Pacific Grove, City of Homes #21: Caroline Thornton, 1883

137 16th Street

Between Union Street and Central Avenue
2 beds, 2 baths, 950 SF on a 2,500 SF lot
Built, 1883
Last sold, 2017

This Victorian cottage evolved from one of the Retreat’s surviving tent houses to become one of the young town’s most visible homes, notable for its Carpenter Gothic details and a broad front porch that functions as an outdoor living room.

During the Retreat era, “tent lots” were laid out within a grid leading down to the shore, where families set up canvas tents for the summer. Over time, frequent visitors built small, permanent cottages like this one.

The home’s trademark features include its steeply pitched roof, Lancet windows and projecting stick work guarding the eaves.

The home is a popular vacation rental and it’s easy to see why: it offers a quaint, cozy resting spot at a historic home in a central walkable location close to the coast, with not a square foot wasted.

Three Things I Love About the Home

1. Living History: as one of the original test houses of the Pacific Grove retreat, this home is a historic artifact that predates the town’s incorporation.

2. The open porch: overlooks a neighborly Victorian streetscape, this an ideal place for outdoor relaxation and people-watching

3. The fit: this is a perfect size, location and style for a vacation cottage. Best of all, the home feels out of time, but never out of place.