Carmel Hotels, Pine Inn, Carmel-By-The-Sea, California

History of the Pine Inn

“The main building was rolled along on pine logs down the rugged dirt road.”

The history of the Pine Inn starts with the city founders, Frank Devendorf and Frank Powers. In 1889, the Hotel Carmelo was built in the newly undeveloped section of town on Ocean and Broadway, now Junipero, by the firm that preceded the Carmel Development Company. The hotel was built in the style of an elegant country inn with wood from the old Tivoli Opera House in San Francisco.

Sixteen years later, as the town developed and grew, the Hotel Carmelo was on its way to a new home, four blocks down Ocean towards the beach. The North wing was dismantled and the main building was rolled along on pine logs down the rugged dirt road.

Within a year, the hotel was refitted and enlarged with the addition of a sun room looking out to the sea, and a stable was added as well. With the help of M.J. Murphy, a local contractor, the hotel was reborn as the Pine Inn. Murphy himself was a local figure of fame whose company built most of the houses and businesses within Carmel, including the neighboring library and his first home, located behind the Pine Inn.

The new Pine Inn opened its doors on July 4th, 1903, with the village’s first community event, a town dance. The attendance in those succeeding months was so great that a campground was added next to the hotel to house the overwhelming number of guests.

As the years passed, the Pine Inn became the social center of Carmel. The Carmel Missionary Society, now the All Saints Episcopal Church held their services at the Inn while they raised funds for the new church across the street. Shakespeare and poetry readings were held throughout the month, and the sun parlor became the place to sit and discuss the events of the day.

In 1915, a very special visitor came to Carmel. Lotta Crabtree, a famous actress of the late 1800’s, stayed at the Pine Inn after attending a fair held in her honor in San Francisco. She was the guest of honor at Thanksgiving Dinner with dancing and music for the over one hundred locals who attended the affair.

John Jordan, an actor and scholar, purchased the hotel in 1920. Soon after, he expanded it to include cottages, a tennis court and putting greens located where the neighboring inn is today. The hotel once again went through a remodeling, adding a Spanish flavor to the decor.

Shortly before the World War II, the Pine Inn was purchased by Harrison Godwin. The hotel was closed down for 5 months as it underwent a remodeling. April 1st, 1941 was the grand reopening, with the new Pine Inn sporting the addition of 12 stores, outside garden dining rooftop gardens, and the rooms decorated with a Victorian flair from South of France. The Victorian theme was carried throughout the hotel, extending to both the dining room and the newly added Red Parlor pub.

The next owner, Carroll McKee, added a bit of modern flair to the hotel. The garden dining area was enclosed beneath a unique glass dome that rolled back to the sunny days and star filled nights. The Gazebo dining room was created, which became the favorite dining place of locals and the site for many weddings and special events.

The most recent owner, Richard Gunner, purchased the hotel in 1986. His touches have restored the French countryside ambiance of the Pine Inn. The rooms are adorned with the French fabrics of Pierre Deux. Armoires once again stand in every room, and imports from the Far East to Europe can be found throughout the hotel.

History of Carmel-By-The-Sea

Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo first sighted the white-sandy beach and pine forest of Carmel 50 years after Columbus discovered America. In 1602, another venturesome Spaniard Sebastian Vizcaino, and three Carmelite friars found a river valley, which they named “El Rio Carmelo.” On June 3, 1771, Father Junipero Serra founded the second California mission, which still stands on the edge of the present day Carmel-by-the-Sea. The mission was secularized in 1833, and the City of Carmel was incorporated on October 31, 1916.

The small village of Carmel-by-the-Sea represents a microcosm of everything, which has contributed to the Californian dream—independence, creativity, and tireless spirit. Carmel’s early residents, which included authors George Sterling and Jack London and poet Robinson Jeffers, settled in tents, built smoky fires in the woods, and picnicked on the beach, and cooked abalone stew on the fire.

These early inhabitants were determined to create an intellectual oasis on the inspiring, sparsely populated Central Coast of California. After the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, many members of the city’s cultural community decided to make Carmel their permanent home. Their migration firmly established Carmel as the progressive artistic and cultural hub in Northern California.

Bent on promoting an environment conducive to creativity, Carmel’s founders fought to ensure the proliferation and appreciation of art, drama and literature. By 1915, the Outdoor Forest Theatre was presenting celebrated performances, and the theater became a central part of Carmel life.

The Carmel Library boasted almost 3,000 volumes, proof that the village maintained a special appreciation for history and the arts. Additionally, every issue of the Carmel Pine Cone, to this day, the village’s main source of local news, feature original poetry, and local theater productions often command the lead story on page one.

By the time Carmel-by-the-Sea became a city in 1916, the population had grown to almost 450. The village was composed of luminaries such as authors Sinclair Lewis, Mary Austin, and Lincoln Steffens. At one point, local writers Grace Sartwell Mason, Frederick Becholdt, and Harry Leon Wilson all appeared in the same week’s edition of the Saturday Evening Post. Legend has it that Robert Louis Stevenson received his inspiration for Treasure Island while walking on the beach near Point Lobos.

The natural environment was also of primary concern to the residents of Carmel, who were dedicated to the preservation of the sparkling blue seas and majestic Monterey pine trees. To that end, in 1917 Ordinance No. 7 was adopted, which made it a misdemeanor to “cut down, remove, injure or mutilate any tree, shrub or bush growing or standing on any of the streets, squares, parks or public places.” The law is still on the books and is strictly enforced. Their efforts have resulted in a legacy of external harmony where the ocean, land and native creatures have remained relatively untouched.

During the 1920s, Carmel-by-the-Sea, like the rest of the nation, flourished in an economy run rampant. But as the Great Depression took hold, real estate prices tumbled for the first time. Some locals bemoaned the fact that grocers no longer offered personal credit to Carmel’s starving writer class. Said one wag, “Time was when the Carmel grocer was big brother to many a writer and artist struggling toward fame and a check that would pay for ham and eggs.” The economic situation improved when Roosevelt took over the presidency, and 50 local writers found jobs with the Federal Writing Project, whose office occupied a small cubby next to the village post office.

Having weathered its way through World War II, during the 1960s, Carmel-by-the-Sea continued on the forefront of creativity. Lucky tourists could watch Donald Teague demonstrate the development of his illustration for Sergeant Houck, a story in Colliers. Or for those that preferred photography, Edward Weston’s work was displayed at the New Group Gallery’s first photographic exhibition. Isaac Stern thrilled music lovers with a program for the Carmel Music Society.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Carmel strengthened and grew, with an increasing amount of business activity taking place downtown. Artists continued to reside in the village, quite often transcending modern changes in the city. The list of creative residents was endless: impressionist artist William Ritschel, noted psychologist, Dr. Eric Berne, and Leon Uris, author of Exodus.