PACIFIC GROVES 42nd ANNUAL

HISTORIC HOME TOUR

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2011 10 AM ~ 4 PM

HERITAGE SOCIETY O F PAC I F I C G R OV E

605 Laurel Avenue Pacific Grove, CA 93950 8 3 1 / 3 7 2 - 2 8 9 8 www.pacif icgroveheritage.org

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PACIFIC

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
5 8 4 C e n t r a l Ave nu e Pacific Grove, CA 93950 8 3 1 / 3 7 3 - 3 3 0 4 www.pacif icgrove.org

Pacic Grove by Jane Fleury

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The 42nd Annual Historic Home Tour

Picture it. A 1911 Emily Williams designed home that has been in the same family since it was built. Or a 1926 bungalow falling down around the elderly owners shoulders but rescued by current owners, who are restoring this pink cottage to its youthful blush. Or a 1949 post adobe, the kind that made Comstock famous, and is both charming and contemporary. Or a 1905 Victorian, whose architect melded the old with the new in a remodel that honors its heritage and heart. And a 1908 Victorian awash with stucco that masks its youth but has become a fun California bungalow. Plus a 2007 modern marvel that won the Heritage Home award for new construction. This is Pacific Grove, the Last Hometown, whose history and heritage are, once again, on exhibit through the 42nd annual Pacific Grove Historic Home Tour. In the late 1800s when the grounds of the Pacific Grove Methodist Retreat were being developed into a residential community, tent cabins became cottages, and the tourists began building a town. Residents could not have imagined that, more than 100 years later, their humble homes would make the historic register. Yet every year, the Pacific Grove Heritage Society, founded in 1976 to foster an appreciation of the historical and architectural merits of this coastal haven, honors these houses with its annual Home Tour. Join us for the Tour where guests can wander inside each of six featured homes, eight historic structures and down the hallways of history. And there is a story living inside each one.

Acknowledgements
The Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Grove Heritage Society extend a special thanks to the homeowners for their generosity in sharing their homes in this years Historic Home Tour. And thank you to the businesses and individuals who give so generously to this event: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, photographer Sonia Cook, writers Jeff Becom and Sarah Diehl, Pacific Grove Florist, and the Heritage Society Board of Directors. We further acknowledge the many volunteers from the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce, the Pacific Grove Heritage Society and all tour participants who take an interest in our historic community.

Historic properties that retain original architectural features may not be accessible to all. If you have special access needs, please call (831) 373-3304. No interior photographs or high heels, please! Socks or soft-soled shoes with booties (supplied) over shoes required. Houses and buildings may be viewed in any order.

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1 n Chautauqua Hall S 1881

Current Owner: City of Pacific Grove

162 16th Street

Originally a cultural center and meetinghouse, Chautauqua Hall is a big building standing in the middle of the old Retreat area. Its simple board and batten structure, one story with very high ceilings, served the Retreat well in the first years as an indoor meeting place (until the large Methodist Church was built in 1889) and a place to store the tent covers in the winter. When the Chautauqua Movement sessions looked for a venue in the 1890s, the large meeting hall was selected and got the new name, Chautauqua Hall. An article in an 1896 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned an enthusiastic Republican rally was held at the old Chautauqua Hall in Pacific Grove. In the 1920s the City purchased the building from the Del Monte Properties Company for $2,500 for use by the Boy Scouts and other organizations for young people. In the 1930s the building was moved 25 feet to permit the widening of Central Avenue and an extension was built on the rear of the building. During this period the building was also re-wired, re-plumbed, and re-shingled. The hall continues to be used for a variety of community purposes, including the Boy Scouts, dancing, lectures, and town meetings. During the Home Tour, Chautauqua Hall will hold the 9th Annual Artists in Chautauqua, featuring art and crafts by more than two dozen local artists, refreshments, live music, and a silent auction. 2

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n Heritage Houses for the Birds 2

n Pacic Grove Free Library S 1908 3

Elmarie Dyke Park

Current Owner: City of Pacific Grove

Elmarie Dyke Park, adjacent to Chautauqua Hall, will host an exhibit of handmade birdhouses, all available for purchase through the annual Heritage Houses for the Birds silent auction.

