In 1924 , a humanity named Hugh Comstock took a little trip-up to Carmel - by - the - Sea , California to see his babe and her married man . The townspeople was becoming well known as a haven for creative person and other creative types , so it ’s not surprising that he met a doll Jehovah describe Mayotta Browne during his stay there . Miss Browne was the creator ofOtsy - Totsies , precious little felt and material dolls meant more for collectors than children . The passion hemipteran hit Hugh and Mayotta almost instantly and they conjoin within the year . Mayotta ’s concern was soon boom out , with retailer across the land requesting loads of her merchandise . The dolls set about to take over their place , so Mayotta inquire her hubby to establish something to showcase them when buyer come through . Hugh was no architect , nor was he a builder . But hedidhave a good eye for the whimsical , so he think he ’d give it a barb . root on by British illustratorArthur Rackham , Comstock constructed a little bungalow full of handmade details and quirky computer architecture . He purposely did n’t use a level , so thing were just a little skewed and frail in an utterly charming path . The cottage , which he call Hansel ( pictured ) , was just correct for Mayotta ’s dolls .
TheCarmel Pine Cone , the local newspaper , took parentage of Hansel and immediately declare it - and Comstock - mastermind . It was n’t long before masses were strike hard down his door , ask for fairytale creations of their own . Because the town was full of artist and writer - Jack London , Mary Austin , Sinclair Lewis , Upton Sinclair and George Sterling among them - the unique style was extremely popular . In response , Comstock build up numerous cottages over a stop of just five yr , staggeringly influencing the townspeople ’s flavor . Most of them have been kept up nicely ( or restored ) as the decade have go by , and with good understanding : it ’s been recorded that Comstock buy parcels of land on which the bungalow were built for as little as $ 100 , and his building cloth were dirt cheap . These day , the small but totally original houses go for about $ 4,000,000 . Not a bad investment .
All of the houses have perfectly suited names as well . There ’s theTuck Box , the only commercial-grade building Comstock built ; Gretel , the companion house to Hansel ; the Honeymoon Cottage;Casanova;Fables andSunwiseturn , among others .
Anyone ever seen these storybook dwelling house in person ? If not , thisFlickr setby lensman Linda Hartong will make you finger like you have .
Hansel photo fromTales from Carmel
