The Grant Wallace Cottage- On Carmel’s Historic Register.

It is written that there are a million stories in the Naked City. Carmel, being well clothed and much smaller, still has thousands of wonderful stories to tell. I usually find them when writing about cottages that catch my eye and intrigue me. One such cottage is the Grant Wallace Cottage. I spot it while photographing cottages in the Comstock Historic District and think it is probably a Comstock.

Later I read it was designed by Grant Wallace a noted writer and naturalist.  In 1927,he had Jess Nichols build it across the street from Hugh Comstock’s home. It is a wonderfully charming, classic Carmel cottage with the wavy roof shingles.

Grant Wallace

worked as an artist and reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, an editorial and feature writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, and a war correspondent for the Evening Bulletin in Japan and China. He wrote short stories and screen plays, including for two black and white silent movies: the story for A Blowout at Santa Banana (1914), and the scenario for the movieThe Fuel of Life (1917). 

He also lectured on the occult.

After World War I, Wallace builds the small cabin in the forest near Carmel, California, which he uses as a laboratory for experimenting with telepathy, which he sometimes refers to as “mental radio.” He makes hundreds of drawings, charts, diagrams, and writings, attempting to reveal the patterns of life, including reincarnation, communication with intelligent life on other planets, and with dead spirits. 

He writes about messages from the dead, from ancient Greeks, ancient Egyptians,Vikings, and Atlanteans, to more recent dead, such as Thomas Jefferson and Charles Darwin, and transcribes messages from and draws pictures of extraterrestrial life, especially from the Pleiades star cluster.

After he dies August 12, 1954, in Berkeley, California, These images, and literally hundreds more, are discovered by a relative of Wallace’s in the abandoned cabin. They are the result of Wallace’s private research (circa 1920s) into the worlds of philosophy, metaphysics and cosmology.

Via Wikipedia

ಠ_ಠ Sci Art Mag – Science, Art & Entertainment: Grant Wallace Artwork

“His artistic approach to unraveling the mysteries of the world is very science-based, as if his graphs and charts were done to represent some kind of scientific research. Many of his works integrate the universe, human body and other dimensional qualities of existence such as ego, id, et al. Wallace also made a lot of side citations and notes all over his work, hinting at a secretive formulas and ciphers. Very fascinating work”

And why, you may ask, do I care?

Because I find that the home he built in Carmel is listed with vrbo.com , a “for rent by owners” sight.

I have watched many wonderful exterior improvements being made on this cottage. It was really coming along when I took the photo in January 2009.

Look at it now. The plantings have matured.

The following photos of the interior are provided by the owners.

Beautiful restoration of the living room , keeping the vintage details.

Dining room

Kitchen

Two Bedrooms

Two baths.

And a lovely private patio.

This cottage is now in the heart of Carmel, but at the time it was built it might have been the “cabin in the woods”.

Wouldn’t Grant Wallace be surprised by what his cottage looks like now? 

Rental rules are very strict in Carmel and they state:

“In order to preserve Carmel-by-the-Sea’s residential character, no home or subordinate unit may be rented for less than 30 consecutive days.”

$10,000-12,000/month

Carmel By the Sea Vacation Rental – VRBO 289145 – 2 BR Central Coast House in CA, Classic Carmel Cottage Prime Downtown Location, Walk to Beach