A reader contacted me recently asking me if I knew anything about the fairly tale houses in Mount Carmel, California or knew of a book about them. She shared a link she had found online (Flicker photos) and they are wonderful. Check them out for yourself.: Mount Carmel pictures.

According to Yvonne “In 1924 Hugh Comstock came to Carmel to visit his sister Catherine and her husband, George Seideneck, both artists and members of the struggling Carmel Art Association. While in Carmel, Hugh met Mayotta Browne, who successfully made and sold rag and felt dolls, called “Otsy-Totsys.” Hugh and Mayotta married that year. Buyers from large cities came to place orders for the dolls, which soon filled their house to overflowing. She asked Hugh to build her a cottage to use as a showroom. Hugh was neither a builder nor an architect, but he loved to draw and tinker. He designed and built with Mayotta a whimsical little cottage, Gretel, on Torres near 6th, inspired by the watercolor illustrations of the British children’s book illustrator Arthur Rackham. (excerpt from Yvonne’s pictures)

Does anyone know of a book on these houses?