1008 West Franklin Street
1913 Swiss Chalet Craftsman
The McComas – Cooper House was built for Francis McComas, Northern California’s master watercolorist. It was most likely designed by his good friend Willis Polk, one of the fathers of the California Arts and Crafts movement. The home was sold to Alice Orcutt, granddaughter of John B Rogers Cooper. She and succeeding Cooper family members occupied the residence from 1916 to 1979. During WWII, the building served as a boarding house for wives of soldiers stationed in Europe. The unique design is the only known Swiss Chalet style craftsman residence in Monterey.
The home is a two-story, wood frame Craftsman residence with a square plan and rests on a stone watertable on a steeply sloping site. It is clad with narrow, spaced shingles and topped with a wide, clipped gable roof decorated with large curved wood brackets. The front double door is entered from a stone porch that is enclosed by a stone low wall and decorative wood board railing. The fenestration at the front façade consists of two-over-two double-hungs and multi-light wood casements. The double-hungs include wood shutters that have decorative triangular cutouts. The central second-story balcony is a prominent feature with its decorative wood board railing that matches the railing at the front porch. The dormer on the western side is composed of two gables with a shed in between and has three small two-over-two double-hungs.
Directions to the next house: Just look almost across the street, you’ll see the McGowan House St. James Episcopal Church (381 High Street), #24 on the map below.
