Carmel Heritage Society 24th Annual House & Garden Tour 2017 - Frank Lloyd Wright House, C'est La View, Graham House, Harrell Guest House, Solheim

Carmel Heritage Society First Murphy House
"it's ours to protect"

Each home in our little village of Carmel-by-the-Sea has a unique personality, which is summed up not only by the walls of the building, and the gardens that surround them, but by the people who built those walls, and those who made them their home.

 
Carmel Then/Now First Murphy House 

If you missed this years tour come along while we recap the history and highlights of Carmel Heritage Society 24th Annual House and Garden Tour featuring five homes as well as First Murphy House with exhibit Carmel Then/Now. 

Mrs. Clinton (Della) Walker House

Frank Lloyd Wright House 

We wrote extensively on the history of this house last year.  So this year we decided to take our new drone "Sparky" down to the point for pictures. The following video features aerial shots of both the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Ce'st La View.  

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C'est La View 
Ellina and Orville Golub
Orville Golub (1915 - 2015) grew up in Seattle, he graduated from the University of Washington in 1936, and received his PhD in Microbiology from Berkeley a few years later.  It was at Berkeley that he met his future bride Ellina Marx Jacobs. After a honeymoon in Carmel, Dr. Golub went on to serve in the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant Commander.
East Elevation of C'est La View
Upon returning to civilian life in 1948, Dr. Golub founded Bio-Science Laboratories in Los Angeles along with three colleagues.  This laboratory allowed physicians for the first time to have global access to a clinical reference laboratory for diagnostic testing.   
C'est La View West Elevation In 1971 the Golub's returned to Carmel and hired famed architect Albert Henry Hill to design their dream home on the dunes of Carmel beach. 
C'est La View southern elevation
Albert Henry Hill (1913-1984) was born in England.  In 1916, his family moved to Berkeley, California.  Mr. Hill received a bachelor's degree from Berkeley in 1935 and his master's from Harvard in 1938. 

Natural wood siding on Albert Henry Hill House on Lopez Avenue in Carmel 
In 1961 Mr. Hill built a vacation house for his family on Lopez Avenue in Carmel, eventually this turned into a row of three polygonal shaped houses. 

Albert Henry Hill Bay Area Style design for three homes on Lopez Avenue
Hill's design style was known as the Bay Area Style and it was this style he used when designing C'est La View.
C'est La View natural redwood siding

Triangular thrust over entry
As unique on the inside as it is on the outside, the home consists of a series of intersecting triangular planes both horizontally and vertically.

No triangular nook is left unused as spaces flow naturally toward windows to capture the view. 

Hill provided built-ins along walls making an efficient use of space.

Triangle pop-outs emerge throughout the home. 
Kitchen window view toward Point Lobos
One such pop-out creates a window box with a view from the kitchen on the south elevation,

highlighting the beautiful sunsets over Point Lobos. 

Another triangle pop-out on the west elevation, 

 a spectacular view of Pebble Beach, and 

Pescadero Point in the distance. 

There is only one round
architectural feature in C'est La View, 

a light fixture over the dining table. 

The stained glass used throughout the home was designed by David Arnold of San Francisco.  

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Graham House 

Many of our cottages in Carmel have at one time or another been home to a person of historic military distinction.  The Graham House, and Harrell House have this honor. 

Walter Scribner Schuyler

Walter Scribner Schuyler (1850 - 1932) graduated West Point in 1870 and served in the United States Calvary in the trans-Mississippi West during the 1870's and 1880's. As colonel of the 203rd New York Infantry during the Spanish American War in 1898 he served in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines. After serving as First Commander of the US Army Pacific command, Schuyler was promoted to Brigadier General in 1911.  He retired from a 43 year military career in 1913, and shortly thereafter married Elizabeth Stanton and moved to Carmel.

Schuyler (back left) Buffalo Bill (front right)

Their Carmel cottage was originally located on the north east corner of Fourth and Carmelo. Though it had a glimpse of the blue ocean, the cottage was moved across the street to its present location.  

The first building record for the Schuyler's is a permit taken out in 1927 to remodel the cottage which is listed as 42 x 54 square feet.  Though no builder is noted, both Hugh Comstock and M. J. Murphy are on record as having done work on this property.

After the death of the General, Elizabeth hired Hugh Comstock to make some alterations to the property in 1932 and M. J. Murphy added a bathroom to the property in 1941. 

Prior to renovation in 2014

After renovation 2014

The house was extensively remodeled by architect Steve Howard, in 2014.

The intention of the renovation was to honor the original scale and architectural detail with 

 Carmel classic cottage board and batten

used from the entry 

and carried through 

the living, dining, and 

open concept kitchen. 

