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HRB adds Reimers Stone House Terrace to Carmel inventory, calls it an exceptional courtyard example but excludes west elevation
Summary
After months of competing consultant reports and public testimony, the Historic Resources Board adopted findings that the Reimers Stone House Terrace (1977) is an exceptional example of Carmel's commercial courtyard typology and added it to the local inventory; the board specified that the west elevation is not a character‑defining element.
The Historic Resources Board considered a remand from the city council on the Reimers Stone House Terrace National Register nomination and a concurrent city‑initiated historic evaluation. The property consists of an early cottage (c.1904/1910) integrated in 1977 by architect Olaf Dahlstrand into the Stone House Terrace courtyard and mixed‑use building. The item had been the subject of competing professional assessments: Barbara Lamprecht's National Register nomination argued the 1977 complex is an exceptional Dahlstrand work eligible for the National Register despite being under 50 years old; the city consultant Meg Clovis prepared a DPR and an addendum concluding the project did not meet the "exceptional significance" standard for a property under 50 years.
Owners and supporters—including property owner Christy Reemers and architectural historian Pierluigi Serrano—presented archival drawings, schematic iterations and detailed renderings to support Dahlstrand's design intent, courtyard planning and integration of old and new fabric. Supporters emphasized the project's planning intelligence, planting and the courtyard typology as a local exemplar. Opposing parties (represented by Esperanza Carmel) presented a separate expert review that questioned whether the 1977 building rises to "exceptional" status, argued the altered 1904 cottage complicates eligibility, and asked the board to exclude some portions (specifically the west elevation) from any contributing designation to avoid blocking adjacent projects.
Board deliberations focused on whether the <50‑year building could be deemed exceptionally important; members noted Dahlstrand's inclusion in regional archives and local practice, the project's courtyard typology unique to Carmel, and other local precedents where non‑50‑year properties were treated as exceptional. After discussion, the HRB adopted a resolution finding the Reimers Stone House Terrace an exceptional example of the commercial courtyard typology in the organic style by Olaf Dahlstrand, with a period of significance of 1977; the board recorded that its findings rely on the National Register nomination and supporting DPR materials and added the property to the Carmel inventory. The resolution includes the express caveat that the west elevation is not a character‑defining element of the resource. The motion passed unanimously.
