Delos Goldsmith

Delos E. Goldsmith (September 3, 1828–July 3, 1921), was an American master builder in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. For over fifty years, Goldsmith was a resident of Carmel and had a significant influence in constructing many of the early homes in the area. He erected the first hotel in Carmel called the Pine Inn, and established the first Carmel Bathhouse.

Early life
Delos E Goldsmith was born in Painesville, Ohio, on September 3, 1828. He was the son of architect Jonathan Gillett Goldsmith (1784-1847) of Milford, Connecticut. His mother, Abigail Jones (1787-1887), was born of English parents in Massachusetts in 1787.

Career
Goldsmith went to work with his brother-in-law, Charles W. Heard, in Cleveland. In 1846, Goldsmith left Ohio for New Orleans. He then moved to San Francisco in 1850, via Panama, and was a witness to the San Francisco Fire of 1851. He was a carpenter for two years in San Francisco and worked on the first building of the Presidio of San Francisco.

From 1855 to 1859, Goldsmith left for Marysville, and later went to Yuma, Arizona. He worked in the oil business until the outbreak of the American Civil War, when he was appointed citizen wagon master of the Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Union Army. Goldsmith was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry by the Confederates and endured hardships until he escaped. In 1865, he went south on a lumber expedition. By 1872, he was selling real estate in Ohio. In 1879, he became an agent for Dr. Stockton, who was involved in oil. Goldsmith left Ohio and moved back to San Francisco in late 1886. Goldsmith completed his voter registration on October 16, 1888 in at 355 First Street in San Francisco.

Carmel City
Goldsmith, Abbie Jane Hunter, and her son Wesley R. Hunter moved to Carmel City in late 1888, where they started buying lots and built the first seven houses in Carmel City, a Catholic retreat, before the name Carmel-by-the-Sea was created. Goldsmith purchased five lots in March 1890. Over time, Goldsmith and Hunter each acquired more property. He became the first builder in Carmel City.

Goldsmith's own residence was the first house constructed in Carmel City on the intersection of Carpenter and Third Streets. He constructed multiple small houses on the appropriately named Carpenter Street. In 1888, Goldsmith built a one-story vernacular side-gabled redwood residence for Duckworth, now known as the Santiago Duckworth House, on Carpenter Street. It was the second house built in town. In 1888, Goldsmith and Hunter carried water from the Carmel River until a well was made.

During the same time, Goldsmith built Carmel City's first two-story American Craftsman-style 18-room Hotel Carmelo, now the present Pine Inn, with the help of Hunter and her son, Wesley Hunter.

Carmel bathhouse


In 1889, Hunter and Goldsmith built the first community beach and bathhouse on a dune at the end of Ocean Avenue at the Carmel beach, with the help of her son, Wesley Hunter. They built it with a cupola and windows across the front to see the Carmel Bay.

Carmel-by-the-Sea
Between 1892 and 1894, Goldsmith worked with Hunter to build homes. By 1892, Hunter sent out postcards promoting Carmel City as Carmel-by-the-Sea. Goldsmith built two identical historic Queen Anne-style cottages, designed by contractor Douglas Knox Fraiser. The first house was the home for Hunter and her son, now known as the Abbie Jane Hunter House. The second became the Goldsmiths' home. Goldsmith built a home for his wife's sister's daughter, Augusta Robertson, where he lived while he constructed other homes for early residents. Goldsmith built a carpenter shop, Carmel's first business, on the southwest corner of Ocean Avenue and San Carlos Street, behind the Carmel Development Store. It was later used as Carmel's first public school.

In 1890, Goldsmith did the design for the Farm Center building at the entrance of Robinson Canyon in Carmel Valley. In 1905, Goldsmith built a vernacular cabin on Monte Verde Street NW of 9th Avenue, now called the Sinclair Lewis House.

Death and legacy
Goldsmith died at the Carmel Peninsula hospital on July 3, 1921. Many of the homes in Carmel that were designed or constructed by Goldsmith still exists and are listed on the Carmel Inventory of Historic Resources.

Selected works
• Santiago Duckworth House (1888)

• Goldsmith's carpenter shop (1888)

• Pine Inn (1889)

• Carmel bathhouse (1889)

• Abbie Jane Hunter House (1894)

• Augusta Robertson House (1894)

• Sinclair Lewis House (1905)

• Carmelo Athletic and Social Club Building (1895)