106 19th Street

Between Pacific Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard
3 beds, 2 baths, 1,195 SF on a 2,000 SF lot
Built, 1890
Last sold, 2024

One of the oldest surviving homes on its block, this Folk Victorian cottage faces Lover’s Point from a street-to-street lot behind Caledonia Park. Its central location places it within a short distance of the shoreline, downtown, and the coastal trail, anchoring one of PG’s most accessible and historically-layered neighborhoods.

The cottage is organized around a simple rectangular form with a steep front-facing gable. The windows are tall and narrow, set within minimal wood surrounds.

Within that framework, Gothic Revival influence comes through in the pointed shape, with ornament concentrated at the gables and window heads rather than across the entire façade.

One of the home’s defining features is the deep front setback, where a driveway and courtyard establish a clear approach before the house itself.

The depth emphasizes the approach and reinforces the house’s upright orientation.

The rear of the parcel abuts Caledonia Avenue at the north end of its loop, just above the park itself. A gate opens onto that street edge from the property, while the park sits just to the south within the loop.

The street-to-street configuration offers access on both sides.

Three Things I Love About the Home

1. The approach: The setback creates a longer welcome for visitors to appreciate the view.

2. The central location: the site position near Lover’s Point’s many incoming roads ensures that every corner of PG is convenient and accessible.

3. The color scheme: Mixing soft mint green siding with white and dark burgundy trim, the contrasting colors really pop and stand out alongside more traditional theming.

615 Ocean View Boulevard

Corner of Ocean View and 17th Street
3 beds, 1.5 baths, 1,585 SF on a 3,291 SF lot
Built, 1915
Last sold, 1973

This updated vernacular cottage enjoys a rare front-row position where Ocean View bends towards the coast and Lover’s Point Park, creating open corridors facing both directions.

The corner lot brings daylight from two sides, gives the house more window placement options, and opens the facade to broader sight lines than a one-frontage property could manage.

The elevated siting provides the front rooms with a buffer from the street and a clearer view line.

The remodel appears to have been built around that advantage.

The front-gabled small-house form is still readable but the larger windows, balcony addition, split exterior treatment, and raised porch stance give the house a stronger corner profile and pull the front rooms toward the view.

Those visible change makes the front elevation feel wider, taller, and more open than the house’s original form.

Three Things I Love About the Home

1. The Front-Row Seat: The house sits directly in the shoreline view corridor of a PG landmark.

2. The Split Material Facade: The stone base and lighter upper siding give the front elevation a clear two-part read, echoing the home’s split levels.

3. The Driveway: Dedicated parking is a must this close to Lover’s Point, and tandem parking keeps more of the corner lot available for the house and its outlook.

215 9th Street

Between Laurel Avenue and Lighthouse Avenue
2 beds, 1 bath, 627 SF on a 1,799 SF lot
Built, 1900
Last sold, 2024

This vernacular bungalow is one of the street’s oldest surviving homes, built just before the explosive growth along Lighthouse Avenue.

Its value comes through that survival: it preserves the scale and character of the pre-development block and creates visual variety alongside newer and larger homes.

That historical continuity is showcased by the sloped site, where the house sits above the street, giving the small footprint more presence.

The slope is not a background detail and it shapes the home’s approach, entry, and street presentation.

That mix of age, site, and scale also defines its market position. Intact older homes appeal through authenticity and scarcity. The buyer is responding to a unique asset that a list of features can’t replace.

Three Things I Love about the Home

1. The Cabin Feel: Rustic in the best sense.

2. Street Presence: The raised front stance creates a stronger curb profile.

3. Historic Continuity: An original-era house anchoring the block

226 Laurel Avenue

Between 3rd Street and 2nd Street
3 beds, 2 baths, 2,192 SF on a 12,197 SF lot
Built, 1936
Last sold, 1986

Mature trees cover much of the façade so that, from the street, you see only glimpses of the home. It’s hard to hide a house this size, and it creates a contrast between what the street shows and what the lot reveals.

That concealment is reinforced above the gate, where the hedge blocks the front view, creating more privacy for the owner.

It’s a striking capstone, smartly framed by stone columns and a continuous picket fence.

Behind it is a layered sequence of outdoor rooms, paved courtyards, enclosed gardens, and a path from the gate across the grassy lawn to the front door.

From the street you only get its massing behind branches. Past the trees, the manor reveals itself at the center of the lot.

