Carmel-by-the-Sea, commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 3,220, down from 3,722 at the 2010 census. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is a popular tourist destination, known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history.
The Golden Bough Playhouse is a historic three-story theatre in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California on Monte Verde St., between 8th and 9th Avenues. The playhouse occupies the site of the former Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, Carmel's first cultural center and theatre, built in 1906–1907 on Casanova Street, and the Arts and Crafts Hall, built in 1923–1924 on an adjacent lot on Monte Verde Street. Since 1994, the facility has been owned and operated by Pacific Repertory Theatre, Monterey County's only year-round professional theatre company. A two-phase renovation of the aging facility began with an interior building project in 2011. A second phase project, including both interior and exterior renovations, is scheduled for 2023-2024. The theatre was recorded with the National Register of Historic Places on July 3, 2002. It is significant as a California historic building because it is located on the original site of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club and Hall, the oldest indoor performing arts venues in Carmel.
Robert Stanton (1900-1983) was an American architect. A resident of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, he practiced primarily in the central California coastal region, and was responsible for a variety of eclectic buildings, most notably the Monterey County Court House and the King City Joint Union High School Auditorium, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He worked closely with sculptor Joseph Jacinto Mora on several of his projects.
The Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was an art gallery, theatre and clubhouse founded in 1905, by Elsie Allen, a former art instructor for Wellesley College. After using the facilities of various town parks and hotels, in 1907, a clubhouse was built at Monte Verde Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where the Circle Theatre of the Golden Bough Playhouse is today. The clubhouse served as Carmel's first community cultural center. It held dramatic performances, poetry readings, lectures, and was a summer school for the arts. Between 1919 and 1948 Carmel was the largest art colony on the Pacific coast.
Herbert "Bert" Heron was an American writer, actor, and poet. Heron is best known for founding the Forest Theater in 1910. He was the former mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, for two terms in the 1920s. He lived in Carmel for 62 years.
Edward Gerhard Kuster was a musician and attorney from Los Angeles for twenty-one years before coming to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in 1921. He became involved in theater and establish his own theatre and school. He built the Theatre of the Golden Bough in 1924, and a second theater, the Golden Bough Playhouse in 1952. Kuster directed 85 plays and acted in more than 50 roles in the 35 years he lived in Carmel.
The Carmel Weavers Studio, also known as Cottage of Sweets, is a historic Tudor-style English cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It was designed by Edward G. Kuster and constructed by Lee Gottfried in 1922 for Kuster's wife as a weaving shop. Since 1959, it has operated a candy store.
The Seven Arts Shop, is a one-story, wood-frame Tudor Storybook retail shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It has been designated as a significant commercial building in the city's Downtown Historic District Property Survey, and was recorded with the Department of Parks and Recreation on January 23, 2002.
Sade's, is a historic Tudor-style English cottage in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It was designed and constructed by Lee Gottfried in 1925, for novelist and dramatist Harry Leon Wilson and his wife Helen MacGowan Cooke as a flower shop and dress shop. In the 1930s, Sade was a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer, made the lower level into a restaurant and Bohemian bar. It continues to be a restaurant with outdoor seating.
The Abalone League was an amateur baseball and softball club based in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1921 through 1938. It was the first softball league in the Western United States. The League was incorporated on September 8, 1927. The League was a Carmel focal point for many years.
Joseph W. Hand, was an early pioneer businessman, real estate agent, leader in civic affairs, actor, and first president of the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Charles King Van Riper was an American newspaperman, writer, and playwright, best known for writing short stories for nationally circulated magazines, and as the founder of the Abalone League, the first organized softball league in the Western United States. He went on to build a successful ship-model shop and showroom in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. 285 of his ship models and archival materials are now part of the South Street Seaport Museum.
Ernest Seraphin Schweninger was an American actor, realtor, and grocer in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He became owner of Carmel's first Bakery and the Schweninger's Grocery Store. Schweninger was a founding member of the Carmel American Legion Post No. 512 and the Abalone League. He appeared in many of the early plays at the Forest Theater and Theatre of the Golden Bough. He became a partner and sales manager for the Carmel Land Company that helped develop Hatton Fields, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
James Cooper Doud was an American businessman and real estate developer in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He established the Doud Building in 1932, built by master builder Michael J. Murphy. He also owned The Doud Arcade, a two-story commercial building built in 1961 that connects with The Doud Craft Studios.
Lee Gottfried was an American master builder in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He had a significant influence on the architecture of the Village of Carmel during his career. Gottfried was one of the main local builders in Carmel and responsible for the first major residential designs done using the local Carmel stone as a building material.
Percy Parkes was an American master builder in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Parkes was one of the main progressive builders in Monterey County through the 1920s and 1930s, and the first contractor to build homes on Scenic Drive. His best known commercial buildings are the Seven Arts Building (1928), the Dummage Building (1924), and the Percy Parkes Building (1926). His American Craftsman-style, influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, is evident in the buildings he constructed during that time.
The Blue Bird Tea Room, also known as Blue Bird, was a historic commercial building in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States. Recognized as the oldest tearoom in Carmel, the Blue Bird Tea Room was a popular place for after-theatre dinner parties and luncheon and dinner gatherings attended by both local and visiting celebrities.
Robert R. Jones was an American architect in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California best known for his Modern architecture. Jones designed numerous residences and commercial buildings in the Monterey Peninsula. In the post-war period, he emerged as a prominent figure among architects and designers who played a pivotal role in shaping Carmel's modernist landscape from the middle 20th century onward. His was known for his design aesthetic that was a Modern architecture-style, combined with elements from the Second Bay Tradition. His creation, the Monterey Airport Administration building, was honored with a design award by the Smithsonian Institution.
Allen Knight, was an American merchant seaman and political figure in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He is best known for his service on the Carmel City Council, including a two-year term as mayor, and for co-founding the Sundial Lodge. In 2016 the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association acquired the Allen Knight's maritime collection.
Fred Ruhl was an American master builder in Monterey County, California. He is best known for his contributions to the architecture of Pebble Beach, and Carmel-by-the-Sea, most notably for building the Flanders Mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He worked closely with architect Robert Stanton to build the Normandy Inn on Ocean Avenue in Carmel.
