end, I just wanted to do something to save and share an important

part of our history.”

He said the fans love the cards with a piece of the home where

John Wayne lived for 16 years. He is said to have made 22 films,

including his Oscar-winning “True Grit,” when he lived there. He also

had a private dock at his home where he moored his yacht Wild Goose.

The man is “still huge,” Thornton said.

“John Wayne is a hero, even now, years after his death,” he said.

“He’s everything America stands for -- the rugged individualism, the

Wild West. People are going crazy over this stuff.”

He said he expects to sell thousands of these cards, but that 25%

or maybe more of the proceeds will go to charities, including the

John Wayne Cancer Clinic.

The house was a Newport Beach landmark and tourist attraction, but

was not listed in Newport Beach’s historical registry.

Thornton said most cruises went by the celebrity home, hoping to

catch a glimpse of the Duke.

“And I’ve heard that if John Wayne happened to be standing

outside, he’d wave out to the tourists,” he said.

Thornton said he also has a few bricks from the home and hopes to

sell those pieces exclusively to benefit charities.

In the beginning, he said, he thought about taking the wood and

making a model of John Wayne’s home.

“But I’m glad I decided to do this,” Thornton said. “It reaches

more people this way.”