Between 16th Street and Forest Avenue
2 beds, 2 baths, 1,400 SF on a 1,820 SF lot Built, 1880 Last sold, 2020
Older than the town itself, this early Queen Anne combines several of that style’s trademarks, but what makes the home stand out is its warm, playful vibe. Victorian homes can sometimes feel stiff or formal but every unique feature here counters that.
The original owner, Margaret Elizabeth Dickinson Lawrey was a California pioneer and daughter of Judge Gallant Duncan Dickenson. According to Edwin Sherman of PG’s Daily Review (February 11, 1907):
In May, 1846, Mr. Dickenson and his family left Missouri via wagon train. Mr. Dickenson with 10 wagons was appointed captain of the wagon train which included the Donner party. The Donner party left when the group reached the divide in Utah, where a disagreement over the best route arose. The Donner party made their ill fated decision to take the Sierra route shortcut. Mr. Dickenson, his wife and 6 children arrived safely in the San Joaquin Valley in Oct. 1846.
Mr. Dickenson rose to prominence in California; he and Amos Lawrey, another pioneer, in 1847 built the first brick house (which is still standing) in California. In 1849, Dickenson was elected delegate to the first State Constitutional Convention and later that year appointed the first alcalde of Stockton. Dickenson built the first hotel in Stockton with material shipped around the Horn. Judge Dickenson died circa 1868 or 1870.
Lawrey courted Margaret Dickenson and they married in 1849, producing four children. After Lawrey’s death, Margaret retired to Pacific Grove, where she invested in real estate.
The house is painted yellow and covered in gold fish-scaled shingles rising up towards the home’s most distinctive feature: its upper gables, including the sunburst that caps the house’s front face:
The trim provides teal and purple contrast and the variety of bright colors just makes the house more fun. The colors soften the elaborate ornamentation, as does the homeowner’s yard and porch decorations.
Three Things I Love about the Home
1. The upper gable’s sunburst motif is a perfect capstone and one of my favorite local home features.
2. It’s not just the sunburst; the cross-gabled roofs provides more canvas for bright, colorful asymmetric features and the home deliver on every face; for example, here is the right side’s teal gable face with scroll-sawn fretwork, fish-scale shingles and rake molding.
3. The color scheme and the variety of colors really sets this house apart from its neighbors. PG Victorians frequently have a main color with two contrasting trim colors, frequently one neutral color. This home uses much more color to liven things up: yellow (house and fence), gold (shingles and the inner sunburst), teal (door, trim, porch) purple (door, trim and railing) and orange (the sunburst), including both yellow/purple and teal blue/orange contrasts.
Between Laurel Avenue and Pine Avenue
2 beds, 2 baths, 1,334 SF on a 3,600 SF lot Built, 1992 Last sold, 2022
Maybe the most popular work of folk art in Pacific Grove, this modest 2-bedroom cottage was transformed into a landmark by a past owner, J Jackson, as his wife Sonja began losing her vision. Since Sonja could still perceive bright colors, J adorned their home in mirrors and brightly painted butterflies, to help Sonja find her way home from her daily walks.
Over the next 25 years, they covered the entire house in butterflies and mirrors, and the home became a local curiosity and tourist destination.
I love driving by this house on a sunny day, the colors really shine. I’m not sure I’d live in so recognizable a home but I love having it just a short drive away.
Three Things I Love about the Home:
1. The colors and psychedelic vibe, obviously: the home, fences, garage and yard are covered in hundreds of handcrafted butterflies but what really makes them stand out is the kaleidoscope-like variety of colors of the butterflies, backgrounds and trim: every bright, vivid and pastel shade makes an appearance.
2. Many PG homes feature some butterfly theme or accessories but I’ve never seen a home commit to the bit like this. Based upon the 2022 listing this continues inside the home, several rooms inside also boast the butterfly theming and and bright color scheme.
3. The unique design transforms a somewhat standard house into a one-of-a-kind experience and demonstrates just how much impact design can have without changing the core structure.
Between 16th Street and 17th Street
6 beds, 3 baths, 2,790 SF on a 5,300 SF lot Built, 1905 Last sold, 2017
Downtown PG is known for its Victorian-style homes so it’s nice to see some contrast and 605 Pine is a perfect example that I’ve always admired, especially its bay-facing partially-enclosed second floor balcony.
This American Foursquare-blend home fuses a boxy symmetrical design with Colonial Revival detailing and a Craftsman/Prarie feel for a unique style that compliments the neighborhood.
“I feel privileged to live here,” the homeowner told me, comparing it to a civic trust his family was honored to steward.
3 Things I Love About the Home:
1. This is another home with an ideal downtown location, on one of PG’s main streets an across from the PG Fire Department. A couple long blocks up the hill from the Lighthouse shopping district, a second story on Pine means an ocean view.
2. The trim is pretty incredible. The front door is framed by two regal white columns supported by bellied railings. Each column is capped with an ornate blue frieze and the doorway itself is framed by blue coats of arms, and topped by a blue heraldic frieze spanning the entire entryway.