This home is a textbook English Tudor Revival, with a two-material system (stone at the base, white walls, with brick and hunter green trim throughout).

The steep roof and gables give the house a pitched outline, and the chimney rises above them (the only detail fully visible from the street).

Three Things I Love About the Home

1. The two-material system: The contrast between stone base and the bright walls read clearly from the street, even through the trees

2. The formal entry: Columns give the entry a sense of ceremony; the hedge gives it a canopy.

3, Managed privacy: makes the house feel like a secret you discover as you approach.

211 3rd Street

Between Lighthouse Avenue and Laurel Avenue
3 beds, 4.5 baths, 3,888 SF on a 15,839 SF lot
Built, 1900
Last sold, 1998

From its bay-facing perch, this stately Colonial Revival has an air of shrouded mystery that’s echoed in the public records, which split at the most basic level: the lot size. One county source gives the parcel at 15,839 square feet, while the assessor record puts it at 31,600 square feet. That is a massive discrepancy.

What is clear is that this is a two-unit property spanning the block between 2nd and 3rd streets, with access and presence on both sides. The grounds are substantial, with a block-to-block depth allows the house, yard, and garden to be each occupy their own private spaces.

Architecturally, the house is firmly Colonial Revival, with a white exterior, symmetrical front, evenly spaced windows, and a traditional roofline that give the main structure a composed, disciplined presence. 

The white picket fence and retaining walls enclose the site, while the gazebo and garden spaces carve out a more intimate interior court.

Together, the grounds read less like a single lot and more like a compound. Like many PG homes, it has an evocative storybook quality; in this case, like the setting of a Harlequin romance.

Three Things I Love about the Home

1. The Grounds: the home maximizes its outdoor space with multiple private stages

2 The Gazebo: Stunning bay views from the privacy of the side yard

3 A different kind of storybook quality: unlike the fairy tales many PG cottages evoke, this home feels like the setting of a harlequin romance.

243 Lighthouse Avenue

Between 3rd Street and 4th Street
2 beds, 4 baths (2 full, 2 half), 2,866 SF on a 7,300 SF lot
Built, 1932
Last sold, 1988

Sitting on one of the last stretches before the Lighthouse corridor crosses into Monterey, the home occupies a threshold position along one of the Peninsula’s most recognizable routes. These blocks contain fewer, larger parcels, with homes oriented toward bay views and the corridor’s visibility.

The site has a clear front-to-back order, moving from street arrival to the house, then to secondary access, the garage, and the deeper rear portions of the parcel.

That layout creates distinct functional zones across the property.

The exterior is one of the property’s strongest assets. Stucco walls, a clay tile roof, parapet forms, iron railings, and decorative tile details give the house a Spanish Colonial Revival/Mediterranean Revival character and create and a more substantial street-facing presence.

Three Things I Love About the Home

1. Multiple entrances: a Lighthouse-facing showcase entrance for guests and a 3rd Street entrance for everyday convenience.

2. Outdoor stations: The outdoor areas unfold in layers and take advantage of their perimeter locations.

3. Whimsical Decor: playful personal accents add a fun, unexpected layer

228 1st Street

4 beds, 4.5 baths, 3,470 SF on a 14,401 SF lot
Corner of 1st Street and Laurel Avenue
Built, 1910
Last sold, 2010

The appeal starts with the land. The level parcel spans 1st to 2nd Street, created by merging eight original lots (Lots 19–26). The combined 120’ x 120’ lot is one of downtown’s largest, offering bay, harbor, mountain, and city-light views usually unavailable on a non-waterfront site.

The historic Craftsman-style home features a broad porch, substantial columns and deep roof overhangs.

The front entry sits under the porch with heavy supports and the overhangs creates a deep, layered facade (and a measure of privacy).

A stone wall runs along the street while mature trees and shrubs frame the home.

The extra space creates more opportunities: the lot boasts one of downtown’s largest grassy lawns, with multiple perimeter stations for relaxation and entertainment.

