Carmel Bach Festival - Cottages, Gardens & Cantatas 2014 - House with the Red Gate & Cimarron

The House with the Red Gate

The Carmel Bach Festival Cottages Gardens & Cantatas tour continues with our next property, The House with the Red Gate located on Camino Real between 7th and 8th Avenue. 

This lovely cottage, built in the 1920's is the home of artist Kathy Sharpe and Stanford professor William Sharpe. 

The garden, designed by Michele Clement, is filled with vibrantly colorful flowering plants.

The bright colors of the garden seamlessly extend past the front door into the home

where cheery splashes of color

accent the cottage.

Light streams in through windows

and skylights 

making this an artist's paradise.  

The Outlook String Quartet which consists of very talented high school musicians from Carmel, Pacific Grove and Robert Louis Stevenson High School perform for our enjoyment. 

Cimarron 
26085 Scenic Avenue 

In 1931, when few structures existed on Carmel Point, Hollywood silent film actor Richard Dix built a home on Scenic Drive. Modeled after a Taos pueblo, the picture below shows the home shortly after construction.

Richard Dix stared in numerous silent films from 1917 to 1929 and was one of the few actors to successfully make the transition to the "talkies."

                              

In 1931 Dix stared in Cimarron the first film to receive more than six Academy Award nominations. Though he did not receive the Best Actor award, the house he built with stunning views of Carmel Beach he named Cimarron.

In 1937 the home was sold to Gustav Lannestock and his wife Lucile Cherry Lannestock.  They would reside in Cimarron for the next 45 years.  Lucille was an early member of the Carmel Bach Festival and the Carmel Music Society.  



"The couple opened their home to some of the greatest minds of their time.  John Steinbeck, Ed Ricketts, Henry Miller, John Cage and Robinson Jeffers were all frequent guests, cavorting about the grounds while Lucille played the living room's grand piano.  The Lannestocks hosted a cocktail party every evening at 5:30, open to one and all, whether old friends or those merely strolling by on the beach." (1) 

Cimarron has been significantly changed over the years. The current owner Barbara Ferguson made the decision a few years ago to bring the property back to its Southwestern roots. With the addition of Arizona flagstone stepping stones,

organ pipe cactus,

flat roof terrace with surrounding parapet,

rounded stuccoed corners 

and decorative tiles, accents of Pueblo Revival architecture 

are seen throughout the property.

Here in the tranquil backyard patio, it is said that John Steinbeck wrote parts of The Grapes of Wrath. 

Enjoy the following video of The House with the Red Gate and Cimarron.

Next up Rivermouth where we will enjoy the music of the ocean and the Winton Garden which overflows with flora.

Part 3 Rivermouth and Winton Garden
Part 1 Mission Orchard House and Le Papillon  

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Credits 

All photos and video by L. A. Momboisse www.carmelbytheseaca.blogspot.com except those listed below:

- Black and White photo taken of a photo on the wall at Cimarron.
- Photo poster of Cimarron from Wikipedia

(1) Chatfield, Michael. "Rooted in the Past." Carmel Magazine. Summer/Fall 2013: Page 87