Carmel Point also known as the Point, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

, California, United States. It is a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

located at the southern city limits of

Carmel-by-the-Sea Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

and offers views of

Carmel Bay Carmel Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California in Monterey County. The bay is long and wide with its mouth about across, between Point Carmel to the south and Point Cypress to the north; Monterey Bay is about f ...

, the mouth of Carmel River, and

Point Lobos Point Lobos and the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve is a state park in California. Adjoining Point Lobos is "one of the richest marine habitats in California." The ocean habitat is protected by two marine protected areas, the Point Lobos Sta ...

.Geonameslink Carmel Point at Geonames.org (cc-by)post updated 2022-07-17 Carmel Point was also known as ''Point Loeb'' or ''Reamer's Point.'' 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 Hatton Fields is an unincorporated community southeast of downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea in Monterey County, California, United States. Homes have views of Carmel Valley, Point Lobos, and Carmel Bay. The residential neighborhood is bordered by Rio Ro ...

, between the eastern town limit and Highway 1, and

Carmel Woods Carmel Woods is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, California, United States. It is located adjoining the northern city limits of Carmel-by-the-Sea and adjacent to Pebble Beach.Carmel Woodsat Geonames.org (cc-by)post updated 2006-0 ...

, tract on the north side.

History

The Carmel Point began with the Rumsen

Ohlone The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...

Native American tribe, who inhabited the area in the 6th-century. Native American artifacts were found on Carmel Point at the beginning of the 20th century. The Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century and erected, within the Ohlone region, the Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo (founded in 1770). In 1834, the Mexican land grant ranchos took over the mission land and property. In 1848, Mexico ceded to California as a result of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. The Carmel Point land is hilly to the east, but flat to the west, which is closest to the

. The highest point in the vicinity is high and is southeast of Carmel Point. There are about 23 people per square kilometer in Carmel Point's relatively small population. The nearest larger town is

Seaside, California Seaside, formerly East Monterey, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, with a population of 32,366 as of the 2020 census. It is located east-northeast of Monterey, at an elevation of , and is the home of California State Uni ...

, which is northeast of Carmel Point. The area around the Point has large granite boulders that expose rocky layers. In the region around Carmel Point, beaches, cliffs, valleys, bays, and plains are common. John Martin, acquired the lands surrounding the

Carmel mission Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo, or Misión de San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, first built in 1797, is one of the most authentically restored Catholic mission churches in California. Located at the mouth of Carmel Valley, Californ ...

in 1859 that included the Carmel Point. He built the Martin Ranch on that went as far as the

Carmel River State Beach Carmel River State Beach is a state park unit at the mouth of Carmel Valley, California, United States, featuring a protected beach with a lagoon formed by the Carmel River. The lagoon attracts many migratory birds. The state beach includes Mar ...

to the homes along Carmel Point. The ranch became known as the

Mission Ranch Mission Ranch is a historic hotel and restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey County, California, United States. It is located south of downtown Carmel, near the Carmel Mission, at 26270 Dolores Street. The property was bought in 1986 by Clint ...

because it was so close to the Carmel Mission. They farmed potatoes and barley and had a milk dairy. The

Carmel Development Company The Carmel Development Company was a real-estate development company that operated in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1902 to 1965. It was developed by James Franklin Devendorf and Frank Hubbard Powers. Powers provided the capital and did th ...

, headed by Frank Hubbard Powers and

James Franklin Devendorf James Franklin Devendorf (April 6, 1856–October 9, 1934), was a pioneer real estate development, real estate developer and philanthropist. Devendorf and attorney Frank Hubbard Powers (1864-1921), founded the Carmel Development Company in 1902. ...

, bought part of the Martin Ranch between 12th Avenue and down to Santa Lucia Avenue, from John Martin in ca. 1902. They took over the entire Carmel Point and subdivided it. The first house to go up in the area was ''Driftwood Cottage'' built by Florence Wells on the oceanside of Carmel Point in 1908, on the corner of Scenic Drive and Ocean View Avenue (still standing). Wells's neighbor was George W. Reamer, which is where the name ''Reamer's Point'' came from. ''Driftwood Cottage'' became the home of actress

Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...

from the 1940s to 1977. She sold the home in 1977 for $435,000 (). She then purchased ''Bay Cottage,'' located at 2313 Bay View, where she lived until her death in 1991. During the 1910s, early property owners bought land and built their homes. There was no electricity, gas, or paved roads during this time. By 1925, the only homes on Carmel Point were the homes of Col. Fletcher Dutton, poet

Robinson Jeffers John Robinson Jeffers (January 10, 1887 – January 20, 1962) was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. Much of Jeffers's poetry was written in narrative and epic form. However, he is also known for his short ...

and his wife Una, Playwright

Charles King Van Riper Charles King Van Riper (September 8, 1891 – April 16, 1964) 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 org ...

