Historic Walking Tour

Built in 1902 by Michael J. Murphy when he was 17 years old, it was the first of more than 300 houses and many commercial buildings he would build in Carmel.

Designed by the well-known architect Bernard Maybeck and built by Michael J. Murphy in 1926.

It began as the El Carmelo Hotel in 1890 at the top of town. In 1903 it was moved to its present site and expanded.

The Cottage of Sweets was built in 1922 on Dolores and Ocean and was a loom shop. In 1923, Edward Kuster moved it to Ocean and Monte Verde to be a fanciful ticket booth for his new Golden Bough Playhouse. In 1935, the theater burned down during a play called "By Candlelight." A new theater was built on Monte Verde between 8th & 9th Ave., and it burned tothe ground in 1949 while showing, again, "By Candlelight!" A third theater was built there and remains today.

Originally it was the All Saints Church. In 1912, Frank Devendorf, developer of Carmel, donated the lot to the Episcopalians, who had held services at the Forest Theater

Originally the Sun Dial Lodge and first apartment house in Carmel, it was built in 1929 by former mayor Allen Knight.

Frank Devendorf donated the land for a community church in 1903. In 1940 it was torn down and a new church designed by Robert Stanton was erected.

The Cypress Inn was originally La Ribera and officially opened on July 3, 1929. It was owned by Dr. R.A. Kocher and designed by Oakland architects who studied Mediterranean-style buildings in Spain and had designed many such buildings in Santa Barbara.

Built for Herbert Heron in the late 1920s, this was the beginning of the Carmel Art Association.

It was built in 1904 and has always been a bakery.

This was originally the first U.S. Post Office. In the 1920s, City Hall and the Police Department moved upstairs.

It was built as the pharmacy for the sanatorium, with doctors' offices upstairs off 7th Avenue.

Many of the tiles on these Mediterranean buildings came from Spain. The sculpture was done by Jo Mora in 1927, who also did the cenotaph of Father Junipero Serra at the Carmel Mission.

Built in 1926, this was Hugh Comstock's only fairy-tale commercial building and has always been The Tuck Box.

Built in 1929, its stairway, tile, and grillwork are all original.

It began as Carmel's first dairy in 1932. The milk was brought in from Carmel Valley, bottled in the building, and then delivered. The original lamp is over the doorway and the original sign is on the wall next to the doorway.

Established in 1910, it was one of the first outdoor theaters west of the Mississippi. Carmel's one and only grave is there (an exception to the ordinance) — Pal, the town dog. His headstone and plaque are still there today.

Hugh Comstock built these unique, fairy-tale style homes — one of which was used entirely to store his wife, Mayotta's, handmade "Otsy-Totsy" rag dolls.

Built for Francis Whitaker, an internationally known ironsmith, the Forge's bar displays his original tools and many early photos.

Mr. Whitaker used The Forge to produce much of the hand-wrought hardware (hinges, door latches, sign holders, etc.) that still adorns many of the historic buildings in Carmel. The actual anvil, vise, and hearth used by Mr. Whitaker, as well as photographs of him and the original Forge building, are on display inside the current Forge in the Forest Saloon.

Artist and writer Henry Miller and the internationally renowned writer, John Steinbeck were frequent visitors who met with other locals inside The Forge, to drink, tell stories and talk. The Grapes of Wrath novel was reported to have been inspired inside The Forge as a result of one such meeting.

Built in 1937 of Carmel stone, it remains a fire station today.

This complex of stores was built in 1907. In 1925 the city passed an ordinance restricting the size and style of signs. All signs not conforming were removed. No one knows why the Carmel Drugstore sign was left – maybe to remind us what Carmel could have looked like without the restricting ordinance.

It was built in the 1939 as the Bank of Carmel and features a bas-relief by well-known artist Paul Whitman.

Built in 1905, this was the site of Carmel's first city hall and police department in 1917.

Founded in 1927, Carmel's oldest gallery features the work of local artists and is dedicated to presenting only the finest work for sale by artists living on the Monterey Peninsula.