The La Ribera Hotel, also known as the Cypress Inn, is a historic Spanish Eclectic hotel in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California 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 ...

. It was designed by architects Blaine & Olsen of Oakland, California and built in 1929, by Meese & Briggs. The building was 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 February 13, 2003.

History

La Ribera Hotel has its origins in a home; watercolorist

Sydney J. Yard Sydney Jones Yard (November 5, 1855 - January 2, 1909) was an American painter who became one of the most famous watercolor artists in the United States, and the first professional artist to settle in the new community of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif ...

designed and built his house on Lincoln Street and 7th Avenue in 1906. He later added an art studio, where he had regular showings. When Yard died in 1909, artist

Mary DeNeale Morgan Mary DeNeale Morgan (May 24, 1868 – October 10, 1948) also known as M. DeNeale Morgan, was an American plein air painter, especially in watercolor, and printmaker. She was the director the Carmel Summer School of Art sponsored by the Carmel Arts ...

purchased Yard's house and studio, which later became the courtyard suite addition to the Cypress Inn in 2001. The current building is a two-story reinforced concrete and wood frame Spanish Eclectic style hotel. It is located on Lincoln Street & 7th Avenue. ''La Ribera'' means "The Riverbank " in Spanish. A tall stepped

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

style tower is centered in the hotel with paired, keyhole arched opening on each elevation. A one-story hypen connects the main building with a two-story addition. A grass patio separates the two wings, enclosed by a wrought iron fence along 7th Avenue. It qualified for inclusion in the ''Downtown Historic District Property Survey'' because it is an example of the Spanish Eclectic commercial designed by the architects Blaine & Olsen of Oakland, California, and the 1949 two-story addition by San Francisco architect

Gardner Dailey Gardner Acton Dailey (1895-1967) was an American architect, active in the San Francisco area in the 20th century. Dailey was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He came to California in 1915 to work for landscape architect Donald McLaren, found assor ...

. The hotel officially opened on July 3, 1929. The ''

Carmel Pine Cone The ''Carmel Pine Cone'' is a weekly newspaper serving the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea and the surrounding Monterey Peninsula, Carmel Valley and Big Sur region of Monterey County in central California. Despite not having a digital presence, a PDF of t ...

'' announced the opening of the dining room open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At its opening, '' The Monterey County Herald'' called the La Ribera “One of the show places of the Monterey peninsula.” The hotel was built two years after Blaine & Olsen completed the

Kocher Building The Kocher () is a -longincluding its source river Schwarzer Kocher right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, mea ...

(1927), and one year after

El Paseo Building El Paseo Building is a two-story commercial building in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The building is the best example of Spanish Eclectic commercial design in Carmel, inspired by the Spanish churches built in the 1880s. The building wa ...

(1928). The building was designed to complement the Kocher and El Paseo buildings in the Spanish Eclectic style. Dr. Rudoph Kocher found funding for the project through his associate, Grace Deere Veile (of the

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

Family). Mrs. John S. Ball, who operated the Lincoln Inn, on the former site prior to construction, continued as manager of the La Ribera. The Meese & Briggs construction firm, from

Burlingame, California Burlingame () is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame and is known for its numerous eucalyp ...

, built the hotel. During the

Great Depression in the United States In the United States, the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and then spread worldwide. The nadir came in 1931–1933, and recovery came in 1940. The stock market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high un ...

, the hotel went into receivership in 1930. It was reopened and managed as the La Ribera by A. G. Wood, a former manager of Monterey's San Carlos Hotel. In 1949, a two-story addition was made by San Francisco architect Gardner Dailey. La Ribera kept its original name until the 1960s, when Earl E. McInnis took over management and renamed it the Cypress West hotel. In the mid-1980s, businessman Denny LeVett and actress

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

restored the hotel and reopened it as the Cypress Inn. It was an early pet–friendly hotel that was featured on March 15, 1999, in the ''

Architectural Digest ''Architectural Digest'' is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The magazine is published by Condé Nast, which also publishes internati ...

.''

References

External links

Downtown Conservation District Historic Property Survey

Historical Context Statement Carmel-by-the-Sea
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Ribera Hotel 1929 establishments in California Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Buildings and structures in Monterey County, California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California

History

See also

References

External links