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Current Owner: City of Pacific Grove 500 Central Avenue

The Pacific Grove Subscription Library was originally established in 1886 with 100 books at the Old Parlor. It moved 2 years later to the Octagon Museum Building, sharing space with the museum and had a total of 25 paying patrons. The library moved to its present location in May 1908, becoming Monterey Countys first free library with a membership of more than 500 patrons. A grant of $10,000 for building the new library was provided by Andrew Carnegie and the Carnegie Corporation under two conditions: the local community had to provide a suitable site and formally agree to continuously support the library through local tax funds. The Pacific Improvement Company and its president, Horace G. Platt, donated the land for the library. The Mission style building was designed by the McDougall Brothers architectural firm of San Francisco. The laying of the library cornerstone in November 1907 was accompanied by impressive civil ceremonies with an audience of about 2,000 attendees. Many of the businesses in town closed so that all could attend. The library has been remodeled four times: in 1926, 1938, 1950 and 1978. The reading area of the library is the last untouched room. The original arched windows, with much of the original glass, are still intact.

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4 n Pacic Grove City Hall S 1912

300 Forest Avenue

Current Owner: City of Pacific Grove

City Hall, built in 1912, was designed by William H. Weeks, an incredibly prolific architect from Watsonville and built by the Chivers Brothers firm for $6,000 payable in gold. City Hall, the first reinforced concrete public building in Monterey county, originally housed city offices, the fire and police departments, as well as a tiny jail cell. The tower was used in part to dry fire hoses but later enclosed for safety reasons. Look carefully and you can see the original firehouse doors and the bars over the window of the jail cell.

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The Barn, home of the Heritage Society of Pacific Grove since 1981, was probably built in 1891. In 1980, the City of Pacific Grove purchased the Barn and the adjoining lot. That same year, the City leased the Barn to the 5-year-old Heritage Society in return for the Societys promise to restore and maintain it. The restoration, undertaken by general contractor Steve Honegger from plans by architect Ed. Bredthauer, was completed a year later, supported by grants from three foundations, contributions from 172 individuals, 12 businesses, and various Heritage Society fund raising activities. The restoration preserved the character of the original Barn, a 24 by 24 square, unpainted board and batten building. Replacing the original hayloft is an interior second story that serves as the Societys office and archives. The downstairs is a mini-museum, displaying photographs and artifacts reective of Pacific Groves history. Ketchams Barn is open to the public on Saturdays from 1 to 4 pm. 3

5 n Ketchams Barn S c. 1891

Current Owner: City of Pacific Grove

605 Laurel Avenue

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William A. Howell House S 1911

Current Owners: Stephanie and Michael Beckwith 245 Ocean View Boulevard

This home overlooking Monterey Bay has been a haven for the original owners family for 100 years. William A. Howell (18621960) of Bakersfield hired Emily E. Williams to design this eclectic Craftsman-style vacation house, which was built to his exacting standards around 1911. Howell was Kern Countys court reporter for 36 years, as well as a businessman and civic leader. He married Elizabeth Dugan in 1901; they had two children Genevieve (1902-1990) and William Howell, Jr. (1911-1978). Howells descendants have preserved many of the homes original features as well as its history, including the original blueprints and very detailed 28-page building contract. Emily Williams (1869-1942), a San Jose school teacher turned architect, designed and supervised the construction of several homes in Pacific Grove and the San Francisco Bay Area. For Howell, she designed a unique house that combined elements of the Shingle and Craftsman styles popular at the time, while showcasing a bay view from every room. Notable exterior features include a gambrel roof, clinker brick chimney, and picture windows with small diamond panes. Williams prided herself on interiors that were, as a 1906 San Jose Mercury article described them, not only beautiful and artistic, but convenient, livable, planned to save steps and with places to put things. This home showcases Williams style and expertise. It features a built-in sideboard in the dining room, Douglas fir wainscoting in the living and dining rooms, a stained glass window with cypress trees on the stair landing, and spacious closets and storage throughout. Williams even designed a cupboard on the roof to store the beds used on the outdoor sleeping porch (now enclosed). The step-saving kitchen still has the 1911 two-panel door cupboards, some which originally housed the boiler and cooler.

