Julia, Katie and I took a short vacation last week and visited Monterey, California which included a day at the Monterey Aquarium. Katie is almost 4 years old now and had a great time. As we left the aquarium she was a Hammer Head shark… she said.
We didn’t want to stay at a big impersonal hotel and tried looking for rentals on airbnb.com first but found nothing in the area in our price range. Luckily Julia stumbled across a small hotel online called The Centella Inn, located in nearby Pacific Grove.
The Centrella Inn was built in 1889 and in addition to the main building they have five cottages which appear to have originally been neighboring homes that had been added to the hotel over the years. Luckily the homes have been well preserved and had many original features. Here’s what the bedroom looked like.
We stayed in cottage #1 which turned out to be a 10′ by 40′ shotgun house. You’ll notice another tiny house, cottage #2, that looks like a mirror of the house we stayed in, which was in fact is a nearly identical copy of cottage #1.
The house has three rooms. The main living space had a front door that opened onto a quiet side street and a side door that opened onto a narrow private garden. This private outdoor space was connected to the rest of the hotel via a larger shared courtyard which was dominated by a giant redwood tree. The other two rooms were a small bathroom featuring a claw foot tub and a bedroom. The bedroom also had a door that opened onto the private garden area.
We don’t vacation often and when we do it’s typically a short trip to a nearby location like the California coast. When we head back to the Monterey coast next time, this tiny house will definitely be on our list of potential places to stay.
I live just around the corner from the Centralla Inn. Glad you enjoyed your stay.
You’re right about the small cottages: they were originally separate houses. In fact, they’re some of the oldest houses in town. They were originally canvas tents put up by vacationers over the summer months, but over the years many campers/residents gradually boarded over the tents to make them permanent houses. In some cases you can still find the canvas inside the walls.
The Centrealla Inn itself (the main building) has always been an inn/boarding house, but gradually acquired some of the smaller homes that surround it. After my wife and I stayed in one of the cottages (perhaps yours?) we decided to move her permanently. Couldn’t be happier.
Thanks Jim! Love to hear the background info.
That neighborhood IS really wonderful, I can totally see why you moved there. Love all the small homes there too 😀
I would love to see they tiny dwellings … What is the address in Pacific Grove?
Enjoyed the photos and info on this small shotgun type home. Pehaps I will be able to visit and stay at the property and get ideas for the small type home I hope to build sometime soon.
Very cozy. Thanks for sharing this.
Anyone who has ever lived in a little charming house like these will always have fond memories…the same cannot be said of modern cookie cutter homes…you may have fond memories but they are of the times and people, not the cookie cutter.
Houses with charm, with special character, separate themselves from mere buildings in a way modern buildings cannot do. They become fond memories in a way that is usually reserved for people in our lives…they have a soul…they contain far more than belongings or people, they offer so much more than simply shelter and storage.
I never want to live in a building that doesn’t have some special character or a soul that makes me love it. A house with character, charm, a soul, becomes a part of your family…a part that many feel when it’s lacking but cannot usually pin down, like something is missing from life and they cannot figure it out.
Like people, a house and all its charm and soul may not be a perfect match for everyone, it’s finding a friend, a family member that fits into your life like it was made to do just that. That is what the real meaning of house searching is, people just do it wrong…they look for sq. ft., or for the number and size of rooms, the location….it’s wrong. Finding the right house is like dating, it’s about feelings and emotions, that may happen no matter the number or size of rooms, the place closest to work or friends.
You’ll feel it, pay attention when you see them, use your heart, not your head. If you think a house is impressive ask yourself who you’re trying to please…you or others. Does it appeal to your vanity or to your heart….know the difference. You cannot buy a house like you would buy a car…we’d all like a fancy and pricey showpiece, practicality rarely has anything to do with that decision. Look for soul, look for something that charms you and warms your heart…i’ll bet that house isn’t a show piece, or a trophy, it has heart and soul.
I love all of your houses and have decided tht I want one too. Can you get back to me with the first step I should take to get this done. And..Do you build in Texas?