Hugh W. Comstock

Hugh W. Comstock (April 17, 1893 – June 1, 1950) was an American designer and master builder who lived in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He and Michael J. Murphy were responsible for giving Carmel its architectural character. Comstock developed a fairy tale or storybook architectural-style that has been closely identified with Carmel. Twenty-one of his cottages remain in the area today. Comstock also created a modern use of adobe in the construction known as "Bitudobe," a type of post-adobe brick.

Early life
Comstock was born in Evanston, Illinois on April 17, 1893. He moved to Santa Rosa with his family in 1907. Comstock had a ranch in Yolo County, California. As a rancher, he had no formal architectural training and had only basic carpentry skills.

In 1924, Comstock traveled to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California to visit his sister Catherine and her husband, George Seideneck. She introduced him to Mayotta Browne, a nearby doll maker, known for making and selling popular hand-made "Otsy-Totsy" felt dolls. They were married on April 14, 1924, in Salinas.

Career


Comstock embarked on his career as a designer-builder when his wife requested him to construct a cottage for her dolls. In 1924, he built a cottage for her to house the dolls, resembling a fairy house in the woods. The space became a showcase where potential buyers could come to see her dolls. Many residents that saw the cottage requested similar houses, which lead to Comstock's building career. This first cottage was called Hansel after the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel.

The Hansel house became the first of many fairy tale Storybook-style cottages that Comstock would go on to design and build.

The cottages have steep gables, wooden half-timbering with stucco and plaster surfaces, and wood and diamond-paned windows. They often had tall, narrow chimneys covered in battered Carmel stone to create a rustic appearance.

In 1926, Comstock designed and built Tuck Box, located on Dolores Street. It was built in the Craftsman, Fairy Tale style, and features a steep gabled shingled roof, stucco walls, faux-timber beams, multi-pane glass windows, and used brick for an uneven chimney. In November 1931, Comstock built the Garden Shop Addition, which is between the Tuck Box and the El Paseo Building. Both buildings were recorded with the Department of Parks and Recreation on October 8, 2002.

Comstock was in charge of the reconstruction of the Forest Theater in 1939 as part of a $20,000 Works Progress Administration project. He drew up the plans, working with major Herbert Heron.



He designed and built the two-story Spanish Mission Revival style Monterey County Trust & Savings Building (now the China Art Building) in 1930.

During the Great Depression Comstock used cheaper materials. He made adobe bricks in a plant he built in Carmel Valley. His first adobe house was built in 1936. He made a specialized adobe brick called "Bitudobe." In 1948, he published the book Post-Adobe; Simplified Adobe Construction Combining A Rugged Timber Frame And Modern Stabilized Adobe, which described his method of construction, including how to make "Bitudobe." In 1938, he served as an adviser to the architects Franklin & Kump Associates, who built the Carmel High School, which used his Post-adobe system.

Comstock was a Carmel civil leader, serving as the president of the board for the Carmel Unified School District and chairman of the board for the Carmel Sanitary District.

Selected works
• # Hansel (1924), the original Doll House

• # Hugh Comstock House (1925), formerly known as Obers

• # Gretel (1925)

• # Guest House (1926)

• # Tuck Box (1926), became an English tea room

• # Snow White's Summer Place (1926)

• # Marchen Haus house (1926)

• # Nelson-Krough cottage (1926)

• # Grant Wallace cottage (1927)

• # Comstock Studio (1927), Comstock's house

• # Mary Young Hunter House (1927), also known as The Woods

• # Our House (1928), built for Elizabeth Armstrong

• # Torres Cottage (1928)

• # Doll's House (1928), W. O. Swain Cottage No. 1

• # Birthday House (1928), W. O. Swain Cottage No. 2

• # Ocean House (1928), W. O. Swain Cottage No. 3

• # Fables (1928), W. O. Swain Cottage No. 4

• # Honeymoon Cottage (1928), W. O. Swain Cottage No. 5, aka Yellow Bird

• # Elizabeth F. Armstrong House (1928)

• # Yellow Bird (1928)

• # Elspeth Rose Cottage (1929), also goes by the names, Sunwiseturn House, and the "Twin on Palou"

• # San Antonio (1929)

• # Sylvia Jordan House (1929), Adobe-style house

• # Great Expectations (1929)

• # Tuck Box Jam Shop (1929)

• # Wheeler House (1929), in Pebble Beach

• # Chanticleer motor court

• # F.A. Watson House (1930)

• # Monterey County Trust and Savings Bank (1930), now the China Art Building

• # Tudor-style stucco home at 26350 Ocean View for Mrs. Johnston Field (1931)

• # Garden Shop Addition (1931).

• # Bertha C. Cole House (1932)

• # The Unit House (1934)

• # Maj. Ralph A. Coote House (1934)

• # Alfred Matthews House (1935)

• # Edith S. Anderson's House, Cape Cod-style house (1936)'

• # Ross & Thelma Miller House (1937)

• # First Bitudobe home for Major Ralph Coote on 8th Ave. (1937)

• # Bowman House (1937)

• # Samuel M. Haskins House (1939)

• # Fred Wolferman Carmel Valley home (1939)

• # Florence Lockwood Studio/House (1940)

• # Village Corner Restaurant (1946)

Death
Comstock died on June 1, 1950, at the age of 57, at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, in Santa Barbara, California. His wife, Mayotta Comstock survived him. He was buried at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. His wife died on May 30, 1979, at the age of 87, in Sacramento, California. She was cremated and her remains taken to the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.