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Upon granting to the Pacific Grove Retreat Association the 100 acres that would become the home of the retreat, David Jacks promptly hired St. John Cox {Healy?] to survey the property and parcel it out into lots in accordance with Jacks’ agreement with the Association.
Cox sub-divided the property into 64 blocks numbered 1 though 61, plus Block 40½ and Blocks A & B. Each block was comprised of a number of lots, as few as four in some cases to as many as thirty-six. Most of the lots were 30’ x 60’. The Retreat, as surveyed by Cox [Healy?], was bounded on the north by the Monterey Bay and the south by Lighthouse Road.
Shortly after the area was acquired by the Pacific Improvement Company in 1880, additional surveys were made by L. D. Norton, assistant engineer of the Pacific Improvement Co. As a result, an additional 64 blocks were added on the south side of Lighthouse Road, nearly doubling the size of the original Retreat. The new blocks situated to the east of [Fountain Avenue] were called the “First Addition” and the blocks to the west were called the “Second Addition.”
[NEED TO WRITE UP THE FOLLOWING SECTION]
[Though Reverend Ross moved into a small cottage he built for himself in 1874, the first substantial permanent home is said to be that of Thomas Harper, constructed in 1880. It still stands today at _______.]
[The first sale of lots was held on August 26, 1875 and among the first buyers were Reverend J. W. Ross, (Rev.) Dr. Frank Jewell, and (Rev.) Dr. Thomas Sinex. ]
Pacific Grove is fortunate to have preserved so many of the Victorian homes built in the 19th Century
Sinex, Jewell, others….
The home of Senator Benjamin F. Langford, built in 1884 as a summer home for his family, stands prominently at Lot 1, Block 1 of the Pacific Grove Retreat—today, 225 Central Avenue, on the corner of Central and ___. Langford, a native of Tennessee, joined the California Gold Rush in early 1850, bringing with him machinery he had manufactured for use in quartz mining. He served briefly as a judge in Nevada and later served four terms as state senator in California.
His home is now the Gatehouse Inn, which takes its name from Senator Langford’s act of civil disobedience. The home was just inside the locked gate to the Pacific Grove Retreat, causing the Langford’s a great inconvenience whenever they arrived after curfew. One night, in the summer of 1885, the Senator, tired of his nightly ordeal, chopped the offending barrier down and it was never rebuilt.
The Langford home was said to be a personal favorite of John Steinbeck, whose family lived across the way. The home remained in the Langford family until the 1960’s, changing several hands before it was restored and converted for use into a beautiful bed & breakfast.
In 1886, the House of Seven Gables, first owned by Mrs. Jane Page…. (aka “Ivy Terrace Hall”) p 108 of McLane 3rd Ed. – only 5 gables
The Gosby House was built in 1888 by J.F. Gosby, a …..
The storefronts at 541-553 Lighthouse, built in 1888.
The Centrella Hotel first opened its doors in 1889…
1891-- R. L. Holman
Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Hollenbeck [?]
Hyde
Miss Margaret Tennant on Central Avenue
Kinswood Tower, three story home of Dr. C. Tawse built in 1889.
Dr. O.S. Trimmer, Mayor of P.G. 1889-1907 mansion on Trimmer Hill.
Green Gables?
Beacon?
Others?
By the beginning of 1890, over five hundred houses had been erected in the Pacific Grove Retreat.
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