The whole of Glen Ellen was severely damaged by the Nuns Fire during the October 2017 Northern California wildfires.

In 1859, Charles V. Stuart purchased a part of the Rancho Agua Caliente land grant and in 1868 began building a house there, eventually establishing a 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) vineyard he named Glen Ellen after his wife.

The United States Census Bureau fixes the total area at 2.1 square miles (5.4 km2), 99.95% of it land and 0.05% covered by water.

There were 421 housing units at an average density of 200.2 per square mile (77.3/km2), of which 60.4% were owner-occupied and 39.6% were occupied by renters.

Writer Jack London lived in Glen Ellen from 1909 to his death in 1916, where he devoted much of his time to development of his Beauty Ranch and the building of his mansion, Wolf House.

Many of his novels and stories, notably The Iron Heel and The Valley of the Moon mention Glen Ellen and Sonoma County.

The Sonoma Developmental Center is located just outside Glen Ellen near the Jack London ranch.

Its predecessor, the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children, was the setting for Jack London's story "Told in the Drooling Ward."

Glen Ellen is located in the Wine Country and is part of the Sonoma Mountain AVA.

Like all the communities in Sonoma Valley, Glen Ellen is home to many vineyards and wineries including B.R.

Quarryhill's collection includes rare species such as Acer pentaphyllum, Cornus capitata, Holboellia coriacea, Illicium simonsii, and Rosa chinensis var.

spontanea, all native to Sichuan, China, as well as extensive collections of various wild Asian dogwoods, lilies, magnolias, maples, oaks, roses, and rhododendrons.