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HRB keeps Underwood/Isabel Winslow house on Carmel inventory after split consultant findings
Summary
City staff and a contracted consultant disagreed on whether the Isabel Winslow House (formerly associated with Anne Winslow) should be removed from the historic inventory. After owner testimony and public input, the Historic Resources Board voted to retain the property on the inventory under architectural criterion 3.
Staff presented a historic evaluation application requesting removal of the Underwood property (listed previously as the Anne Winslow House) from the Carmel inventory. The city's consultant had prepared a DPR form concluding the property no longer met the inventory's integrity threshold—citing additions, a later reroofing and a profusion of skylights that the consultant found undermined overall integrity. Staff, however, concluded the house still met Criterion 3 (architecture) and recommended retaining it on the inventory.
Property owner Brian Underwood told the board the house had been altered before he purchased it in 2007, cited removal of an original east‑wing chimney for seismic safety, and questioned the attribution to MJ Murphy, noting he could not find Murphy plans in the file and observing the house’s altered state. A city consultant recounted the property's survey history and the earlier skylight controversy (appealed to the city council and litigated), and explained the DPR author's determination that Isabel, not Anne, Winslow was the original owner based on city directories and record research.
Board members pressed staff on archival evidence and asked staff to confirm the original owner and the number of MJ Murphy resources in the city's inventory. Staff reported preliminary checks showed Isabel Winslow as the original owner and that the city’s server lists about 43 Murphy‑attributed inventory resources. After deliberation, a board member moved to keep the property on the inventory under Criterion 3 (architecture). The motion passed unanimously, with the record showing the board found architectural significance remained despite alterations.
The board asked staff to follow up on outstanding documentation questions and to provide any additional evidence that would clarify the Murphy attribution and chronology.