Over the years, the house has been modernized and the sleeping porches glassed in, but most of the original features remain. Stephanie Beckwith (the granddaughter of William Howell) and her husband Michael are the current owners. In an effort to restore the house to its original appearance, they recently removed stucco that had been applied to the first story in the 1960;s, and installed historically appropriate windows. The Beckwith family enjoys preserving and sharing their historic family homes; William Howells 1891 Queen Anne-style Victorian home in Bakersfield is now a public museum (www.kcmuseum.org/stories/storyReader$123). 4

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Hebert Sarmanian House S 2007

Current Owner: Ronnie Sarmanian 731 Ocean View Boulevard

Capturing the spirit of Californias coastal communities, this Modern Minimalist home maximizes the potential of its site and spectacular ocean views. Bill Foster, a Pacific Grove architect, designed this home for owners Jim Hebert and Ronni Sarmanian to take full advantage of its small corner lot and front row seat on the bay. In 2007, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Monterey Bay presented Foster with an Honor Award for Design Excellence for the recently completed home, and subsequently the Heritage Society awarded it the 2011 Heritage House Award for New Construction. The home was featured in Russell Abrahams book, California Cool: Modernism Reborn. This home replaces a simple carpenter vernacular cottage built in 1924; the first building permit called for a 24 by 34 foot rustic three-room cottage estimated to cost $1,600. That cottage was demolished in early 2006; multiple exterior changes had destroyed any original architectural character or notable detail. According to architect Foster, Jim Hebert was the catalyst for the open layout of this three bedroom, two bath home; he advocated for a simplicity that would emphasize the natural rather than built environment. To best capture the view shed, Foster placed the main living and dining areas on the second story and maximized the use of glass and decks. With the owners input, he designed all the interior builtins. Stocker and Allaire built the house, and Jorie Clark Design, Carmel, completed the interior design. The floors are bamboo, and kitchen and bathroom countertops are Halila limestone. Bernard Trainor + Associates, Monterey, designed the landscape; Linda Ferry Lighting Design handled lighting. Sadly, Mr. Hebert became ill during the construction phase and died before he could see his plans realized in the completed home. Today, the design he championed, with the support of Ms. Sarmanian, provides a beautiful and inviting lookout on the natural wonders of Monterey Bay.

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W. B. Filcher House S 1905

Current Owners: Francis Coen and Michelle Ford 412 16th Street

This fine Queen Anne Victorian residence was built in 1905 for W.B. Filcher, an early Pacific Grove real estate, loan and insurance agent, and his wife Eugenia. In 1907 Mr. Filcher was recognized for laying a concrete sidewalk in front of this property as well as alongside other homes he owned at the time. Pacific Groves newspaper urged others to emulate Filchers spirit of home and town pride that has not heretofore been evident among the majority of the citizens. The Filchers home is an outstanding example of the popular turn-of-the-last-century Queen Anne style that is characterized by a steeply pitched hip roof of irregular shape, dominant front-facing gable, cutaway bay windows, an asymmetrical faade with a porch, and other devices to avoid a smooth-walled appearance. Although the form of the original house is fairly simple, every surface is ornamented with contrasting patterns of wooden siding, shaped shingles, trim boards, incised brackets, turned spindles, and lacecut fretwork. Now coated with a luscious paint color palette applied by Pacific Grove painting contractor Erubiel Mendez and his EM Painting crew, the home makes a powerful architectural statement. This historic treasure won the 2011 Heritage Society Award for its sensitive addition designed by architect James McCord and constructed by Richard DiLorenzo and his New Haven Company. Mr. McCord noted that the main challenge was to integrate the various existing building levels into a single integrated home with one main stair connecting the master suite with the original house, the redesigned garage and guest suite, and basement. Each detail of the interior and exterior of both the original home and its recent addition evidences the superb care and quality that enhances and preserves this beautiful home.

