Pine Inn

Pine Inn, once called the Hotel Carmelo, is one of the early first-class Arts and Crafts, Tudor, Spanish style hotels established in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The Pine Inn is a historical resource dating back to 1889 when pioneer Santiago J. Duckworth built Hotel Carmelo. James Franklin Devendorf, renamed the hotel the "Pine Inn" in 1904. Today, it is a full-service hotel. The Pine Inn qualified for inclusion in the city's Downtown Historic District Property Survey, and was registered with the California Register of Historical Resources on March 18, 2003. The Inn is significant under the California Register criterion 1, as the first hotel in the history of the downtown district of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Hotel Carmelo


In 1889, real estate developer and early pioneer of "Carmel City," Santiago J. Duckworth reserved five lots for the city's first hotel, called Hotel Carmelo. It was first located in the undeveloped section of town, at the corner of Ocean Avenue Avenue and Broadway (now Junipero Street), east of what became Devendorf Park. Back then, Broadway was envisioned as the main street. The two-story, American Craftsman style hotel was built by Delos Goldsmith for sales agent Abbie Jane Hunter, like a country inn, with wood from the old Tivoli Opera House in San Francisco. Hunter worked for real estate developer Duckworth. She used the hotel as her office, to welcome guests, and to sale lots.

Move and expansion


Devendorf renamed the hotel the "Pine Inn" and renovated it. With the help of architect Thomas Morgan (brother of Mary DeNeale Morgan) and builder M. J. Murphy, Devendorf added a one-story roof entrance, sunroom and dining room looking west to the sea to the original two-story building. He also added a stable and a row of tents for extra lodging. Prospective buyers stayed at the Inn before decided on what lot to purchase. Early advertisements for the new Pine Inn began in the spring of 1903, with hotel rates at $8 per week. J. F. Devendorf was the contact person.

Mary L. Hamlin became manager in 1909. Devendorf sold the Pine Inn in late 1911. By 1914, C.C. Belmont and his wife took over management of the hotel. He worked with Goold's livery, Leidig Bros. grocery, and Schweninger bakery to provide goods and services. When the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club put on Shakespeare plays and poetry readings at the Forest Theater, the Pine Inn became the recommended place to stay for students and their friends.

1920s and 1940s expansion
In 1922, John B. Jordan, an actor, politician, and scholar, purchased the hotel. He served eight years on the Carmel city council and two years as Carmel mayor (1926-1928).

Jordan sold the Pine Inn to William Harrison Godwin II in August 1940. Godwin and his brother, Frederick "Fred" MacKaye Godwin, had learned the hotel business working for their aunt Agnes "Alice" D. Signor who owned the La Playa Hotel.

Godwin added 12 retail stores, a rooftop garden for outdoor dining, newly decorated 55 bedrooms, and the Red Parlor Pub (now closed). Godwin sold the Pine Inn to Caroll McKee in 1962 and Godwin retired to Santa Barbara. In 1972, new owner Carroll McKee, added an open courtyard in the center with a glass gazebo dining. The current owners, Richard, and Mimi Gunner, purchased the hotel in 1986. They added Chinese and Pierre Dux French furnishings. The Il Fornaio Italian-themed fine dining restaurant was added to the main dining room.