Monterey Peninsula personal reflections

Sea Otter at sunset in Carmel by Frank Lloyd Wright Walker Residence

Carmel on my mind.  Yesterday I finished The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Hard travelin’ times in California for those folks. The book is truly a stunning experience. Getting myself down to the sea seemed a good recovery strategy from living with the Joads this past week.

Seeing Frank Lloyd Wright’s first home design in Oak Park and the Robie House in Hyde Park at the University of Chicago campus motivated me to take a closer look at Frank Lloyd Wright house design for the Walker Residence, currently a private home in Carmel, California. The past few May days have been glorious around these parts. Big Sur for some more nature time is on my agenda today. Carmel FLW house-seaotter 003

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Walker Residence (1948) is on the rocks at the south point of Carmel Beach, Carmel, California.

a tree on a beach

Scenic Road, Carmel was parked up on a beautiful 60-degree cloudless evening, although about half the people stayed in their cars rather than walk the beach.

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Looking north along Carmel Beach. Monterey and Pacific Grove are on the other side of the hills.

The Walker Residence house has angles.

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And maybe angels too.

I photographed this place during January 2010 when swells and waves of 25+ feet were breaking all along the coast. The waves were lowest around the Walker Residence.

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The southern angled sun shadows and rain clouds of winter were not present in the late May sunset last evening.

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Low tide provided an opportunity to get a little closer to the house.

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I couldn’t resist and I had to get closer.

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Like Jack without my Rose I stood at the peaked bow of the house and looked west over the sea before me. For this moment I was the King of California.

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The Walker Residence truly points west in the bowhaus style.

Sea Otter Encounter

Sea otters use kelp as a tool to float, rest and eat. I spied a sea otter only about 20 feet offshore in this bull kelp patch of Carmel Bay in front of the Walker Residence. There are about 2,000 sea otters in the central coast area of Monterey Bay to Big Sur.

a seaweed floating in the water

This big sea otter was checking me out while I photographed for several minutes.

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Pebble Beach Lodge and Golf Links are in the background across Carmel Bay.

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The streets of Carmel are still pretty quiet in late May on a weeknight. Lots of hotel vacancy signs.

You otter visit.

3 Comments

  • james May 23, 2012

    Good thing you didn’t hear a dog barking (Bow-wow haus style?)

    Sorry.

  • Ric Garrido May 23, 2012

    @james – I probably should not be making architecture jokes when I have little background in the field.

    Carmel-by-the-sea is definitely the town for bow-wow haus style. The town loves dogs. I hear complaints from people when I travel about the dog-friendliness of Carmel where dogs come into stores and restaurants and run off-leash on the beach.

  • Aprilette May 23, 2012

    Wow this is such a beautiful place to relax and unwind. I love the beach setting and the sound of the waves would be pure bliss.

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