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Robinson Jeffers House | |
Location | 26304 Ocean View Avenue, Carmel, California |
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Coordinates | 36°32′31.5″N121°55′56″W / 36.542083°N 121.93222°W |
Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
Built | 1962 |
Built by | Robinson Jeffers |
NRHP reference No. | 75000444 [1] |
Added to NRHP | October 10, 1975 |
Tor House and Hawk Tower are buildings in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States. They were the home of poet Robinson Jeffers and family from 1919 to 1999. The two structures, often referred to jointly as Tor House, are generally believed to have played a crucial role in the development of Robinson Jeffers as a poet, and have inspired many a visitor. Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, describes Tor House as "a poem-like masterpiece" with "more direct intelligence per square inch than any other house in America". [2]
Robinson Jeffers and his wife Una bought land at Carmel Point in Spring 1919, and in mid-May they contracted Mike Murphy, an established Carmel developer, to build them a stone cottage at Carmel Point. Murphy's stonemason began work on the house immediately and, with Jeffers signing on later as an apprentice, was able to complete the project by mid-August. Utilizing heavy ropes and horses, granite boulders were hauled from the beach below to construct the facade of Tor House. Initially the house had one bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and an attic. [3] [4]
Soon after the cottage was complete, Jeffers himself would begin building a detached garage and a low, enclosing wall for a courtyard. He completed these in 1920, and then began to work on a tower that would take him four years to complete. After ceasing his stonework for a year or two, he then began work on a dining room with a fireplace used for cooking that would be completed in 1930. In 1937, Jeffers began work on an east wing that he intended to serve as a home for his sons, who were both in their 20s by then. He was unable to finish this last project due to declining health, but his son Donnan managed to complete it. [3] [ citation needed ]
After completing a stone garage and wall on his own, Jeffers started work on a tower that would take him four years to complete. He began construction in 1920 at the behest of his wife Una. The stonework for the tower was completed in late 1924. The woodwork was completed by a paid carpenter in 1925. Jeffers named the tower Hawk Tower, purportedly after a hawk that appeared often while he was building the tower, but stopped appearing after he finished construction. He appeared to adopt the hawk as his symbol at the time, placing Una's symbol (a unicorn) above her second-floor door and a hawk above the door to his third-floor lookout. [5] [6]
The ground floor of the tower includes a dedicated writing space and a spiral staircase that leads to an observation point at the top, offering panoramic views of Carmel Bay, Point Lobos, and Pebble Beach. [3]
It was while Jeffers was engaged in building Hawk Tower between 1920 and 1924 that Jeffers is thought to have discovered his voice as a poet. He compiled and printed a limited run of the book Tamar and Other Poems well into the final year of tower stonework. He was not able to find a major publisher for the book until several editors from the Book Club of California discovered him. [7]
The Tor House and Hawk Tower are under the care of the Tor House Foundation, founded in 1978. This organization oversees the property as a museum, aiming to preserve its architectural integrity and historical significance. [3]
Robinson Jeffers and his Carmel estate feature in David "Rambo" Morrell's 2003 novel, THE PROTECTOR.
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.
Robert Joseph Vila is an American home improvement television show host known for This Old House (1979–1989), Bob Vila's Home Again (1990–2005), and Bob Vila (2005–2007).
John Robinson Jeffers was an American poet known for his work about the central California coast.
George Sterling was an American writer based in the San Francisco, California Bay Area and Carmel-by-the-Sea. He was considered a prominent poet and playwright and proponent of Bohemianism during the first quarter of the twentieth century. His work was admired by writers as diverse as Ambrose Bierce, Robinson Jeffers, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, and Clark Ashton Smith.
Storybook architecture or fairytale architecture is a style popularized in the 1920s in England and the United States. Houses built in this style may be referred to as storybook houses.
Morley Baer, an American photographer and teacher, was born in Toledo, Ohio. Baer was head of the photography department at the San Francisco Art Institute, and known for his photographs of San Francisco's "Painted Ladies" Victorian houses, California buildings, landscape and seascapes.
Hawk's Tor may refer to:
Michael James Murphy was an American master builder in the Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He had a significant influence on the character and architecture of the Village of Carmel. From 1902 to 1940, he built most of the early houses in Carmel, nearly 350 buildings. He erected the first house in Pebble Beach and also in the Carmel Highlands. He founded M. J. Murphy, Inc., which continues to supply building material for the Monterey Peninsula.
Hugh W. Comstock was an American designer and master builder who lived in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He and Michael J. Murphy were responsible for giving Carmel its architectural character. Comstock developed a fairy tale or storybook architectural-style that has been closely identified with Carmel. Twenty-one of his cottages remain in the area today. Comstock also created a modern use of adobe in the construction known as "Bitudobe," a type of post-adobe brick.
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.
Carmel City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It is a historic commercial building in the Carmel downtown district, located on Monte Verde Street and 7th Avenue. It is a good example of Shingle and American Craftsman architectural that was built in the 1910s. The building qualified as an important building in the city's downtown historic district property survey and was recorded with the California Register of Historical Resources on November 22, 2002.
Carmel Point also known as the Point and formerly called Point Loeb and Reamer's Point, is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. It is a cape located at the southern city limits of Carmel-by-the-Sea and offers views of Carmel Bay, the mouth of Carmel River, and Point Lobos. Carmel Point was one of three major land developments adjacent to the Carmel city limits between 1922 and 1925. The other two were Hatton Fields, 233 acres (94 ha) between the eastern town limit and Highway 1, and Carmel Woods, 125 acres (51 ha) tract on the north side.
Richardson Log Cabin is a historic building that was built in 1902, by George H. Richardson, an Alameda attorney. The structure is recognized as significant as one of the oldest residential buildings in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and the earliest known residence of American poet Robinson Jeffers and his wife Una. It was nominated by the Carmel City Council and a historical building and an application was submitted to the California Register of Historical Resources on May 20, 2002.
Henry Meade Williams was an American writer, editor, publisher, and bookstore owner in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The Henry Meade Williams Local History Room of the Harrison Memorial Library honors his name.
Ira Mallory Remsen , known locally as Rem Remsen, was an American painter, playwright and Bohemian Club member. He was the son of Dr. Ira Remsen chemist and former president of Johns Hopkins University. Remsen was the author of children's plays notably Inchling and Mr. Blunt, he produced at the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in the 1920s. His studio on Dolores Street became the permanent home for the Carmel Art Association in 1933.
George Washington Reamer , was an early American pioneer, mining engineer, and building contractor, who in 1908 built one of the earliest homes on Reamer's Point, known today as Carmel Point, just outside the city limits of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
Francis W. Wynkoop, was an American architect, known for building educational school buildings in Pacific Grove and San Carlos, and oceanfront homes in Carmel Point at the southern city limits of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. One of them is the noted Butterfly House on Scenic Drive.
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.
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