Three Things I Love About the Home

1. The Lot: A third of an acre is unparalleled space for a downtown single family home.

2. The Grade: The hilly neighborhood creates view corridors but the lot is level

3. The Garage: Three-car garages are uncommon downtown, where many depend on street parking.

#1: Trimmer Hill, 230 6th Street
#2: The Gosby House Inn, 643 Lighthouse Avenue
#3: 605 Pine Avenue
#4: The Butterfly House, 309 9th Street
#5: Margaret Lawrey 1887, 592 Central Avenue
#6: Captain’s Castle, 106 7th Street
#7: 178 Central Avenue
#8: Dr. Andrew J. Hart 1894, 649 Lighthouse Avenue
#9: Frank Clark 1887, 231 Central Avenue
#10: Toad Hall, 150 19th Street

#11: The Seven Gables Inn, 555 Ocean View Boulevard
#12: 365 Ocean View Boulevard
#13: Dr. C.L. Roe 1886, 123 Forest Avenue
#14: Mrs. Mary Nichols, 131 7th Street
#15: Mary McCormick 1893, 226 Willow Street
#16: 138 10th Street
#17: Mrs. K.E. Sanderson, 1904, 108 13th Street
#18: Catherine Brown, 1903, 410 Lighthouse Avenue
#19: The Boulders, 289 Lighthouse Avenue
#20: L.A. Rogers 1887, 134 Grand Avenue

#21: Caroline Thornton, 1883, 137 16th Street
#22: Mr. C.E. Davison 1888, 352 Central Avenue
#23: 123 12th Street
#24: Mrs. J.A. Hoyt 1891, 144 14th Street
#25: Martha Cummings 1905, 215 Lobos Avenue
#26: 157 Carmel Avenue
#27: 109 14th Street
#28: The Daffodil House, 132 Forest Avenue
#29: James J. Stevinson 1883, 129 Pacific Avenue
#30: 171 Laurel Avenue

171 Laurel Avenue

Between Eardly Avenue and 1st Street
3 beds, 2 baths, 2,086 SF on 8,550 SF lot
Built, 1910
Last sold, 2017

Lighthouse Avenue’s electrification brought businesses and streetcar riders to the district, cementing it as the town’s main drag and creating a premium for nearby homes like this Spanish Revival:

The home embodies California’s Mission-inspired style with stucco exterior walls, low-pitched tile roof, arched entryways, and decorative iron accents.

The courtyard is the newest layer: a long, elegant paved path guides visitors past flower gardens and a spacious bay-oriented patio, under the canopy of mature trees.

The fenced backyard abuts the two-car garage with alley access.

Another perk is the street-t0-alley lot’s R2 zoning, which the city adopted in the 1970s to encourage duplexes on larger lots within transitional zones. Thus far, however, the stronger incentive has been to keep this existing home intact.

Three Things I Love About the Home

1. Spanish Revival architecture: Warm and romantic with Old World charm, this familiar style is right at home in Monterey

2. The Entry Path: The setback creates a long, elegant approach, making the home loom larger.

3. The Courtyard: Provides welcoming, usable outdoor space before you even reach the front door.

129 Pacific Avenue

Corner of Pacific Avenue and Caledonia Street
3 beds, 2 baths, 1,870 SF on a 7,405 SF lot
Built, 1940
Last sold, 1974

This Victorian-inspired Gothic Revival home sits at the Retreat’s edge, steps from Caledonia Park and southwest of the original tent camps of Lover’s Point but the lot was settled long before this home was built (plaque dates show the first tax year, not construction of the current home) on former swampland providing drainage for Lighthouse Avenue.

Gothic Victorian detail shows up in the steep front gable, the porch, the vergeboard along the roof edge, and the trim that traces the front.

The gable rises sharply over the entrance, the porch projects forward, and the narrow openings keep the front visually tall.

The side wing adds another visible section to the house, and the cutwork at the edges gives the front a more finished, more period-specific look.

The two wings meet at different angles, and their rooflines turn in opposite directions. That makes the house feel more like a set of pieces joined together and the change in direction is most visible where the roofs cross.

The dormer windows sit where the two roof sections meet, giving the roofline a stronger break.

The expansive corner lot offers tons of space to create an outstanding outdoor environment, with trees and shrubs framing the grassy yard and summery gazebo.

Three Things I Love

1. The Neighborhood: Caledona Park‘s tree-lined setting creates a private and secluded vibe blocks from downtown

2. The Yard: With space for tall trees, shrubs, a great lawn and a private gazebo, this is an ideal place to spend a quiet afternoon.

3. The Garage: While lots of homes downtown depend on first-come first-served street parking, this home’s two-car garage and long driveway ensure you will always have more than enough dedicated parking for your family and guests.