A talk by Karen Farito at the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation Fall Festival 2025

Introduction

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Robinson Jeffers’ Roan Stallion, Tamar and Other Poems, and the completion of Hawk Tower. At this year’s Fall Festival, we explored the enduring legacy of these two milestones and celebrated the recent designation of Tor House as a National Historic Landmark. At the Lectures and Presentations given on October 4th, we began with three presentations that provided a wide-ranging review of what was happening globally in 1925, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, and at Tor House. This second talk by Karen Farlito describes the evolution of Carmel and surrounding land that made it the international attraction that it is today. Prepare to be fascinated by the changes that Robinson Jeffers witnessed in 1925 as he was completing his amazing Hawk Tower.

For insights into what was happening in the USA and globally in 1925, read Professor Richard Kezirian’s blog post.

Imagine a place where famous writers lived in shacks on the beach, where there were no street addresses, no sidewalks, no streetlights—and definitely no rules about what your house should look like. A place where you could build whatever crazy artistic vision popped into your head.

That was Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1920. A wild, bohemian paradise where rebels and artists fled after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Around 1920s, Public Domain. No restrictions on use.

But then came 1925. And in that single year, everything changed.

By the end of 1925, this bohemian paradise had become... well, pretty much what you see today when you visit Carmel. Regulated. Beautiful. Expensive. Safe.

The question is: How did that happen? And what did they lose-or gain-in the process?"

"Let me paint you a picture of what happened in this one pivotal year.

THE SIGN ORDINANCE REVOLUTION
In 1925, Carmel passed what might be the most important piece of legislation in the city's history: a sign ordinance. Now, that sounds boring, right? But here's what it really meant:

For the first time, the government said: 'We're going to control what this place looks like.' Every non-conforming sign had to go. No more wild, crazy advertising. No visual chaos. Only the Carmel Drugstore sign was left. Primarily to show what Carmel-by-the-Sea could have looked like without the sign ordinance.

This wasn't just about signs-it was the city saying: 'We're going to be beautiful on purpose.'

THE VISION STATEMENT
That same year, they adopted an official vision: Carmel would be 'primarily, essentially and predominantly a residential community.'

Think about how radical that was in 1925 America. Most cities were racing to become industrial, commercial, bigger, faster. Carmel said: 'No. We're going to stay small, residential, and charming.'

That one decision shaped everything you see in Carmel today."

"But 1925 wasn't just about regulation-it was about massive growth of the area. Three enormous real estate developments were completed that year, essentially tripling the size of the Carmel sphere of influence.

THE THREE EXPANSIONS:

Carmel Point: Premium oceanfront lots
Hatton Fields: 233 acres with the magnificent Flanders Mansion as a model home
Carmel Woods: 125 acres of forested residential lots

Here's what's fascinating: They were expanding rapidly while simultaneously imposing strict aesthetic controls. Growth AND preservation at the same time.

And it worked! Paul Flanders built his mansion in 1925 as a showcase for what Carmel could become. The city was so proud of it, they eventually bought it themselves in 1972.

This is where Carmel invented something new: the idea that a city government could actively manage beauty, not just basic services."

THE ARCHITECTURAL REVOLUTION
"Now here's where the story gets really fun. While all this planning and regulation was happening, a guy named Hugh Comstock was building the most whimsical, rule-breaking houses you've ever seen.

HUGH COMSTOCK'S FAIRY TALE YEAR
Comstock had zero formal architectural training. But in 1925, he completed some of his most famous fairy tale cottages:

The Obers House-a storybook masterpiece
The Lincoln Green Inn-five cottages inspired by Robin Hood
Multiple residential cottages that looked like they belonged in a Brothers Grimm tale
Steep, dramatic rooflines. Arched doorways. Windows that seemed to wink at you. Houses that looked like they were built by elves.

Hansel, a Comstock Fairytale Cottage

copyright (c) Linda Hartong

Here's the beautiful irony: At the exact moment Carmel was becoming regulated and controlled, it was also becoming more whimsical and magical than ever before.

The Seven Arts Building went up that same year-the first major retail building. So you had practical commerce AND fantasy architecture happening simultaneously.

That tension-between order and whimsy, regulation and creativity-that's the DNA of modern Carmel."

THE CULTURAL SHIFT
"But something else was happening in 1925 that was bittersweet.

THE END OF BOHEMIAN CARMEL
George Sterling-the magnetic poet who had basically founded bohemian Carmel-was in his final year. He'd been the beating heart of the artist colony since 1906. Wild parties, artistic rebellion, creative freedom. By 1925, his style of poetry was becoming old-fashioned. The world was moving toward modernism. Sterling was struggling with relevance, with alcohol, with the changing times.

Meanwhile, Robinson Jeffers was rising. More respectable, nationally recognized, building his famous stone house, Tor House.

Hawk Tower at Tor House

Completed by Robinson Jeffers in 1925

THE ARTS AND CRAFTS CLUB TRIUMPH
That same year, the Arts and Crafts Club-founded by Elsie Allen in 1905-achieved something remarkable: They bought the Forest Theater. This wasn't just a real estate transaction. This was the community saying: 'We're going to institutionalize our arts scene. Make it permanent, professional, sustainable.' But they also stopped holding their annual art exhibitions. The Pine Cone newspaper editor wrote a front-page editorial saying Carmel desperately needed a real art gallery.

Success was making them respectable. And respectability was changing who they were."

WHAT WAS LOST
"So what happened to the bohemians?

Some died-Sterling took his own life in 1926, less than a year after our story.
Some left for new creative frontiers.
Some got absorbed into the very institutions they'd once rebelled against.
Some, like Jeffers, became the establishment.

By 1925, Carmel had become regulated, respectable, and commercially successful-everything the original bohemians had fled San Francisco to escape. The 1925 sign ordinance perfectly symbolized this transformation: from creative chaos to managed beauty. They saved the village. But did they kill the soul?"

THE PARADOX AND TAKEAWAY
"Here's what I think happened in 1925:

Carmel figured out how to be itself on purpose.
They looked at what the bohemians had accidentally created—this magical, beautiful, artistic village—and they said: 'How do we keep this forever?'
Their answer was revolutionary: Municipal aesthetic control. Beauty as civic policy. Charm as community responsibility.

The paradox is profound: They preserved the physical beauty and artistic character that creative rebellion had built. But they lost the rebellious spirit that made that beauty possible in the first place.

Today, when you walk through Carmel's fairy tale streets, you're walking through the results of 1925's great experiment: What happens when a community decides to be magical on purpose?

The answer is all around us. Gorgeous. Regulated. Preserved.

Whether that's triumph or tragedy-well, that depends on what you value most: the beauty, or the wildness that created it.