3. From the north-facing second floor deck, this home boasts a panoramic view of Monterey Bay. I’m sure it’s a great place to watch the sun set, and the partial enclosure makes it look very private.
at 18th Street
22 guest rooms, 6,181 SF on a 8,077 SF lot Built 1897 Last sold, 1978 National Register of Historic Places, 1980
Ideally located on the most walkable stretch of PG’s main drag, this massive two-story Queen Anne Victorian hosts a popular bed and breakfast, since 1978 as the Gosby House Inn. Steps from the shops and restaurants of Lighthouse Avenue, this location offers the most convenient stay available in PG.
According to the Inn, the original owner, J.F. Gosbey “opened his home to seasonal visitors attending the various religious and educational meetings held all summer long in Pacific Grove.” Gradually the guest house expanded its footprint and became the El Carmelo Hotel.
The current owners renamed the hotel the Gosby House Inn, restored its original yellow color, and last renovated the hotel in 2023.
Three things I love about the home:
1. The complex really is massive and extends much farther up the block from Lighthouse than I initially realized.
The Inn markets 22 guest rooms, each offering a unique experiences based upon which suite you select. One room comes with a private swing.
Another is an ADA-accessible ADU. While most of the lot is taken up by the hotel, there are also gardens and and a brick-paved patio surrounding the building.
2. The entrance and outdoor spaces are a big plus. When you arrive, you walk up a large courtyard leading up to the front porch, which is built at the rounded base of the corner tower and framed by stately columns.
The Queen Anne style typically features a lot of contrasting visual styles, which allow it to mesh well with anachronistic features, a big advantage in this location.
3. This hotel is a great option for guests with accessibility requirements, which could otherwise make it harder to find accommodations. Both the setting and the establishment offer a safe and comfortable stay with easy access to everything downtown.
At Laurel Avenue
Duplex, 6 beds, 6 baths, 5,476 SF on a 7,200 SF lot Built, 1893 National Register of Historic Places, 1980 Last sold, 2018
This Queen Anne-style Victorian was the home of Pacific Grove’s first mayor, Dr. Oliver Smith Trimmer, who also kept an active medical practice in the home.
More significantly from an architectural standpoint, according to its 1980 NRHP nomination, “Trimmer Hill has undergone no major alterations in its long and venerable history, thereby providing the community with an invaluable example of last century’s architecture and a direct link with an individual of major importance in the history and development of the area.”
Three things I love about the home:
1. The home is in an incredible location within PG’s First Addition, one long block from Lighthouse Avenue. Despite its proximity to downtown amenities, the lot is elevated up a hill, providing both views and privacy. It’s easy to see why you’d build here.
For downtown PG, this is also a pretty large lot.
2. The Queen Anne style reminds me of New England, which is very typical of PG. This home has multiple arched ceilings and an ornate but kind of precious design, like a dollhouse.
There are tons of intricate details that appear are misfit up close but blend together from the street.
3. The design has so many great anachronistic flourishes.
Dramatic gables with sharp corners and tricolor eaves; matching monumental chimneys and a medieval-looking turret, stained glass panels on the front and side windows; wood shingles on the gable wall creating a multi-layered texture, with matching window covers.
For a small town, Pacific Grove boasts an incredible number of unique and historic homes with fascinating histories and architecture and unforgettable color schemes. Each week, I’m going to share another of the legendary homes that epitomize PG:
Pebble Beach’s 17 Mile Drive is my personal favorite afternoon drive, offering vista views of beaches, rocky cliffs, world famous golf courses, Del Monte Forest, luxurious hotels and some of the Peninsula’s most beautiful homes.
Combine the trip with a dinner reservation inside Pebble to bypass the $12.25 gate fee, which is reimbursed with a minimum $35 purchase.
For the best view, drive North to South, from Pacific Grove to Carmel-by-the-Sea, providing you and your passengers with an ocean-side view. Enter Pebble Beach via the Pacific Grove Gate at Sunset Drive.
Follow Forest Lodge Road past the Inn at Spanish Bay until you can turn right toward the coast, the northern entrance to 17 Mile Drive.
When you reach the coast, turn right for Moss Beach at the parking lot. This is a large sandy beach framed by cobblestone rocks, picnic tables and a boardwalk.
This is the largest sandy beach on the drive and a nice place for a picnic. The parking lot is narrow so be prepared to enter and exit slowly and patiently.
Along 17 Mile Drive, there are several small stations to park, rest and appreciate the coastline, each a little different. They are:
The Restless Sea: big waves crashing against the rock, with wide views of Spanish Bay.
Point Joe: More rock formations and more parking.
China Rock: A large rock formation with even more parking.
Across the road, you’ll see golfers from the Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Dunes course. What an incredible backdrop for them! You’ll also see golfers from MPCC’s Dunes course crossing 17 Mile Drive near Point Joe to complete the 14th hole.
As you continue on 17 Mile Drive, between China Rock and Bird Rock, to your left, Ocean Road leads residents through the golf course and into the MPCC-area residential neighborhoods, while several small parking lots are available to your right so you can explore the coastline. The best option is just south of China Rock, where you’ll find a large lot with a pathway to a coastline walking trail with picnic tables and park benches.
