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Community Focus Carmel-by-the-Sea Special Advertising Section The Pied Piper - Taken by photographer Philip M. Geiger The Gelff-Mack rebuilt “Snow” house - Submitted by Chris Mack The legend of two classic cottages and the Carmel cocktail tradition By Lisa Crawford Watson Side by side on the west side of Lincoln Street sat two redwood Mack and Roger Jolly are part of this tradition.” The front and garage doors are made of heavy wood planks, and cottages, built in 1921 and 1925, at the hands of Michael J. Mur- Mack and Gelff deliberated over whether to remodel or raze interior doors were made from lumber harvested from The Snow phy. The young carpenter, reportedly just 16 when he arrived in The Snow House. House. Carmel in 1900, began working for founder Frank Devendorf “The house had a lot of problems and had been added onto “When we were building the house, we got to know our neighbors, to build Carmel cottages and other buildings for the upcoming so many times, it no longer had a cottagey feel,” Mack said. “We Linn and Marilyn Watson, who would invite us over for cocktails, in community. Murphy’s cottages, of his own design, became looked at The Pied Piper next door, and the rest of the houses the Carmel tradition,” Gelff said. “They were always neighborly and known as Carmel Craftsman architecture. on the street, and recognized this style is what’s cool about the never complained about our ongoing construction.” The cottage to the south, christened The Pied Piper by its orig- neighborhood. One should always remodel or build a house in When Gelff and Mack were plastering their cottage, they inadver- inal owners, as identified by the name on the garden gate and keeping with the scale and context of the neighborhood.” tently got a little construction splatter on The Pied Piper. So, they the black metal figure adorning the chimney, looks pretty much The couple razed the house and built a new “classic Carmel” offered to repaint the little cottage in its classic canary yellow. the way it always has. The sunny yellow board-and-batten cottage. “The Watsons saw our offer to paint their cottage as our own façade, with white trimmed windows flanked by black shutters, Because the elevation falls away at the back of the lot, they neighborly gesture, and we all became best friends.” has welcomed generations of family members since its most maximized space without sacrificing aesthetic by designing a Although Gelff and Mack usually sell the homes they build, they recent purchase in 1962. cottage that is two stories in the back and one story at the street couldn’t resist their Carmel cottage and the culture of the neigh- Ruth Watson, my grandmother, came to Carmel from Berke- level, with a garage in front. They remained mindful of the design borhood, so they moved into the classic cottage next to The Pied ley to purchase the cottage from Dorothy Fritzsche, a frequent Green was building next door, and considered the roofline of Piper in 2000. As soon as the Watsons’ town car pulled into their guest during cocktail hour at the neighboring cottage. Once The Pied Piper. They paid attention to the windows on neighbor- driveway, it was cocktail hour for the two couples. Watson took up residence, she too, enjoyed a “highball” next ing houses, and designed their own so they wouldn’t be looking This past fall, Linn and Marilyn Watson passed away, just 30 days door. directly into each other’s homes. apart. Their children are looking forward to continuing the Carmel The cottage to the north, which never received a proper name, The cottage, which was completed in just under a year, has cocktail tradition with Karen Gelff and Chris Mack. was known to the Watsons as “The Snow House,” as it was then a wood-shake roof and plaster walls with a muted-color wash. owned and occupied by Audre and John Snow, better known as “Bing.” According to Susie Snow Swanston, who grew up in that house, the cottage was built by her great grandmother Julia Snow, after she came out from Syracuse, New York, to join the Bohemian culture of Carmel. And she engaged M.J. Murphy to construct her cottage. “Eventually, my great aunt Maude Snow inherited the property,” said Swanston. “She added a bedroom and a bathroom, which ended the cute little cottage era. After that, my uncle, A.W. Smith, inherited the house. When he died in 1962, my parents inherited the house, and we moved in.” Unique to The Snow House was a full basement, as Swan- ston’s great-grandmother had been used to, in New York. Even more remarkable were the uncharacteristically generous front and back yards where the Snows entertained guests. When Watson died in 1980, her daughter, Janet Adams, and son, Linn Watson – my father – inherited The Pied