New Book Captures the Storybook Cottages of Carmel, California

It's not unusual to be captivated by the village of Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. It's also pretty typical that visitors would want to snap photographs of its charming cottages and gardens.

But what is unexpected is for one photographer to be so taken with the town that he would take an additional step - publishing a book about Carmel's unique little houses.

"Carmel's Fairy Tale Cottages" (Boulder Press, $19.95), created by freelance photographer Mike Barton, is a look at the fantasy architecture that has made Carmel what it is today, with more than 220 color photographs illustrating the 112-page hardcover book.

Barton, a freelance photographer who lives in Boulder, Colo., was recently in Carmel to sign copies of this book, his fifth, at Mountainsong Galleries. The book is available at Mountainsong Galleries and at two other Carmel locations, A Great Place and Pilgrim's Way Bookstore, as well as through his website, www.mikebartonphoto.com.

Along with the photos of some of the town's most intriguing residences can be found their stories, with tales of early builders like Hugh Comstock. Comstock, who had no training as a builder or architect, created Carmel's first fairy-tale cottage for his wife, Mayotta, as a studio where she made her popular Otsy-Totsy rag dolls. The house, called "Hansel," is featured on the cover of Barton's book.

The imaginative Comstock went on to construct dozens of whimsical little houses in Carmel, and 21 of them still survive. Other early 20^th-century builders and architects adopted the style, giving rise to more homes with steeply pitched roofs, rolled eaves, and arched doors and windows, giving Carmel neighborhoods much of their characteristic charm.

Barton found himself not only enraptured with the cottages, but the details that give them their distinctive look. Not only are cottages exteriors and cottage gardens captured in the book, but also doors and windows, fences and gates, entryways and car parks, chimneys and fireplaces, yards and fences, and interiors, all shot in high-resolution digital photography.

Barton said that in the process of researching the book, he talked to owners and neighbors, and often was invited inside the cottages, giving him the chance to take in even more of their ambiance.

"I got into seven or eight houses just by knocking on the door," said Barton, who completed his photography in two trips earlier this year. As for his cover subject, Comstock's "Hansel" cottage, a helpful neighbor gave him access after gaining permission from the absent owner.

Barton eventually visited all the Comstock houses to photograph them, and after that, "anything that had an interesting look to it," said Barton, who worked his way systematically through the town.

"Carmel's Fairy Tale Cottages" is the fifth book of photography produced by Barton, who formed his own company, Boulder Press, to publish the books.

His other books also reflect beautiful landscapes and unusual architecture, and include "Charlevoix the Beautiful" and "Harbor Springs, Petoskey and Bay View," both focusing on quaint towns in Michigan; "The Mushroom Houses of Charlevoix," a photographic tour of stone homes built by Michigan architect Earl Young between 1918 and 1973; and "Boulder Impressions," views of Barton's current hometown.

B arton, born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, has had the opportunity to live in several different and interesting places that have become subjects for his lens. After earning an engineering degree from Michigan State, he headed to Silicon Valley, where he worked for Seagate doing electrical failure analysis during the 1990s.

H e moved to Boulder in 1999, and a few years later discovered photography in a big way.

"I began to dabble in it and got obsessed quickly," said Barton, who began planning his first book not long after. "I've always been visual and liked to draw and do graphics.

"Engineering was a way to pay the bills. Photography came naturally."

Barton completed his first four books while still working as an engineer; he retired recently to pursue his avocation full-time.

On a trip to visit family in California, he thought that Carmel might be a fun place to photograph. And so was born the idea for his latest book. But it took more than one visit to complete it.

Barton's main line of work is doing landscape photography, and his work can also be seen at several galleries in Boulder and on his website.

He's also got three more books in the works.

And who knows? Maybe he'll return to Carmel to do another book someday.

" When I return to a location that I have previously photographed, I am always amazed because I usually find interesting compositions that I didn't notice during my first visit," said Barton.

Sources:

Interview with Mike Barton, December 2010

www.mikebartonphoto.com

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