The main attractions along this stretch are:
-More golf views. On a sunny day, the greens glow.
-Majestic beachfront homes behind the golf course.
–Bird Rock: this is the largest parking lot on 17 Mile Drive before the Lodge and the only stop with bathrooms, so make a pit stop now and enjoy the drive.
There are also picnic tables, stairs down to Seal Rock Beach and a front row of the seals yelping and playing.
Bird Rock Road is the next artery into the residential neighborhoods and the Stevenson School’s high school campus. Crossing Bird Rock Road, you’ll immediately hit Seal Rock, a smaller parking circle with access to a sandy beach.
Across the street, the boardwalk create a path to a nature preserve, with a couple perfectly placed park benches to watch the ocean and listen to waves. This is probably my favorite individual spot in Pebble Beach. Also you’ll see a colorful storybook house at the top of the hill that looks right out of a Grimm’s tale.
Once you cross Bird Rock Road heading south, you enter a residential stretch of 17 Mile Drive with a lot of new development along a winding stretch near the Spyglass course.
Park and rest at Fanshell Overlook for more dramatic coastline views and some (not much) sandy beach. There’s not really anywhere else to park, and any spots will be snapped up by workers’ trucks. Just keep driving, because you’re now heading into the home stretch of the drive.
As you reach the western edge of Pebble Beach at Cypress Point, the road bends along the coastline and curls into Del Monte Forest. The wide turns make this the most fun stretch of the drive, like a go-kart or video game course, just much slower.
You’ll see Cypress Point Club’s golf course overlooking the Pacific coast to your left and the club lodge to your right, behind a private drive that says “go away.” This is an extremely exclusive club so, unless you miraculously score an invite, keep driving.
Continue past the club and you’ll soon reach the Crocker Grove, which boasts “the largest and oldest Cypress trees in existence.” If you can, visit very early or very late in the afternoon, when the sunlight glows between the trees. There’s not much to do here, you can’t really walk too far into the woods, but there’s a few open parking spots to pull off of the road and appreciate our region’s most famous trees.
Past the Grove starts a stretch of the my favorite homes along the drive. You’ll see every imaginable style: a Spanish-style home overlooking a cliff, a 5,000 SF farmhouse, a stone mansion, a castle at the top of a long winding driveway.
Sometimes the styles clash but each lot is so large that each house stands alone. The rows of houses are like a gallery full of great paintings that don’t really need to align. The road winds through the forest so you have to steal looks at the houses anyway.
Eventually, you’ll hit the Sunset Point Overlook, a popular spot to watch the sun set. It’s not a great station otherwise. Mostly, a really large parking lot where you can watch the sunset from your car. If you’re short on time and visiting any other time of day, this can be skipped.
Finally, we’re approaching the Lone Cypress, a 250-year old Monterey Cypress so famous that it’s been the Pebble Beach logo since the resort’s founding in 1919.
If you’re a first time visitor, this is an obvious stop: a single cypress tree perches above the coastline over Carmel Bay. There is a fair amount of parking but often not enough for the crowds. The large platform affords a ton of great angles for photographs.
Next, you’ll reach Pescadero Point, the southernmost point of the Monterey Peninsula. This rocky stretch is famous for big wave surfing at Ghost Trees, a surf break just outside the 18th hole of Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Past Pescadero, the road bends left, towards an equestrian property with a tree tunnel hanging overhead.
I sometimes take a slight detour, though it bypasses Pescadero Point: veer left onto Cypress Drive, to find a stunning tree tunnel, with the leaves and branches extending over the road to create a shaded canopy from the same equestrian property, now on the right side of the road.
On the left side, you’ll find more homes, including a horse farm with a large paddock. This stretch is just a block and after another block on Cypress Drive, arrive at the Lodge, the world famous hotel that built Pebble Beach.
Near the Lodge, you’ll first reach a parking lot that serves the Pebble Beach post office (93953), the Pebble Beach Retail Pro Shop (with bathrooms) and the Pebble BeachMarket, plus a terrace with tables and Adirondack chairs and views of Carmel Bay.
The Pebble Beach Market sells sandwiches, snacks and wine but my favorite is the banana ice cream. The Lodge is also home to several restaurants and shops.
Continuing past the Lodge, the road gets narrower and the hedges get taller but the lots are somehow more spectacular, with cliffside views of Stillwater Cove and Carmel Bay.
This stretch of road offers very few opportunities to park, and the drivers are more likely to drive at a normal fast pace. Generally the best coastal views of this last stretch of Pebble are on private property, so no public access. For this reason, once you continue past the Lodge campus, the photo opportunities are more limited.
Nearing the front entrance of the resort, guests turn down a long driveway to check in, and the rest of us get great golf and Carmel Bay views.
Across the street from the resort entrance sit some of the largest and most majestic residences anywhere on the Peninsula.
Driving past the resort, continue following 17 Mile Drive through the last stretches of homes before the Pebble Beach gate at the northwestern corner of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Look on your right for a wide bending turn directing you to the gate.
Once in Carmel, bear right following signs for Ocean Avenue. Make a left at Ocean Avenue and follow it up the hill towards downtown and CA Highway 1.
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