Piper. For nearly four decades, her children and their families have en- joyed the cottage she had hoped would serve as a gathering place that would bring us together and keep us close after she was gone. And so, it has. Bing and Audre Snow died in 1982 and 1986, respectively, leaving their property in a trust to their children, Swanston, and her brother, John S. Snow, Jr. In 1999, builder Chris Mack and his wife, artist Karen Gelff bought The Snow House. Mostly because they saw the poten- tial in what actually was a double lot “south of Ocean Avenue.” They kept only the southern lot, adjacent The Pied Piper, and sold the other to builder Scott Green. “Operating in the Carmel tradition of the builder business style, where the builders work on the houses themselves,” said Mack, “my dad, Bill Mack, and I would buy houses, fix them up, and sell The Snow House b/w - Submitted by Susie Snow Swanston them. Builders Al Saroyan, Chris Tescher, Scott Green, Doug (The man is her uncle A.W. Smith) “e Mission renovation of Crispi Hall was a fascinating blend of original design elements inspired by historic research and challenging technical solutions.” ~Jon Stuefloten HistoricHistoric RestorationRestoration ProjectsProjects Crespi Hall CarmelCrispi Mission Hall CarmelQ Mission Pt. Sur Lighthouse Pt. SurQ Lighthouse JON STUEFLOTEN IS A MASTER PAINTER AND CERTIFIED IN VENETIAN Pt. Pinos Lighthouse • Restoration Painting • Custom Color Mixing • Pressure Washing • Texturing Pt. Pinos Lighthouse • Color Counseling • Wood Graining • Drywall Repair • Faux Finishes Q • Exterior & Interior Painting • Kitchen Restoration • Lime Wax Dr.Dr. Hart Hart House House Q CastroCastro House House Aptos Aptos Q CasaCasa AmistiAmisti CapitolCapitol Club Club (831) 320.3252 Call for a Free Estimate • www.jonstueflotenrestorationpainting.com Carmel revisited By Dana Arvig Welcome to 2018 There is never a shortage of things to do in Carmel fun to do and new discoveries and adventures. If you are and to the 2nd and since our last issue; I have made a few new dis- more of a “planner,” stop by the Carmel Chamber office Monterey Herald coveries. I was lucky enough to attend “The Event” or Carmel Visitor’s Center (both located at Carmel Plaza) Community Focus fundraiser for Carmel Youth Center in September at and get some tips and information from one of the help- section focused the Sunset Center. What a phenomenal day. We en- ful people there - or visit carmelchamber.org and scroll on gorgeous Car- joyed sampling local treats and wine, listening to live through their calendar for mixers, happy hours, ribbon mel-by-the-Sea. music and bidding on table upon table of silent auction cuttings, art gallery events and so much more. Since the last sec- items. In late October, I redeemed one of the many si- With the AT&T Pro-Am golf tournament coming up in tion came out in lent auction certificates I purchased at “The Event” and February and GourmetFest in March, your winter and September 2017, stayed at a local Carmel hotel. After playing tourist and spring calendars will fill up pretty quickly. Be sure to check Dana Arvig and Cindy Sayer at Carmel Youth Center’s “The Event” 2017 we’ve had some wandering around town during the day, eating a burger out the Carmel Library Foundation’s benefit “The Travel wonderful feed- at 400 Degrees and checking out the new Hahn tasting Edition” happening on April 24th at Sunset Center where back to not only the Carmel issue, but to those we’ve room at Carmel Plaza (which looks amazing after the guests will hear from acclaimed travel writers Pico Iyer produced on Carmel Valley, Monterey and Pacific recent updates!) we stopped at Barmel. The bartender and Don George. You can find out more at carmelpublicli- Grove. Advertisers and readers have reached out and said they were having a costume contest that night braryfoundation.org. Hopefully the Youth Center “Event” commented that they’ve really enjoyed reading some (at midnight) and it was not to be missed. So even will be happening again in September 2018, you won’t local history, finding out about some hidden gems in though midnight is way past my normal bedtime, we want to miss that one. the way of restaurants and shopping opportunities returned later in Halloween costumes and had a great As always, we hope you enjoy this section and if you’d and so much more. Our sincere thanks to our writers time with a room full of creative costumes ranging from like to contribute content to or advertise your business in and contributors, our amazing Herald sales team, the Star Wars and Ghostbusters characters to kitty cats the next issue later this year, please let me know at dar- photographers, story subjects, and the many busi- and Kid Rock.

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