492 Clay Street
1905 Spanish Colonial Revival
This home was built in the early 1900s for Rudolph Spence, a descendant of one of the earliest Spanish families in the Monterey area. His great-great grandfather was Governor Arguello, the next to last of the Spanish governors of California before the Mexican occupation. Through family inheritances, Mr. Spence owned and developed extensive holdings in the Salinas Valley and south Monterey County. Other notable residents include Elizabeth Teaby, wife of Dr. Walter Teaby, mayor of Monterey from 1934-1937, and her son, Gregory Teaby, who would become Monterey Fire Chief and an early member of the Pebble Beach Sports Car Club.
The home resides on a large hillside lot (Clay at Jefferson) with views of the bay and is an early example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, which became popular through the later works of architects such as George Washington Smith in the 1920s. Enclosed within a white stucco wall and fronted by two large Norfolk pines, the building is C-shaped, with a two-story central section flanked by two single-story wings. Noted Carmel Architect Robert R. Jones (Carmel Youth Center and All Saints’ Episcopal Church) created plans in 1947 that converted the south wing into an apartment. Thick stucco exterior walls mimic the mass and style of the historic adobes. There is a central front door that is accessed from the recessed brick front porch that features a lintel that is supported by two Doric columns. The front porch also has exposed wood rafters at the ceiling. The fenestration at the front façade consists of a pair of original wood multi-light casement windows, with multi-light transoms at either side of the front door; a pair of casements at either side of the front porch as well as two four-part banks of multi-light casements at the second floor. The building also has a brick chimney and exposed rafter tails.
Historic marker: This home was build in c.1905 for Rudolph B Spence, a descendent of one of the earliest Spanish families. His great-great grandfather was Governor Arguello, the next to last of the Spanish governors of California before the Mexican Occupation. Through family inheritance, Mr Spence owned and developed extensive farm holdings in the Salinas Valley and South Monterey County. The building is of unusual scale and massing, commands an impressive hillside lot, and represents an early example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, which became popular through the later works of architects such as George Washington Smith in the 1920s.
Directions to the next house: Continue on Clay (towards the ocean), but take your first left onto Harrison Street. On the right, you’ll soon find the Howard Severance House (930 Harrison Street), #17 on the map below.
