HASENYGER HOUSE- A FRENCH TUDOR COTTAGE BY M.J.MURPHY

The first time I see it , I think this is one of the newer cottages in Carmel and later am startled to find out this house is 80 years young.

Hasenyager House was built in 1931 by M.J. Murphy in a French Tudor style and was restored in 1987.

I have taken at least 50 photos of this house, wading through the ivy in front of the fence for all of them. The owners must live here full-time because I often see them tending the garden or chatting with neighbors. So I look for a time when the car is gone and the light is right. This trip I am in luck.

I almost always approach this home from the south,which I still think is its best angle.

All of the wealth of M.J. Murphy’s experience in building is evident in this home. And the gardeners’ skills are impressive. This garden is noted for its roses and is said to be inspired by Sissinghurst. It has been on Carmel Garden Tours.

I am a lover of “clipped and tidy” in my own garden so the boxwood hedges are deeply satisfying to my senses. I always feel their structure allows all sorts of wildness to take place behind them without the garden seeming unruly.

I note the “door bells” which are such a Carmel tradition.

“H” markes the gate.

I point my camera lens through the wonderful wrought iron gate admiring the Norman tradition of arched doorways.

The gardener has created a charming vignette at the front door.

The chimney is marked with a decorative pargetted Renaissance medallion ( look it up).

And Mr Murphy has placed an eyebrow dormer in the steeply pitched roof. 

My carmera starts down the garden path

after noting the ground cover between the stones in the center of the driveway.

I love all the little treasures this gardener has tucked into her garden.

I follow the curve of the boxwood

past the large mullioned bay window in the living room.

The dining room is across the entry hall.

The stucco walls of this garden also provide wonderful structure and privacy for the inner from outer garden.

This garden is noted for its roses and many potted roses are waiting to be planted.

  The gardener is very generous with the view she allows us.

I particularly love this bird house

with its plaque

and this topiary tree that shelters its animal friends.

This garden teaches a lesson in how to use statuary.

It extends around the south end of the property.

Now I head north to the quaint garage door

and the north end of the garden. The signage leads me to speculate that the owner of the house  owned a men’s clothing store.

I can get but a glimpse of the north side of the garden

so I abandon my effort and head home. If you would enjoy a more detailed description of the interior of this home , I refer to Linda Leigh Paul’s  

Cottages by the Sea, The Handmade Homes of Carmel, America’s First Artist Community

 This photo of the kitchen is in her book