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Chautauqua Hall Heritage Houses for the Birds

Point Pinos Lighthouse

Shelte

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Paci c Grove Public Library

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Paci c Grove City Hall Ketchams Barn

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er Shed

Engineers Cottage

245 Ocean View Boulevard

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731 Ocean View Boulevard

412 16th Street

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420 11th Street

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833 Maple Street

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888 Maple Street

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E. M. Brisbine House S 1908

Current Owner: Diane Davenport 420 11th Street

It has been said that a house is not a house, it is a story. The story of the home at 420 11th Street began in 1908 when its first owner, contractor E.M. Brisbine, built it from the ground up as a wood-sided cottage in a modest Vernacular Folk Victorian style with help from Brisbine family relatives. The extent of the homes folk Victorian embellishments will never be fully known beyond the simple gable fronted form and roof style and the eccentric diamond-shaped window on the front faade, which are all that remain of this original period. We do know that sometime between 1914 and 1923, a house next door at 418 11th Street was removed to make room for a garage for 420 11th Street quite a narrow garage when used for 2011-size cars. We also know that sometime over the next four or five decades, the original house but not the garage was stuccoed over, obscuring any earlier gingerbread or cut-shingle work. In addition, the original laundry room was remodeled into a second bathroom, closets were added to the two bedrooms, a large garden-oriented window was installed in the kitchen, and an original room was removed to accommodate stairs to a room in the basement.

The homes current owner, Diane Davenport, purchased the property in 1996. Over the past fifteen years she has installed central heating, painted inside and out, re-roofed both house and garage, laid the garage structures first foundation, remodeled the kitchen and main bathroom, and replaced the large garden window with French doors to access a new deck, the backyard and a path to the garage. When Diane removed a large mirror over the fireplace mantel, she was surprised to find no wall behind it, just the chimney bricks! And when her sons updated her kitchen and removed an original cabinet, they realized that the knickknack shelf behind it in the dining room was attached so they rebuilt it to precisely match the original design. The redwood window seat in the dining room and other woodwork with decorative molding throughout the house, though now painted, date back to the very beginning of her bright, warm and inviting homes story. 9

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Bob Jones House S 1926

Current Owner: Margaret McGovern 833 Maple Street

This 1926 Vernacular Bungalow is one of a growing list of Pacific Groves older residences that demonstrates any houseno matter how abused by time, neglect or both can be brought back to life. When new owner Margaret McGovern first set foot on this property, she fell in love not only with the small, plain, tumbledown box of a house but also with the long-neglected trees on the large, overgrown property. Margaret and her husband, cabinetmaker Ken Hinshaw, are both highly respected members of the Monterey Peninsulas community of historic preservationists. Taking inventory of the architectural damage (including floors boasting holes big enough to fall through, termites in the roof rafters, and windows too deteriorated to save), they hired general contractor Mark Travaille of Travaille Brothers & Others who undertook a complete restoration of the original structure and finishes and updated all the mechanical systems.

In the process, a small addition was built onto the back of the house to obtain a larger kitchen and a second bathroom. Ken himself replicated the original windows, doors, and kitchen cabinetry and pointed the rafter tails, bringing out the best elements of the homes 1920s details without losing its distinctive simplicity. The completed bungalow still feels modest and reflects its original historic period. Like the house itself, the propertys many regular rows of plum trees planted in 1926 by the former owner Bob Jones father, an expert fruit tree grafter are also slated for full restoration to health. In addition, 833 Maple Streets rich new paint palette, based on the pink of Claude Monets house at Giverny, France, joins in boldly proclaiming that a new life for The Orchard has begun. 10