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Harrell Guest House & Garden 

Born in 1911, Ben Harrell (1911 - 1981) graduated West Point in 1933. As a commander, Harrell was responsible for devising plans for amphibious landings (an invasion convoy of more than 1000 ships) into North Africa in November of 1942. During the invasion of Southern France he was in command of the Seventh Infantry Division that captured Strasbourg Germany in December 1944. He was assigned to the Pentagon in 1955, and promoted to Brigadier General one year later. In 1967, Harrell assumed the command of the Sixth United States Army at the Presidio in San Francisco. From 1968 until his retirement in 1971, General Harrell served our country as Commander of Allied Land Forces in Southeastern Europe headquartered in Turkey.  

Ben Harrell

Upon retirement, the general and his wife, Harriet Pearl Campbell (1914 - 2012), chose Carmel as their first permanent residence. Harriet quickly became a true Carmelite, volunteering, entertaining, and gardening.  She also ran the local UNICEF store in town for over a decade.  

Their main house began life in 1927 as a 12 x 20 square foot studio build by the owner at the time, F. P. Howard.  Howard then added a 10 x 18 addition to his cottage in 1928.  In 1931 Hugh Comstock was hired to add a 37 x 27 addition.  

In 1979 the General hired noted Monterey Architect Francis Palms (1910 - 1982) to design and build a guest house over the existing garage. 

Mr. Palms had a long career in historic restoration having worked on several of the buildings in Monterey, including Colton Hall and the House of the Four Winds.  

Mr. Palms' design for the Harrell Guest Cottage in 1979 featured rustic board and batten siding,

salt-box style roof,

and veranda with staircase.

A gravel pathway winds around
 the extra large lot  where
mature trees, lily of the Nile,

ivy, tree ferns, 

camelia, 

and fuchsia flourish. 

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Solheim 

Our last house of the day, is surrounded by a stand of majestic Monterey cypress.

Solheim west elevation

The earliest record found for this property was a deed from 1914 listing three women as the owners of the property on Carmelo and Santa Lucia. The purchase price from the Carmel Development Company, $10. The first building records on file for this property and the lot just to the east, show the owner to be Emily Bell.

In 1921, Ms. Bell took out a building permit for two small cottages. One for each of the lots. One possibly the main house and one a servants quarters which was common at the time.  

Solheim chalk rock path to entry on south elevation

John Bathen a native of Norway and his English wife Lillian came to Carmel in the early 1920's and purchased two lots from Ms. Bell in 1921. Mr. Bathen was a stonemason by trade, and he began adding to each of the existing homes examples of his trade to show future clients.

Bathen also acquired a quarry in Carmel Valley and established the Santa Lucia Quarry on Dolores between Ocean and 7th. 

In 1927 records show Mr. Bathen making an addition and doing repairs to what is now called the Solheim house.

Solheim chalk rock garage west elevation

In 1934 he made another addition bringing the square footage of the house to 800 and added a 216 square foot chalk rock garage. 

Solheim southern elevation 

Frank Simeon Townsend and Ruth Floyd Townsend came to Carmel in 1931 from their hometown of Tacoma, Washington.  They purchased the modest two-story shingled house from Mr. Bathen in 1939.

The home remained in the Townsend family for almost 60 years with the Townsend's making numerous additions to the property.  Frank was president of the Carmel Players, an amateur dramatic group and his wife Ruth started the Carmel chapter of the Girl Scouts. One of their daughters, Charlotte Townsend, would go on to serve as mayor of Carmel from 1982 to 1986.  

Solheim patio on south elevation

In 2003, the house was extensively remodeled by Carmel architect Brian Congleton.  Mr. Congleton has restored and renovated a number of historic properties including two in Carmel, First Murphy House, home to the Carmel Heritage Society, and Hansel, Hugh Comstock's first house. 

Congleton kept much of the original footprint 

while redefining and bringing the original craftsman design back into the home. 

The home flows beautifully from dining 

to the breakfast nook off the kitchen. 

And an open concept living room flows through the music area to 

a large family room with 

wrap around windows for sunset views. 

On the upper level bedrooms are laid out off a central stairway. 

This one with a writing desk set
under an original window -
giving one a sense of bygone days.

This guest bedroom
makes great use of a trundle bed.  

The charming master features a fireplace, and Dutch door leading to a private balcony terrace, 

with a lovely view of the cozy chalk rock stone patio, fire pit, and hot tub. 

Solheim is a birders paradise with houses for their feathered friends hiding in lush corners around the garden.  

That is it for this years tour - Until next time Happy Adventures!

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Photography by L.A. Momboisse unless noted below:  Color picture of Ellina and Oroville Golub - I-House Love:Romance & Friendships Made at I-House Berkeley Black and white photo of Walter Scribner Schuyler - Wikipedia  Black and white photo of Schuyler with Buffalo Bill - Buffalo Bill Center of the West 
Black and white photo of Ben Harrell - Wikipedia Color picture of sunset over Point Lobos - Laura Overett