Tor House & Hawk Tower: A Love Letter to Carmel’s Wild Soul
There are places in Carmel that quietly shape you over time. You don’t always realize it’s happening. You pass them on morning walks, glance at them on sunset drives, or film a quick reel without fully capturing what they mean. Tor House is one of those places for me.
Sitting low and grounded along Scenic Road, Tor House feels less like a structure and more like a presence. Solid. Weathered. Completely at peace with the coastline it calls home. Every time I walk past it, I’m reminded that Carmel has always attracted people who choose depth over flash, intention over excess.
Robinson Jeffers and Building a Life by Hand
Tor House was built in 1919 by Robinson Jeffers, not as an architectural statement, but as a personal act of devotion. Jeffers was a poet, philosopher, and realist in the truest sense. He believed deeply in the power of nature and humanity’s small place within it.
He built Tor House by hand using stones gathered from the nearby beach. No shortcuts. No rush. Just time, labor, and intention. Later, he added Hawk Tower, a rugged stone tower he built for his wife Una. It rises behind the house like a quiet sentinel, watching the ocean, the fog, and the generations that followed.
Jeffers wasn’t trying to impress anyone. He was trying to belong.
How One Man Changed Scenic Road Forever
One of the most incredible parts of Jeffers’ legacy is something many people don’t even realize they’re enjoying.
Robinson Jeffers planted over 2,000 Monterey cypress trees along Scenic Road. At the time, the coastline looked very different. More exposed. Less defined. Over decades, those trees grew, twisted by wind and salt, shaping the dramatic, almost cinematic coastline we know today.
That iconic drive. The way the road feels wrapped by nature. The sense that Carmel is protected from the rest of the world. That didn’t happen by accident.
It was patience. It was vision. It was someone thinking far beyond his own lifetime.
Every time I drive Scenic Road, I think about that. About how rare it is for someone to leave a mark that improves with age.
Preserving the Legacy: The Tor House Foundation
Today, Tor House and Hawk Tower are lovingly cared for by the Tor House Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Jeffers’ home, writings, and legacy.
The Foundation offers guided tours of Tor House and Hawk Tower, and I can’t recommend them enough. You walk the rooms Jeffers lived and wrote in. You stand in Hawk Tower and look out over the same coastline that inspired his work. It’s intimate, thoughtful, and deeply Carmel.
Tours are small by design and typically offered several days a week, with advance reservations required. You can also become a member of the Foundation, which helps support preservation efforts, educational programs, and continued access to this extraordinary piece of Carmel’s history.
Membership is a quiet but meaningful way to invest in the soul of this place.
Why Places Like This Matter
Tor House isn’t flashy. It doesn’t try to be. And that’s exactly why it endures.
It represents a version of Carmel that still exists beneath the boutiques and beach crowds. A place for thinkers, artists, builders, and people who want their lives to feel connected to the land beneath their feet.
That’s the Carmel I fell in love with. And it’s the Carmel I love sharing with others.
If you ever find yourself walking Scenic Road, slow down when you pass Tor House. Look at the stonework. Look at the trees. Look at the way everything feels grounded and intentional.
Some legacies whisper instead of shout. This one is worth listening to.
