1949 → altered → reviewed → reconsidered

The house, changed

The architectural history of the Chapman House—from its original relationship with the garden to the design question facing it today.

About the record

City files establish the permit, review, and withdrawal dates. Owner accounts describe how the house was found, how it has been lived in, and the direction now being considered. Future work shown here is a working concept—not an approved City plan.

1949

The original house

Published plan of the 1949 Chapman House showing the house, garden, terrace, and open carport
Original published plan, identified by the owners as based on the House Beautiful publication.

A small house organized around a large garden

Rowan Perkins Maiden designed the 757-square-foot house for Dorothy Green Chapman. It sits diagonally across the narrow lot, with the living room opening to a terrace and garden and an open carport placed near San Antonio Avenue.

Redwood siding, exposed roof structure, clerestory windows, broad expanses of glass, concrete floors, and built-in furnishings gave the small house its Wrightian Organic character.

The garden was attributed to Thomas Dolliver Church in a 2001 City survey, but the connection remains unconfirmed. A later evaluation describes Dorothy Chapman developing the garden with help from Yoshiko Tanimoto.

The original design was a relationship between three things: the small house, the open carport, and the garden.
Rowan MaidenDorothy ChapmanThe garden attribution

1994

The front changes

Virginia Hayes encloses the original carport

After Dorothy Chapman’s death, Virginia Hayes is later documented as the house’s second owner. The available records do not establish the exact transfer date.

Virginia received permission to enclose the open carport as a garage and laundry area. The roof structure and clerestory windows remained, but the open front of the original composition was lost.

This became the house’s most consequential recorded alteration.
Read about Virginia Hayes
Thumbnail of the 1994 approved carport-enclosure planApproved alteration1994 carport-enclosure plans Open PDF
Two photographs of the enclosed former carport as found in 2019
The enclosed former carport as found by the current owners in 2019.

2004–2007

Historic, appealed, and removed

The house entered Carmel’s Inventory of Historic Resources in 2004. Virginia appealed, arguing in part that the altered front no longer retained its original appearance.

The Historic Resources Board denied her request in 2006. The City Council granted the appeal on January 9, 2007 and removed the house from the inventory.

The enclosed carport became part of the argument that the house was no longer intact.
Thumbnail of Virginia Hayes's appeal of the historic determinationHistoric statusAppeal and City Council decision Open PDF

2019

Third owners

The house as we found it

We purchased the house in 2019 as its third owners. The former carport was already an enclosed room, and we understood that the house had been removed from the historic inventory.

Before beginning new work, we documented the house, garden, paths, trees, utilities, and existing site conditions.

See all arrival photographs
Interior of the enclosed former carport in 2019
The converted space at acquisition.
October 2019 topographic survey of the Chapman House lot
October 2019 topographic survey.

2020–2021

The previous proposal

A new plan reopens the historic question

We worked with Daryl Woods, an architect based in La Selva Beach, believing the property was no longer historically designated while still intending to preserve the original house.

The proposal revised the kitchen, added a primary bedroom at the rear, and introduced a roof deck. The Design Study described restoring the 757-square-foot house, adding 674 square feet at the rear, and constructing a 439-square-foot roof deck reached by a spiral staircase.

Floor and roof drawings from the earlier Chapman House proposal
The earlier proposal developed for Design Study application DS 20-285.

The submission triggered a new historic evaluation

Meg Clovis’s evaluation found the house eligible under two formal Carmel criteria, supported by three findings:

  1. Criterion TwoImportant person

    The association with Dorothy Green Chapman and her civic contributions.

  2. Criterion ThreeMaster architect

    Rowan Maiden’s contribution to Carmel’s architectural history.

  3. Criterion ThreeRepresentative example

    The house as a good example of Wrightian Organic design.

The proposal was not approved as submitted. The roof deck was the central obstacle: the City’s consultant concluded that it would dominate the low house from the street and alter its roof and massing. The rear addition received a more favorable response and appeared potentially workable with differentiated materials and a satisfactory landscape plan.

The deck—not the idea of adding space at the rear—became the main obstacle.
Thumbnail of the 2020 historic evaluationJuly 2020Historic evaluation by Meg Clovis Open PDF Thumbnail of the completeness review letterDecember 2020Completeness review and Phase Two report Open PDF Thumbnail of the complete DS 20-285 recordComplete recordApplication, Board continuation, and withdrawal Open PDF

21 September 2021

We withdrew the application

The Historic Resources Board had continued the project and requested a complete landscape plan, alternatives that reduced or relocated the deck, and additional review of the proposed front work. Rather than continue revising that proposal, we formally withdrew DS 20-285.

2020–today

A full-time home

Living in the house before trying again

We moved into the house as it was and have lived here full time since 2020. Work during this period has focused on making it safer, drier, warmer, and more livable rather than carrying out the withdrawn addition.

  • Roof replacement and repair
  • New boiler and repairs to the radiant heating
  • Window work
  • Replacement of a rotten side-yard fence
  • Smaller repairs throughout the house
Thumbnail of the roof replacement permitRoof2021–22 permit record Open PDF Thumbnail of the boiler and gas-line permitHeat2022 boiler permit Open PDF Thumbnail of the side-yard fence permitFence2022 permit record Open PDF

Now

Ready to try again

A garage and loft at the back—not a deck over the historic roof

The current direction places a garage and loft toward the back of the property, with a guest restroom. It moves the needed new space away from the original roof.

The garden stays, but it will need to be redesigned around the new structure, circulation, privacy, planting, and the original house’s indoor-outdoor relationship.

How can we add what the house needs without repeating the conflict of the previous proposal?

This is an early working concept—not a submitted or approved plan.

Working site concept showing the original house, garden, and proposed rear garage and loft
Working site concept for the next phase. The garden remains central but would be redesigned.

Record trail

Historical documents

Every City record cited above is collected here for quick access.

1994 approved plans thumbnail1994Approved carport-enclosure plans PDF Historic appeal thumbnail2006–07Appeal and City Council decision PDF Historic evaluation thumbnail2020DPR 523 historic evaluation PDF Completeness review thumbnail2020Completeness review and Phase Two report PDF Complete application record thumbnail2020–21Complete DS 20-285 record PDF Roof permit thumbnail2021–22Roof-replacement permit PDF Boiler permit thumbnail2022Boiler and gas-line permit PDF Fence permit thumbnail2022Side-yard fence permit PDF