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This 1949 home is a beautifully designed and maintained, modestly scaled single-story example of the Post Adobe style. Post Adobe construction techniques were first introduced to the Monterey Peninsula in the 1940s by Carmels celebrated self-taught designer/ builder Hugh W. Comstock (also credited with many of that towns Fairy Tale cottages). Comstocks mission was to reduce the cost and ease the process of building a sturdy, well-insulated and stylish home resistant to moisture, fire and termites. Derived from Northern European half-timbered architecture dating back to medieval times, the Post Adobe styles heavy redwood post-and-beam skeleton was in-filled with adobe mud-and-concrete bricks laid up with exposed cement mortar. This homes irregularly flared, hand-troweled chimney, wooden window shutters and planter boxes, simple half-round gutters, and Dutch door all indicate characteristic hand-made textures and natural materials stemming from the Post Adobe styles Craftsman-era roots. 888 Maple Street measures just over 1,000 square feet. It was intended as a model for the future development of Post Adobe houses in Pacific Grove by carpenters/builders eager to offer an alternative to the more expensive and highly ornamented Victorian homes of Pacific Groves beginnings. The 1950 real estate advertisement created to sell this house shows a cozy interior room with an electric range and hood set into a brick enclosure beneath a beamed ceiling painted with traditional folk designs. This picture declared that 888 Maple Street was a comfortable and very livable residence. One other Post Adobe was built on Maple Street, but the style was soon overshadowed by the platform frame construction of the Ranch House style that still dominates in this neighborhood today. A recent remodeling and updating project was completed in 2010. Architect Rick Steres carefully retained the original materials and detailing both inside and out. Can you see the green features of this home? It has solar electric panels and 5,000 gallons of underground rainwater storage (for irrigation), all added without damaging its historic character.

Andrew G. Reinhold House S 1949

Current Owners: John and Christine Bertko

888 Maple Street

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n Point Pinos Lighthouse S 1855 6

Asilomar Avenue

Current Owner: City of Pacific Grove

The main building of this famous lighthouse was built in 1853 (over 25 years before Pacific Grove was settled), but then waited two years for delivery of its Fresnel lens from France. The light has functioned ever since maintained first by lighthouse keepers who lived in the cottage, and then automated in 1975. The refurbishing is an ongoing project of the Questers, an international group devoted to the study, restoration, and preservation of historic buildings. Questers has restored the rooms to the period of 1893 to 1914 when Emily Fish was the light keeper. The City of Pacific Grove acquired the Lighthouse from the Federal Government. The Point Pinos Lighthouse Restoration and Preservation Committee, established to preserve the Lighthouses structure and grounds, in conjunction with the City, has begun restoration. The Lighthouse is open to the public free of charge Thursdays through Sundays from 1 4 p.m. Park your car in the lot opposite El Carmelo Cemetery and walk west to the path that leads to the Lighthouse.

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Asilomar Shelter Shed

This Shelter Shed replica, also known as the Whistle Stop, copied the original Southern Pacific Railroads Greek Cross Design. The sheds were built with walls that crossed at a 90-degree angle, with the walls forming the backs of the seats. The original Asilomar shelter shed, built in 1911, was one of 15 built in California.

Interesection of Dennet and Sinex

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8 n Engineers Cottage S 1913

Current Owner: Asilomar Conference Center

Architect Julia Morgan had this one story cottage built in 1913 to provide a residence for herself and a place to conduct business with her contractors while working on the Asilomar conference grounds from 1913 to 1928. The building was recently remodeled to provide larger sleeping accommodations and amenities for park guests staying on the conference grounds. Copies of Julia Morgans architectural drawings hang on the walls. Directions to the Engineers Cottage on Asilomar Avenue: From Sinex Avenue: Turn left onto Asilomar Avenue. Travel approximately 1/2 block. Cottage on the right. From Sunset Drive: Turn right onto Asilomar Avenue. Travel approximately 1/2 block. Cottage on the left. Parking is available on the shoulder of the roadway on Asilomar Avenue.

Asilomar Avenue

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DEL MONTE REALTY

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501 Lighthouse Avenue Pacific Grove, CA 93950 www.joywelch.com

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Certified residential speCialist international presidents preMier top 100 northern California 650 lighthouse avenue, #110 paCifiC grove

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direCt line 831.901.5575 fax 831.626.2240

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