, musician and attorney Edward G. Kuster, George W. Reamer, and Florence Wells. Carmel Golf Course

In 1912 Philip Wilson Sr. (1862-1944) (of the Philip Wilson Building), purchased a small writers studio at 14th Avenue and San Antonio Street in Carmel Point, from writer John Fleming Wilson (1877-1922), who had lived there for several years. John Wilson named the area "Point Loeb," after Professor

Jacques Loeb Jacques Loeb (; ; April 7, 1859 – February 11, 1924) was a German-born American physiologist and biologist. Biography Jacques Loeb, firstborn son of a Jewish family from the German Eifel region, was educated at the universities of Berlin, Munic ...

of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

, one of the professors who had summer homes on Dolores Street, on what became known as "Professors' Row." Wilson Sr., converted the studio into a clubhouse for the first and only Carmel Golf Course. The nine-hole golf course was built on Carmel Point and followed the coastline from the south end of the beach to the Carmel River. It was later sold when Wilson Sr., went into the service during World War I and the land was subdivided into lots. In 1990, the clubhouse became a one bedroom residence on San Antonio Street. One of the first homes built on Carmel Point was built in 1919, when Robinson Jeffers constructed

Tor House 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 bel ...

, naming it for the craggy knoll, the "tor" on which it was built. Jeffers contracted

Mike Murphy Michael James Murphy (born 20 October 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, actor and property developer. He is best known for his long broadcasting career with RTÉ, presenting many TV shows such as ''The Live Mike'', '' Winning Streak'' and '' The Bi ...

, an established Carmel developer, to help build a stone cottage. They brought the granite from the beach below to build the house. At this time, Carmel Point was a treeless bluff with few buildings. Jeffers coined the word "inhumanism", which is the belief that humankind is too self-centered to the "astonishing beauty of things." In the poem ''Carmel Point,'' Jeffers called on humans to "uncenter" themselves. In 1920, the Medieval European-style Kuster home at 26025 Ocean View Avenue was built by Lee Gottfried, with granite stones from the surf at Carmel Point. It was built by Una Jeffers' ex-husband and lawyer Edward G. Kuster (1878–1961) after he followed Una and Robinson Jeffers from Southern California to Carmel. When Kuster built his house, he built it near to the Jeffers property and Bootleg Point. Ernest Bixler built a large two-story Tudor-style T. J. Brennan House, with a Carmel stone exterior located at the corner of 26097 Scenic Road and Martin Way overlooking Carmel Point and

in 1936. In 1921, the

Abalone League 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 ...

had its beginning on Carmel Point after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A rough diamond at the Point was near Charles Van Riper's house, who built one of the first homes on Carmel Point. A plaque outside the house reads: "This was the site of the Charles and Helen van Riper house. In 1921, Charles and friends Thorne Taylor and Tal Josselyn founded the first softball league in the Western United States, dubbed the Abalone League. Games were played on Carmel Point, directly below the Van-Riper house." A. Carlyle Stoney built his home on Carmel Point, on the third base line of the baseball field. The

Mrs. Clinton Walker House Mrs. Clinton Walker House, also known as Cabin on the Rocks, is located on Carmel Point, near Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It has the appearance of a ship with a bow cutting through the waves. The house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 19 ...

, also known as ''Cabin on the Rocks'', was built on Carmel Point, on the beach side of Scenic Road. The house was designed by architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

in 1948 and completed in 1951 for Mrs. Clinton Della Walker of

Pebble Beach, California Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a resort destination, and the home of the golf course ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1977. The Mid-century modern

Butterfly House A butterfly house, conservatory, or lepidopterarium is a facility which is specifically intended for the breeding and display of butterflies with an emphasis on education. Some butterfly houses also feature other insects and arthropods. Butterf ...

, was built in 1951 for $135,000 () by architect Francis W. Wynkoop. He lived in the house until 1955. It is one of the few houses that is on the ocean front at Carmel Point. The second one he built on Carmel Point is a mid-century modern Expressionist-style house that was built in 1953 on Scenic Road.

Selected Carmel Point homes

Climate

Carmel Point has a cool summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Csb''), which is normal in coastal areas of California. Summers are typically mild, with overcast mornings produced by

marine layer A marine layer is an air mass that develops over the surface of a large body of water, such as an ocean or large lake, in the presence of a temperature inversion. The inversion itself is usually initiated by the cooling effect of the water on th ...

clouds, which can bring drizzles that typically gives way to clear skies in the afternoon. September and October has an

Indian summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

and this offers the best weather of the year, with an average high of . The wet season is from October to May. Average annual rainfall in Carmel Point is per year, and the average temperature is .

Gallery

File:Carmel Point Rocks.jpg, Carmel Point Rocks File:Abalone League team.jpg,

team File:Carmel-by-the-Sea.jpg,

File:Edward G. Kuster House 26304 Ocean View Avenue.jpg, Edward G. Kuster House File:Tor House & Hawk Tower.jpg,

Tor House and Hawk Tower 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 be ...

References

External links